The average house cleaner in the United States earns $37,080 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $35,510. That works out at about $17.83 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: Hawaii averages $52,370 and Mississippi $25,850. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a house cleaner actually does for that money
Maids and housekeeping cleaners is dominated by hotel housekeeping, which sits well below what an independent residential cleaner charges. That is the single most important thing to know about this number: the counted population is not the same as the people running cleaning businesses.
What house cleaners earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $27,640 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $30,350 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $35,510 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $39,590 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $48,570 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
House Cleaning salary by state
Hawaii pays the most at $52,370 a year, and Mississippi the least at $25,850. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $52,370 | $51,600 | $25.18 | 11,120 |
| 2 | New York | $49,680 | $41,950 | $23.88 | 41,740 |
| 3 | California | $45,930 | $42,660 | $22.08 | 103,430 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | $45,400 | $42,260 | $21.83 | 3,800 |
| 5 | Nevada | $43,450 | $46,550 | $20.89 | 24,380 |
| 6 | Washington | $42,860 | $42,180 | $20.61 | 18,480 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $42,390 | $38,950 | $20.38 | 14,910 |
| 8 | New Jersey | $39,730 | $37,980 | $19.10 | 18,360 |
| 9 | Alaska | $39,590 | $37,370 | $19.03 | 2,440 |
| 10 | Oregon | $39,510 | $37,590 | $19.00 | 12,920 |
| 11 | Colorado | $39,490 | $37,560 | $18.99 | 19,280 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | $39,260 | $37,540 | $18.88 | 2,710 |
| 13 | Maine | $39,180 | $37,630 | $18.84 | 4,960 |
| 14 | Illinois | $38,960 | $36,380 | $18.73 | 26,150 |
| 15 | Vermont | $38,750 | $37,680 | $18.63 | 1,830 |
| 16 | Minnesota | $38,370 | $37,470 | $18.45 | 14,890 |
| 17 | New Hampshire | $38,090 | $36,920 | $18.31 | 3,170 |
| 18 | Connecticut | $37,900 | $36,170 | $18.22 | 6,680 |
| 19 | Arizona | $36,760 | $35,640 | $17.67 | 21,180 |
| 20 | Montana | $36,720 | $35,740 | $17.66 | 5,380 |
| 21 | Utah | $36,710 | $36,270 | $17.65 | 10,250 |
| 22 | Maryland | $36,190 | $35,500 | $17.40 | 14,690 |
| 23 | North Dakota | $35,640 | $35,050 | $17.14 | 2,880 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | $35,620 | $35,530 | $17.13 | 14,520 |
| 25 | Idaho | $35,230 | $34,560 | $16.94 | 6,210 |
| 26 | Florida | $34,900 | $33,860 | $16.78 | 79,550 |
| 27 | Virginia | $34,510 | $33,820 | $16.59 | 23,120 |
| 28 | Delaware | $34,290 | $34,150 | $16.49 | 1,820 |
| 29 | Nebraska | $34,210 | $34,170 | $16.45 | 6,250 |
| 30 | Missouri | $34,140 | $33,670 | $16.41 | 15,360 |
| 31 | Michigan | $34,030 | $34,650 | $16.36 | 18,690 |
| 32 | Wyoming | $33,820 | $31,870 | $16.26 | 2,800 |
| 33 | Pennsylvania | $33,770 | $33,870 | $16.23 | 25,650 |
| 34 | North Carolina | $33,430 | $31,310 | $16.07 | 33,080 |
| 35 | Indiana | $33,020 | $31,420 | $15.88 | 11,050 |
| 36 | Iowa | $33,020 | $32,620 | $15.88 | 8,160 |
| 37 | Ohio | $32,620 | $32,170 | $15.68 | 28,930 |
| 38 | New Mexico | $32,150 | $30,480 | $15.46 | 6,180 |
| 39 | Kansas | $32,050 | $31,100 | $15.41 | 7,540 |
| 40 | South Dakota | $31,990 | $29,950 | $15.38 | 3,540 |
| 41 | Kentucky | $31,930 | $30,880 | $15.35 | 12,040 |
| 42 | Tennessee | $31,690 | $30,850 | $15.24 | 20,500 |
| 43 | Georgia | $31,240 | $29,770 | $15.02 | 18,510 |
| 44 | South Carolina | $30,950 | $30,260 | $14.88 | 14,500 |
| 45 | Texas | $30,290 | $29,660 | $14.56 | 63,110 |
| 46 | Oklahoma | $29,570 | $28,620 | $14.21 | 11,810 |
| 47 | West Virginia | $29,060 | $28,090 | $13.97 | 6,110 |
| 48 | Arkansas | $28,820 | $27,960 | $13.86 | 6,930 |
| 49 | Alabama | $27,860 | $27,480 | $13.40 | 8,290 |
| 50 | Louisiana | $27,350 | $26,600 | $13.15 | 12,440 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $25,850 | $25,360 | $12.43 | 8,320 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying house cleaners the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $58,330 | $28.05 |
| 2 | Kahului-Wailuku, HI | $54,750 | $26.32 |
| 3 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $52,650 | $25.31 |
| 4 | Urban Honolulu, HI | $52,270 | $25.13 |
| 5 | Vallejo, CA | $50,980 | $24.51 |
| 6 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $50,440 | $24.25 |
| 7 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $46,650 | $22.43 |
| 8 | Napa, CA | $46,150 | $22.19 |
| 9 | Kingston, NY | $45,930 | $22.08 |
| 10 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $45,570 | $21.91 |
What moves the number
- Unlicensed in every state. Bonding and insurance are what let you work in occupied homes, and they are what separates a business from a side job.
- Recurring weekly and biweekly clients make this one of the most predictable incomes in home services, with a spring and holiday deep-clean peak on top.
- Move-out, post-construction and vacation rental turnovers pay well above recurring residential cleans, and rental turnovers are the fastest growing of the three.
- The bottom ten percent of house cleaners earn under $27,640 and the top ten percent clear $48,570. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed house cleaners on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a house cleaner wage and an owner income opens up.
House Cleaning salary FAQs
- How much do house cleaners make a year?
- The median house cleaner in the United States earns $35,510 a year and the average is $37,080, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do house cleaners make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $17.83. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays house cleaners the most?
- Hawaii pays the most at an average of $52,370 a year, followed by New York at $49,680 and California at $45,930. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay house cleaners the most?
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA tops the list at an average of $58,330 a year, with Kahului-Wailuku, HI at $54,750. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can house cleaners earn six figures?
- As an employee it is uncommon: the top ten percent earn $48,570. Owners are a different question, because they are paid on the job rather than on the hour, and owner income is not in these figures.
- Do these figures include self-employed house cleaners?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this house cleaning salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners" (SOC 37-2012). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
