The Level Index
CleaningHow does your cleaning company compare?
Labor leverage, contract retention, route density, and pricing benchmarks for U.S. commercial janitorial, residential cleaning, and specialty/healthcare cleaning operators. Sourced from BSCAI, ISSA, BLS OEWS, and the Level founding team's operator analysis.
Last refreshed April 2026. BSCAI annual market study, ISSA pricing guidelines, BLS OEWS wage percentiles, public IFM 10-Ks (ABM, Aramark, Vestis), and the Level founding team's operator analysis.
$110B
Market size
U.S. janitorial services revenue (2025)
1.25M+
Establishments
Cleaning businesses in the U.S.
2.45M
Employment
Janitors & building cleaners (BLS)
$17/hr
Median wage
Median cleaner wage (BLS 2024)
Check your own numbers
The benchmark is not the answer. Your account-level labor math is.
A cleaning company can look healthy on blended labor cost and still have two buildings, routes, or supervisors consuming the profit. We compare the benchmark to your actual account economics.
In the free audit, we check:
- •labor cost by account, building, route, and supervisor pod
- •cleaner hours vs. bid hours, including overtime and rework
- •payroll timing against customer payment terms and DSO
We use this to prepare your audit before the call. Your numbers stay private.
About the Data
The Level Index is compiled from the founding team's analysis of 2,200+ contractors ($13.25B in revenue) across operating, private-equity, and CFO roles, plus named public filings, government statistics, and industry association surveys. This page focuses on commercial janitorial, residential, and specialty cleaning, drawn from BSCAI · ISSA · BLS · Level, public company 10-Ks, and the founding team's operator analysis. Where private-company quartile data is not publicly published, we use the best available median, range, or surveyed cohort and label the source clearly.
Methodology
True P10-P90 percentile distributions for private cleaning operators in the $1-50M band are not published in free public sources. BSCAI member surveys, IBISWorld reports, and Verdantix research require licensing. Where percentile data is unavailable, this page uses BLS wage percentiles + BSCAI survey buckets + ISSA pricing bands + public-company proxies, clearly labeled.
The Level CLEAR Framework
Five pillars of cleaning financial health
Every metric in the Level Index maps to one of five pillars. Together they give you a complete picture of where money is made, lost, stuck, or at risk.
DSO, working capital, payroll funding cycle. Property management clients can stretch payment to 60+ days; cash discipline matters.
Cleaner wage, hourly turnover (~200% industry avg), supervisor ratios, workloading discipline. Labor is 50-90% of job cost, there is no bigger lever.
Gross margin by service type, EBITDA margin, route density. ABM as a public anchor runs ~12% gross, ~6% adj. EBITDA at scale, most SMBs run higher gross with thinner overhead.
Account retention (BSCAI: 73% lose <10%/yr), contract size, pricing per sq ft, sales cycle length. Top-quintile accounts often drive 60-80% of profit.
Workers comp exposure, customer concentration, geographic concentration, insurance cost, bad debt. WC class 9014 is a structural margin tax.
Key Finding
Contract cleaning runs ~200% annual hourly turnover, you're rehiring your entire workforce twice a year.
Industry consensus puts annualized turnover at 100-400% (BSCAI / Swept industry research), with ~200% as the most-cited median. For comparison, the average U.S. service-industry turnover is ~20%. The labor model isn't broken, it was built around the assumption that workers are interchangeable, which made retention nobody's job. The companies that win in this market made retention everyone's job.
BSCAI 2024 data shows 73% of cleaning operators lose <10% of accounts per year, but those companies are also the ones investing in supervisor density (1:10 to 1:20) and route stability.
Public IFM operators run ~60-day DSO. Most SMB cleaners run higher.
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
Source / sample: ABM FY2024 10-K + industry working-capital guidance
Slow-paying property management firms and large institutional clients can stretch DSO to 60+ days. Negotiate ACH-on-receipt or 2/10 net 30 terms; a 2% discount for 20 days early payment is cheaper than financing $500K of AR.
How we measured
ABM FY2024 10-K, industry working-capital research
Cleaner wages span $11-$23/hr, and your local market sets your unit economics.
