Commercial cleaning is won and lost on the rate per square foot — and a medical office priced like a warehouse will eat your margin for the length of the contract. The calculator above prices a visit from published per-square-foot rates for the facility type you pick.
How the calculator works
- Facility type sets the band. Office, retail, medical, industrial, and food service each carry a published per-square-foot rate band; square footage scales it.
- The building moves the quote. A restroom-heavy layout and full floor care push the price toward the top of the band — that’s where the extra time actually goes.
- Your state. Rates are adjusted by a state labor-cost index, with a minimum-visit floor for small spaces.
- Your economics. “Your costs and margin” estimates cleaner-hours from a production rate and shows what the market price leaves you; margin settings price unusual contracts the bands don’t cover.
Typical commercial cleaning rates in 2026
| Facility | Per visit (per sq ft) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard office | $0.03–$0.06 | Trash, surfaces, restrooms, vacuum |
| Retail space | $0.03–$0.05 | Entrances and floors drive time |
| Medical / dental | $0.05–$0.10 | Disinfection protocols, compliance |
| Industrial / warehouse | $0.04–$0.06 | Large open areas, lower detail |
| Restaurant / food service | $0.04–$0.08 | Degreasing, health-code standards |
Ranges assume roughly weekly service. Daily-service accounts land at or below the low end (the space stays cleaner), while small facilities land above the high end because restrooms and setup time dominate. Trust your production-rate math over per-square-foot rules of thumb.
Multiply by visit frequency for the monthly contract value — weekly service turns a $400 office visit into roughly a $1,700/month account. Accounts cleaned nightly negotiate the per-visit rate down, so do not simply multiply by twenty.
Worked example
An 18,000 sq ft medical office with 8 restrooms and full floor care: medical space bills at $0.05–$0.10 per square foot — the sanitation standards, supervision, and documentation are what you’re charging for — so the visit prices at about $1,285 (range $1,050–$1,525). That is 24 person-hours, which is a crew, not one cleaner. The same footage cleaned to office standards would run a fraction of that: exactly the medical premium. The “Fill with sample data” button loads this job.
Tips for winning contracts profitably
- Walk the site before final pricing. Clutter, security check-ins, and locked areas all cut your production rate — and none of them show up in the square footage.
- Separate recurring scope from extras. Strip-and-wax, carpet extraction, and window washing are projects, not janitorial — quote them separately or they’ll silently consume the contract’s margin.
- Re-check the numbers quarterly. Labor costs drift up; a contract priced two years ago at a healthy margin may be break-even today.
The calculator gives you the number. For typical rates and how to build a quote, read our commercial cleaning pricing guide.