The State of Home Cleaning in the Pacific Northwest 2026
In the Pacific Northwest, professional house cleaning costs more than the national average. Why, you ask? Well, it’s mostly because of labor costs. The typical cleaning worker in Washington earns $20.61 an hour, about 16% above the national mean of $17.83 (BLS, May 2025).
Two forces are increasing the price the most: (1) cleaning labor is more expensive here than almost anywhere in the country (as I’m sure you’ve noticed!), and (2) families have less and less time to do the cleaning. Americans now spend an average of just 37 minutes a day on housework, and on any given day 63% don’t clean at all. No judgement, but if this trend continues, Seattleites and others in the rainy PNW are going to need some help!
The numbers
The Pacific Northwest pays a premium for clean
$20.61/hour ‐ what a cleaning worker earns in Washington. That’s the mean hourly wage for Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Washington, roughly 16% above the U.S. average of $17.83. In Oregon it’s $19.00 (+7%). Higher wages are the first reason PNW cleaning prices are usually above the national norm. (BLS OEWS, May 2025.)
860,670 people clean homes for a living in the U.S. The mean wage nationally is $17.83/hour ($37,080/year); the median is $17.07/hour. This excludes the self-employed, so the real workforce is larger. (BLS OEWS, May 2025.)
Seattle metro pays 32% above the national average across every job. Workers in the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue area earned a mean $43.16/hour in May 2024 versus $32.66 nationwide. The whole local labor market runs a third above the U.S. norm ‐ so any service that depends on local hands (especially cleaning) costs more. (BLS OEWS regional release, May 2024.)
How Americans actually clean
37 minutes a day ‐ the average time Americans spend on housework. Across the whole population, “housework” (interior cleaning, laundry) averages 0.62 hours per day. (BLS American Time Use Survey, 2024.)
On a typical day, 63% of Americans don’t clean at all. Only 37.0% of people did any housework on an average day in 2024 ‐ exactly why “done-for-you” cleaning keeps growing. (BLS ATUS, 2024.)
The chore gap: women spend ~2.4× as much time cleaning as men. Women average 0.88 hours/day of housework to men’s 0.36 ‐ and 48.5% of women do housework on a given day versus 24.9% of men. What is this, the 1950s? (BLS ATUS, 2024.)
What cleaning costs in 2026
$100–$300 is the national price band for a standard clean ‐ about $180 on average. Most homeowners pay within that range, or roughly $0.10–$0.20 per square foot. (HomeGuide, 2026.) Money well spent if you ask us! (We might be biased)
A deep clean runs ~1.5–2× a standard clean. Nationally about $0.18–$0.25/sq ft, or ~$250–$450 for a 2,000-square-foot home; move-out cleans typically land $200–$500. (HomeGuide / Angi, 2026.) More effort = higher price! But a spotless home is worth it’s weight in gold. (Not literally, that would be one heck of a pricey house)
In the Seattle metro, deep and move-out cleans commonly start at $300 and climb past $600 for the really big waterfront homes or mansions. If you live in one of those ‐ can we be your roommate? Standard cleans here run $120–$250 ‐ visibly above the national bands. (Angi / market data, 2026.)
Airbnb turnovers cost $95–$155 a visit in greater Seattle. Short-term-rental turn cleans are priced per property and scale with bedrooms. (Turno market data, greater Seattle, 2026.)
The transparency benchmark
One price, five cities: NW Maids charges the same flat rate in Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Kennewick, and Yakima. A one-bed, one-bath home starts at $135.07/week (recurring) or $168.84 one-time ‐ identical in every market we serve. That’s right, we don’t hide our pricing behind quote forms. We have fixed, published rates. That means you can compare our rates when choosing a company. (NW Maids published rates, verified against the live booking form, 2026.)
Local cleaning rates step down ~31% from Seattle to Yakima. Individual-cleaner starting rates fall west-to-east across the region: Seattle $26.16/hr → Tacoma $23.78 → Portland $23.05 → Kennewick $20.75 → Yakima $19.97. Seattle’s starting rate is about 31% higher than Yakima’s ‐ within a single region. (Care.com city cost guides, June 2026.)
The data, in tables
| Area | Cleaning workers employed | Mean hourly wage | Mean annual wage | vs. U.S. mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 860,670 | $17.83 | $37,080 | ‐ |
| Washington | 18,480 | $20.61 | $42,860 | +16% |
| Oregon | 12,920 | $19.00 | $39,510 | +7% |
| Measure | Everyone | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. hours/day on housework | 0.62 | 0.36 | 0.88 |
| Share doing any housework on an average day | 37.0% | 24.9% | 48.5% |
| Service | Typical PNW market (per visit) | NW Maids (flat, all 5 cities) |
|---|---|---|
| Standard / recurring | $120–$250 | from $135.07 (weekly) |
| Deep clean | $300–$600+ | from $246.05 (one-time) |
| Move-in / move-out | $300–$600+ | from $369.59 (one-time) |
| Airbnb turnover | $95–$155 | quoted per property |
Methodology & sources
This report deliberately uses primary sources for every headline number. Wage and employment figures come straight from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS and the American Time Use Survey), queried on 2026-06-09. Price ranges come from established cost guides (HomeGuide, Angi, Care.com, Turno). NW Maids’ own figures are the company’s published flat rates, reverse-engineered from and verified against its live booking engine.
We excluded the widely circulated “total U.S. cleaning market size” figures, because the commonly cited numbers come from paywalled or aggregator estimates we can’t independently verify against a primary source. Where a figure is a market range rather than a government statistic, it’s labeled as such.
Definitions. “Cleaning worker” = BLS Standard Occupational Classification 37-2012, Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (excludes janitors/building cleaners and the self-employed). “Housework” follows the ATUS definition (interior cleaning, laundry, and related tasks).
- BLS OEWS national & state wages, occupation 37-2012, May 2025 ‐ bls.gov/oes
- BLS OEWS, Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, May 2024 ‐ regional release
- BLS American Time Use Survey, 2024, Table 1 ‐ atus.t01
- HomeGuide ‐ house cleaning prices
- Angi ‐ cost to hire a house cleaner
- Care.com city cost guides (June 2026)
- NW Maids 2026 pricing ‐ source of truth
Cite & embed this report
Citation: “The State of Home Cleaning in the Pacific Northwest 2026,” NW Maids. https://nwmaids.com/research/state-of-home-cleaning-pnw-2026/
Embed one stat with attribution (the link back is the point) ‐ copy this:
<blockquote>
In Washington, cleaning workers earn $20.61/hour on average ‐ about 16% above
the national mean ($17.83). On a typical day, 63% of Americans don’t clean at all.
<cite>Source: <a href="https://nwmaids.com/research/state-of-home-cleaning-pnw-2026/">
The State of Home Cleaning in the Pacific Northwest 2026, NW Maids</a></cite>
</blockquote>Get your home’s number
Do you live in the PNW? Do you want an exact price for your home? → Free House Cleaning Cost Calculator
Compare your city → 2026 PNW House Cleaning Cost Index