How much to pay an Airbnb cleaner

There is no single right rate for an Airbnb cleaner, because pay depends on your market, the size of the home and how much each turnover involves. What you can do is build a fair number from real inputs: how long a clean takes, a local hourly rate, laundry, travel and supplies. This guide shows you how, and the calculator on this page turns those inputs into a per-turnover figure.

Before you agree on any number, agree on the job. A written scope stops arguments about what the pay covers, and our free Airbnb cleaning checklist is a good place to start.

Pay per turnover or pay by the hour?

There are two basic ways to pay a turnover cleaner. Each one suits a different stage of the relationship.

Agree in writing what happens when a guest leaves the place in much worse shape than usual, such as an hourly rate for the extra time or a set extra amount.

What drives the price of a turnover

• Size and layout. Square footage matters, but bathrooms and kitchens need the most detailed work, so each extra bathroom adds real time.
• Beds and guests. Every bed has to be stripped and made, and more guests mean more towels, dishes and trash.
• Laundry. Washing linens on site while cleaning is part of the cleaning time. Taking linens home or to a laundromat adds time and travel, so it is simpler to pay for it per load.
• Same-day turns. When one guest checks out and the next checks in the same day, the whole clean has to fit between checkout and check-in. Agree a same-day amount in advance.
• Travel. A rural or remote property costs a cleaner time and fuel. One clear way to cover it is to pay for round-trip miles. The IRS business standard mileage rate is 76 cents a mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026, and it was 72.5 cents for the first half of the year, which gives you a published benchmark.
• Supplies. Decide who buys cleaning products, paper goods and guest toiletries. If your cleaner buys them, reimburse the receipts or add a set supply amount.
• Extras. Hot tubs, pools, grills, restocking, damage photos and seasonal deep cleans all take time. Price each one separately so the base rate stays clear.

How to set a fair rate in your market

Cleaning wages differ from one state and city to the next, so a national average will not tell you what your cleaner should earn. Use this method instead.

1. Write down the scope. List every task in a turnover, including laundry, restocking and photos.
2. Time real turnovers. Ask your cleaner to note start and finish times on two or three turns, and use the average. Include laundry time if it happens during the clean.
3. Look up local wage data. The Labor Department's O*NET site has a wage page for maids and housekeeping cleaners that shows wages by state or ZIP code, using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Nationally, the 2025 median was $17.07 an hour.
4. Adjust for independent work. Those figures are wages paid to employees, and the survey behind them does not cover self-employed workers. An independent cleaner pays self-employment tax of 15.3% for Social Security and Medicare, and covers their own car, supplies and any insurance. Their hourly rate will usually sit above the employee wage in the same area.
5. Ask for quotes. Give two or three local cleaners or cleaning companies the same written scope and ask for a per-turnover price. Asking other hosts nearby what they pay helps too, as long as you compare the same scope.
6. Check the result. Divide your per-turnover figure by the real hours. If the answer is close to your state's minimum wage, the rate is unlikely to keep a good cleaner for long. The federal minimum is $7.25 an hour, and the Department of Labor lists each state's own rate, many of them higher.

Turn it into a per-turnover rate

The formula is simple: the hours times the hourly rate, plus laundry, travel and extras. Here is a worked example with made-up inputs, not a typical rate. A 3-hour clean at $25 an hour is $75. Add 2 loads of laundry at $5 a load ($10) and 10 round-trip miles at 76 cents ($7.60), and the turnover comes to $92.60. You might round that to $95 and write it down as the agreed rate.

The calculator on this page does the same math with your own numbers. It also shows what the total works out to per hour of cleaning, which is the number to compare with local wage data. Review the rate at least once a year, and again whenever the scope changes.

Short stays and same-day turns

A one-night stay still needs a full turnover: the beds, bathrooms and kitchen are reset either way. Airbnb lets you charge guests a lower cleaning fee for stays of 1 or 2 nights, but that is a pricing choice for guests and does not shorten the clean, so keep your cleaner's pay the same. Our guide to setting your Airbnb cleaning fee covers the guest side of the numbers.

Paperwork for US hosts

If your cleaner works for themselves rather than as your employee, a little paperwork keeps everyone clear. This is general information, not tax or legal advice, so check your own situation with a tax professional.

• Contractor or employee. The IRS looks at the whole relationship, especially who has the right to direct and control the work, using behavioral, financial and relationship factors.
• A written agreement. Put the rate, the extras, the same-day amount, when you pay and how cancellations work in writing. Our Airbnb cleaner agreement template gives you a starting draft.

How to keep a good cleaner

A fair rate matters, but how you work together decides whether a good cleaner stays.

• Pay on time, every time. Agree when you pay, such as the same day or every Friday, and stick to it.
• Send the schedule early. Share each new booking as soon as it lands so your cleaner can plan around it. If you use TurnMyRental, you can set your cleaner's rate per property, and each job text then shows the date, the property and the pay rate before your cleaner replies YES or NO. We do not pay cleaners or take a cut of their pay, and our plans are a flat monthly price.
• Pay for surprises. Party messes, pet hair, late checkouts and broken items take extra time. Pay the extra you agreed without being asked twice.
• Have a backup. A second cleaner who knows the property protects your guests and takes pressure off your main cleaner. See how to hire a reliable Airbnb cleaner and what to do when your cleaner does not show up.