February 27, 2024
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Experts in this article:
Stacey owns an office cleaning business that makes $500,000 in annual sales. She has over 27 years in the cleaning industry and...
Kari is a writer for SideHustles.com. She previously managed a website in the privacy and digital compliance industry and...
Earn
$10–$30/hrLocation
NationwideRequirements
NoneHouse cleaning is a job that can take many forms. You can work as an independent contractor, through a maid service, as a live-in cleaner, or for your own business.
Even if you aren’t ready to adopt a full-time occupation as a house cleaner, there are still tons of ways to score jobs and make good money. Here are the best ways to find house cleaning jobs and start your own house cleaning side hustle.
Browse hundreds of house cleaning gigs with these apps for house cleaners
One of the easiest ways to find house cleaning jobs is to use home maintenance and tasking apps. This is a particularly good option if you’re only looking for part-time work or a side gig you can do alongside your full-time job.
Become a “tasker” for TaskRabbit and complete small jobs and chores for people in your area. If you’re trying to break into the side hustle game but not fully committed to a gig cleaning houses, TaskRabbit is a great place to start because you can offer all kinds of services or complete odd jobs that crop up.
The best part about TaskRabbit is that they don’t take a cut of your earnings. You’ll pay a $25 registration fee when you sign up, then you’ll get to keep 100% of the money you make on jobs (based on the hourly rate you set).
TaskRabbit claims that they’ve seen taskers earn up to $10,000 per month, but this is likely well above the norm.
Another tasking app, Handy connects homeowners with contractors to perform home-maintenance tasks like cleaning, lawn care, and repairs. To qualify as a contractor for Handy, you’ll need to have some experience in the field, so this isn’t the place to start fresh if you’ve never done professional house cleaning before.
It’s worth noting that many users have lodged grievances against the company for its punishing penalty fees, which workers have to pay for small quibbles, like leaving a job early (even if it’s completed) or not being able to complete a job due to a homeowner’s error, like forgetting to leave a house key.
Additionally, Handy isn’t totally transparent about their commission structure, and many contractors complain that the app takes a large cut of their earnings. This app may be worth exploring, but we wouldn’t recommend it as a first choice.
An all-in-one job management platform, TIDY is an app you can use to find house cleaning jobs and clients, manage your gigs, process payments, and even advertise your services.
They offer two membership tiers:
TIDY sends out payments weekly, and they claim that you can make up to $27 per hour or $160 per day, depending on your location. 1
Sign up for Thumbtack to get leads on house cleaning gigs near you. This home maintenance platform links homeowners and renters with home-care professionals (including cleaners) based on their profiles and prices.
Although you don’t need to pay subscription fees or commissions, Thumbtack charges a percentage fee for leads. This means each time you contact a customer to give them a quote, Thumbtack will charge you a fee that varies depending on the value of the lead.
The popular cleaning-service app MaidsApp is not a marketplace for independent contractors. Instead, it’s a dedicated maid service that hires cleaners and contracts them out to perform jobs.
This makes the app incredibly convenient if you’re not ready to start sourcing your own clients. Another big plus is that you can choose your own hours, so you don’t need to commit yourself to a full-time cleaning job.
One of the company’s posts on the MaidsApp Facebook page says that housekeepers can make up to $25–$30 per hour. However, beware that recent reviews of the app suggest that it may have some administrative issues or is no longer widely used.
You’ve probably already heard of the popular side hustle site Care.com. Care also has a mobile app, and although the company is usually synonymous with babysitting and pet-care jobs, they also offers house cleaning gigs.
Care offers two pricing options for subscription memberships:
Like TaskRabbit, the Care app offers a variety of job opportunities, making it one of the best options for novice side hustlers who haven’t committed to a cleaning career.
Turno is a company that connects professional cleaners with Airbnb owners who are looking for someone to clean their rental properties. The company’s app for workers, Turno for Cleaners, doesn’t list job openings—instead, it’s designed to help you find new clients and manage your cleaning business.
This app gives you a place to compile contacts, schedule appointments, and automate your workflow. It also provides a marketplace for you to find Airbnb owners looking for cleaners.
On one hand, this system gives you a ton of control over your cleaning services and complements anyone trying to start their own business. On the other hand, you’ll have to put in a lot of legwork and find your own cleaning gigs.
HomeAdvisor, also known as Angi Cleaning, is a platform that matches home services professionals such as cleaners, handyworkers, and moving companies with people who need their help.
When you sign up to the platform as a contractor, you get sent “leads.” These come from customers who have seen your ad and want to connect with you, although you’re not guaranteed to get jobs from every lead. HomeAdvisor charges you a fee when they send you a lead, with the amount depending on the type of project involved and the location.
