Carpet Cleaning Price Calculator
Turn the size of a job, your time and your costs into a price per job, per room and per square foot, with a minimum charge and a margin check. Every value is a starting estimate. Replace them with your own numbers.
Last updated: November 13, 2026
Your price
Suggested price per job —
Check this.
- Price per room
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- Price per sq ft
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- Labor hours
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- Cost per job
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- Profit per job
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- Margin at this price
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| Cleaning time | — |
|---|---|
| Stairs time | — |
| Add-ons time | — |
| Travel time | — |
| Wages | — |
| Payroll burden | — |
| Chemicals, equipment and add-on products | — |
| Overhead | — |
| Your total cost | — |
| Price before the minimum charge | — |
| Your minimum job charge | — |
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Planning estimate only. Defaults are editable starting estimates for planning. They are not market data, not a formal quote, and not financial advice. Look at the job, time the work and use your own numbers before you quote a price.
How this price is calculated
This is a simple cost-plus model: estimate the time, cost that time, add chemicals and add-on products and overhead, then add your margin. Nothing here comes from a market survey. Every default is a round-number starting assumption for you to replace with your own timings and costs.
1. Time
In room mode the area is rooms × average room size. It is used for the protector and for the price-per-square-foot figure. Stairs are not counted as area. Labor hours are person-hours: with two cleaners, time on site is roughly half.
2. Cost per job
3. Price, using margin (not markup), and the minimum charge
Margin is a share of the price. Dividing by (1 − margin) is what makes the profit exactly that share of what the customer pays. Because the price is rounded up to a whole dollar, the margin shown can be slightly above your target. If your minimum job charge is higher than the calculated price, the minimum is used and the margin shown is the margin at that higher price.
Price per room is the price divided by the number of rooms. Price per square foot divides the price by the area. Both include stairs, add-ons, travel and everything else in the price, so they are higher than a bare per-square-foot rate. They are a quick way to compare a quote with others you have priced, not a statement about what other companies charge.
4. The checks
The calculator tells you when the minimum charge replaces the calculated price. It also warns if the margin at the final price is below 20%. Twenty percent is a rule of thumb used here as a prompt, not a rule or a market figure. Your own threshold may be different.
What the calculator leaves out
It does not include sales tax, income tax, equipment purchases beyond the per-job wear you enter, payment fees, furniture moving beyond light items, or pet-odor and heavy-soil surcharges unless you build them into the minutes, costs or margin. It also knows nothing about prices in your area. Treat the result as a floor to check your quote against, then use your own judgment.
Common questions
Should I price by the room or by the square foot?
Both are used. Pricing by the room is simple to explain to a customer. Pricing by the square foot suits large open areas where room counts are unclear. Either way this calculator works from your time and costs, then shows the price per room and per square foot so you can quote whichever way you prefer. Check what is normal for your customers and your area before you decide.
Why have a minimum job charge?
Driving, loading the machine, setting up and packing away take roughly the same time whether you clean one room or five. On a small job those fixed costs can eat the whole margin. A minimum charge sets a floor. The calculator shows when the minimum replaces the calculated price so you can see which jobs it is protecting.
How do I set the labor time per room?
Time yourself on a few real jobs and divide the labor minutes by the number of rooms. The default is a placeholder and is not a market figure. Time depends on the machine, the carpet, how soiled it is, how much furniture needs moving and whether you pre-treat. Update the number as you collect timings.
Where do my machine and equipment costs go?
Put wear, fuel and cleaning solution for a typical job into "Chemicals and equipment per job". Larger costs such as vehicle insurance, a business license or the purchase of a new machine belong in the overhead percentage, if you want them recovered in the price.
Cleaning homes? The $49 Pricing & Launch Kit
To be clear: the kit is built for house cleaning. It has a quote calculator spreadsheet, a service agreement template, cleaning checklists and client email templates. It does not include carpet-cleaning price lists or carpet-specific templates, so you would adapt it to your work. If you also clean homes, it could save you time.