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Move-out cleaning price: how much to charge for an empty house
Charge about double your standard clean. For a 3 bed / 2 bath home, companies that publish both prices charge a median 106% more for a move-out clean, and the median move-out price across 7 companies is $450. HomeGuide’s April 2024 band is $0.22–$0.33 per square foot.
Calculate a price
Starting point: $0.14 per sq ft. Regular clean (US guide): $0.10–$0.17 per square foot. Our midpoint of that range, rounded to cents. Routine cleaning of floors, bathrooms, kitchen surfaces and reachable dusting areas. HomeGuide: house cleaning prices, checked 2026-10-15.
Extras, travel and minimum
The result is per visit. Cleaner-hours means people × hours, so two cleaners for two hours is four cleaner-hours. Use a rate for the selected frequency.
Enter home area (square feet).
Move-out cleaning price: published rates
| Job or unit | Published price | What the price covers | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move-out clean (US guide) | $0.22–$0.33 per square foot | Move-out cleaning of the vacated home; appliance interiors depend on the agreed scope. | HomeGuide: house cleaning prices · Published · Checked |
| 3 bed / 2 bath (Dallas–Fort Worth, TX) | from $450 per visit | Standard clean of the same home from $225. | Simply Spotless DFW: Dallas–Fort Worth cleaning prices · Checked |
| 3 bed / 2 bath (Seattle, WA) | from $446.80 per visit | Includes inside cabinets, oven and fridge. | NW Maids: Seattle house cleaning prices · Checked |
| 3 bed / 2 bath (New Haven County, CT) | from $475 per visit | Includes the oven, refrigerator and interior window glass. | Robins Nest Cleaning: Connecticut cleaning rates · Checked |
| 3 bed / 2 bath (Columbus, OH) | from $460 per visit | Adds inside cabinets, drawers, fridge, freezer and stove. | LemonMaid Cleaning: Columbus pricing · Checked |
| 3 bedrooms (Queens, NY) | $410 per visit | Includes cabinets, closets and appliances; standard clean $205. | Green Hands Cleaning Services: Queens prices · Checked |
| 3 bedrooms (Union County, NJ) | $380–$520 per visit | Flat price set at a walk-through. | DM House Cleaning: New Jersey prices · Checked |
| 1,501–2,100 sq ft (Phoenix, AZ) | from $504 per visit | Covers cabinet and appliance interiors. | Greater Phoenix Cleaning: Phoenix prices · Checked |
| 1,801–2,400 sq ft (Nashville, TN) | from $650 per visit | Includes the inside of the oven and fridge. | Maid Cleaning Nashville: prices · Checked |
| Added to a standard clean (Pittsburgh, PA) | $150 per visit | On top of the standard price; adds inside cabinets and detailed appliance cleaning. | Wexford Cleaning: Pittsburgh prices · Checked |
How much should a move-out clean cost?
Start from your standard price for the home and double it. Simply Spotless DFW goes from $225 to $450 for a 3/2, Green Hands in Queens from $205 to $410, and LemonMaid in Columbus from $250 to $460. By square foot, Greater Phoenix Cleaning starts at $504 for 1,501–2,100 sq ft and Maid Cleaning Nashville at $650 for 1,801–2,400.
Some companies add a flat fee instead of a second price list: Wexford Cleaning in Pittsburgh adds $150 to its standard price, and NW Maids in Seattle adds $195 for homes up to four bedrooms. Either way works if the fee covers the extra hours.
What does a move-out clean include that a regular clean does not?
The inside of everything: cabinets, drawers and closets, the oven and fridge, and often interior windows and a garage sweep. NW Maids, Robins Nest, LemonMaid and Maid Cleaning Nashville all put appliance or cabinet interiors in the move price, and Robins Nest adds interior window glass at no extra charge.
Write the checklist on the quote line by line. A landlord or buyer will walk the house with that list in mind, and the line that is missing is the one you get called back for.
Should you price move-outs by bedrooms, square feet or the hour?
By bedrooms or square feet when you can see the house first; by the hour when you cannot. Most companies here publish flat move-out prices by bedroom count or size band. MagiClean Seattle bills move cleans at $75 per cleaner-hour with an hour estimate given up front, and Lana Li Cleaning in Chicago at $50.
Hourly protects you from the house that turns out worse than the photos. If you quote flat without seeing it, set the price for a lived-in empty home and say that heavy grime, wall washing or debris left behind will be priced on site.
What should a move-out quote say before you start?
Three conditions: the home is empty, water and power are on, and the price covers the checklist, not the result of the landlord’s inspection. Furniture and boxes block the cabinets, closets and floors the price assumes.
Add the date and a time window, since move-outs run against key handovers. If the tenant is still packing when you arrive, the job is a regular deep clean with obstacles, and the quote should say how you will handle that.
Three worked prices
The first price is a published 3/2 move-out price, the second multiplies floor area by a rate inside HomeGuide’s band, and the third adds a published move-out fee to a standard clean.
A 3 bed / 2 bath on a published price list. Simply Spotless DFW’s move-out price for a 3/2, from $450.
Move-out clean, 3 bed / 2 bath: 1 visit × $450 = $450.
Example total: $450. Rate source: Simply Spotless DFW: Dallas–Fort Worth cleaning prices, checked 2026-10-15.
An 1,800 sq ft home priced by area. 1,800 sq ft at $0.25 per sq ft, inside HomeGuide’s $0.22–$0.33 move-out band.
Move-out clean: 1,800 square feet × $0.25 = $450.
Example total: $450. Rate source: HomeGuide: house cleaning prices, checked 2026-10-15.
A standard clean plus a move-out fee. Wexford Cleaning’s one-time standard clean for a 2 bed / 2 bath, plus its $150 move-out addition.
Standard clean, 2 bed / 2 bath: 1 visit × $205 = $205.
Move-out addition: cabinets and appliances: 1 visit × $150 = $150.
Example total: $355. Rate source: Wexford Cleaning: Pittsburgh prices, checked 2026-10-15.
Frequently asked questions
Should I charge more if the house is not empty?
Yes, or reschedule. Furniture and boxes block the cabinets, closets and floors a move-out price assumes, so quote it as a deep clean with obstacles, or move the date to after the truck leaves.
Do I clean inside the oven and fridge on a move-out?
Most published move-out prices include both: NW Maids, Robins Nest, LemonMaid, Maid Cleaning Nashville and Gmaids all list them. Leave them out only if the quote says so.
How many hours should a move-out take?
Divide your price by your hourly rate to see how many cleaner-hours you are selling. Diamond Maids in Brooklyn books move cleans at a minimum of three cleaners for two hours, six cleaner-hours.
Sources
- HomeGuide: house cleaning prices · Published · Checked
- MagiClean: Seattle house cleaning · Checked
- Simply Spotless DFW: Dallas–Fort Worth cleaning prices · Checked
- NW Maids: Seattle house cleaning prices · Checked
- Robins Nest Cleaning: Connecticut cleaning rates · Checked
- LemonMaid Cleaning: Columbus pricing · Checked
- Green Hands Cleaning Services: Queens prices · Checked
- DM House Cleaning: New Jersey prices · Checked
- Greater Phoenix Cleaning: Phoenix prices · Checked
- Maid Cleaning Nashville: prices · Checked
- Wexford Cleaning: Pittsburgh prices · Checked
- Diamond Maids: Brooklyn rates · Checked
- Lana Li Cleaning: Chicago rates · Checked
- Gmaids: Dallas house cleaning · Checked