We spoke to one former cleaner, Stacey Freeman, who grew her office cleaning side hustle into a business and now provides consultancy services for owners of cleaning businesses. She had previously used HomeAdvisor to find cleaning work and highly recommends them.
However, it’s possible that the platform has gone downhill since Freeman used it. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission ordered the company to pay up to $7.2 million for “deceptive and misleading tactics.” 2
Join a team of house cleaners to avoid the hassle of seeking out customers
Signing up to work for a formal house cleaning service can take off a lot of the stress of finding your own customers. It’s not as flexible as working through an app or starting your own cleaning business, but it’s a good option if you want a part-time house cleaning gig.
The full-service cleaning company Molly Maid hires cleaners to join their team where they have physical locations. Check whether Molly Maid has an office in your area and offers house cleaning jobs near you.
As a cleaner with the company, you’ll partner with other cleaners to complete local jobs. The company will provide you with a car for transportation and supplies for cleaning. According to salaries reported on Glassdoor, cleaners tend to earn in the range of $13–$18 per hour. 3
On the downside, many employees claim that scheduling can be inflexible and that it’s tough to get time off. This means Molly Maid may not be your top option if you’re looking for a low-commitment cleaning side hustle.
Another location-based cleaning service, Merry Maids offers part-time and full-time positions to cleaners who live near a physical Merry Maids office. Through the company, you’ll enjoy paid training, employment benefits, and a flexible schedule.
The company claims that they provide a car to transport you between jobs, but some employee reviews indicate this isn’t always the case. Employee-reported salaries indicate the company pays around $13–$18 per hour, which is similar to competitors. 4
Similar to Molly Maid and Merry Maids, The Maids is a formal cleaning company with physical locations that offers part-time employment. They also offer paid training, cleaning supplies, resources, and employment benefits.
Also like the other services, the company claims to offer free transportation, flexible scheduling, and good pay—all points that have been refuted online by former employees. Self-reported salaries from cleaners indicate that the company tends to pay cleaners in the range of $12–$18 per hour. 5
Use job sites to browse openings in your area and broaden your job search
You don’t need to use a specialized app or service to find work as a house cleaner. In fact, businesses and individuals post tons of house cleaning job listings every day on online job boards. Some of these websites are generalized job boards, while others are dedicated to home care.
Here are generic job platforms that you can use to look for cleaning jobs:
Freeman recommends Indeed, plus a few places where she’d hired cleaners for her own business.
“I posted jobs in places like local employment agencies that were federally or state funded to help locals find jobs,” she said. “These places were free for the employer and for the new hires. Check out Ada S. McKinley Community Services and Catholic charities.” She also says that workforce agencies like Goodwill Industries International are a good bet.
If you don’t want to risk getting irrelevant search results, you can browse job listings on the following sites, which are dedicated job platforms that only list openings for housekeeping and cleaning jobs:
With these sites, you create a profile, and then potential clients can reach out to you if they have a job for you. You can also browse job listings and apply for the house cleaning gigs you want.
Running your own cleaning side business can maximize your earnings, but it’s hard work
You can always take complete control over your cleaning hustle by starting your own independent house cleaning business. You don’t need to launch an involved operation with a team of housekeepers, expensive steam cleaners, and a branded van. In fact, you can start a cleaning business on the side with relatively little overhead and fuss.
All you need to do is follow these steps:
We asked Freeman where someone can get information to help them set up a cleaning business, and she recommended local state governments. “I got a lot of information from my local chamber of commerce and various business organizations,” she said.
Another tip she offered was to practice cleaning for neighbors or friends for free before taking on real jobs. This will help you hone your skills.
The main advantages to starting your own business include complete control over your schedule and rates and 100% ownership of your earnings.
However, starting your own business comes with tax and legal implications, and you won’t have the guaranteed earnings or employee protections you’d get by working for a cleaning company.
We asked Freeman what she thought were the hardest parts of starting a cleaning business. She said she struggled with learning how to hire and fire employees, mastering new cleaning services and methods, and networking.
You can make good money from cleaning, although there is overhead involved
According to Thumbtack, the national average cost of house cleaning is $40–$50 per hour, per cleaner. 6 Freeman backed up these rates but added that you would receive less than this if you were working for a cleaning company.
“The rate I would pay the employees would be about a third of these figures,” she said. “Independent contractors are paid about 60%–75% of the amounts per hour [i.e., about $24–$38 per hour].”
However, the exact amount you’ll make from cleaning houses depends on a variety of factors, including your mode of operation (i.e., whether you’re self-employed, working for a company, or using a third-party app or platform), where you live, and what tasks are included in your services.
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