Janitor & Cleaner Hourly Wage (BLS OEWS)
Source / sample: BLS OEWS May 2023, SOC 37-2011 (n: national)
These are employee wages, not employer fully-loaded cost. Add 25-35% for taxes, WC, and benefits to get your real cost per hour. In high-cost markets (NYC, Bay Area), the P90 has been the floor since 2024.
How we measured
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics 2023
Labor is 50-80% of total job cost. There is no other lever that matters as much.
Labor as % of Total Job Cost (Industry Range)
Source / sample: BSCAI production rate guidance + facility-side benchmarks
FMLink benchmarking: facility-side labor often makes up 85-90% of janitorial cost. This is why workloading discipline (square feet per cleaner-hour) matters more than equipment, supplies, or even pricing in most contracts.
How we measured
BSCAI + FMLink benchmarking
Office cleaning prices range from $0.09 to $0.17 per sq ft, and operators leave money on the table at both ends.
Pricing $/sq ft/month (ISSA Guidelines)
Source / sample: ISSA Commercial Cleaning Rates per Square Foot
Pricing is the public-facing anchor. Profit is won/lost on workloading + wage + frequency. A $0.13/sq ft contract at 5,000 sq ft per cleaner-hour is profitable; at 2,500 sq ft per cleaner-hour it's losing money.
How we measured
ISSA Commercial Cleaning Pricing Guidelines
73% of operators lose less than 10% of accounts per year, but the bottom 4% lose more than half.
Annual Account Turnover (BSCAI 2024 Survey Buckets)
Source / sample: BSCAI 2024 Market Study, % of respondent firms
Account loss isn't usually catastrophic, it's death by a thousand cuts. Even '10% loss' destroys margin if the lost accounts are large. Pareto applies: top-quintile accounts often carry 60-80% of profit.
How we measured
BSCAI 2024 Industry Market Study
Workers comp is the silent margin killer in commercial cleaning.
Workers Comp Cost as % of Payroll (Janitorial, NCCI Class 9014)
Source / sample: Illustrative range; janitorial class 9014 loss costs vary by state and experience mod (EMR)
Janitorial WC class codes carry premium loss costs, driven primarily by slips and falls, lifting and strain injuries, and chemical exposure (the qualitative loss drivers NCCI and state bureaus consistently name). Every WC claim hits your experience mod, which compounds for three years. Operators with mature safety programs (PPE, training, near-miss reporting) consistently run 30-40% lower premiums.
How we measured
NCCI class 9014 advisory loss costs; state WC bureaus
Benchmarks by Service Type
CleaningCost structure and pricing leverage vary by what you clean. Specialty work commands premium rates but carries compliance overhead.
Office Janitorial
Pricing range (ISSA)
$0.09-$0.17 / sq ft / mo
Medical / Healthcare
Pricing range (ISSA)
$0.14-$0.29 / sq ft / mo
Industrial / Manufacturing
Pricing range (ISSA)
$0.08-$0.20 / sq ft / mo
Warehouse / Distribution
Pricing range
$0.07-$0.15 / sq ft / mo
Residential / Maids
Median cleaner wage
$16.66/hr (BLS)
Specialty / Post-Construction
Premium vs. office
1.5-3× standard rates
Advanced Cleaning Metrics
Sub-segment breakdowns, advanced operational metrics, and percentile distributions for commercial janitorial, residential, and specialty cleaning.
| Metric | Bottom Quartile | Median | Top Quartile | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin (Office Janitorial) | < 25% | 30-40% | > 45% | Level founding-team observation for SMB janitorial. Anchored against ABM Industries FY2025 10-K (consolidated gross margin 12.3%, the large-scale integrated-facilities low-margin floor); SMB janitorial runs higher on thinner overhead. |
| Gross Margin (Specialty / Healthcare) | < 30% | 40-50% | > 55% | Level founding-team observation; premium pricing offsets compliance overhead |
| EBITDA Margin | < 4% | 8-12% | > 18% | Public IFM runs lower (ABM 6.3-6.5% guide) |
| Hourly Turnover | > 300% | ~200% | < 100% | Industry consensus from BSCAI/Swept research |
| Account Loss Rate (annual) | > 20% | <10% | <5% | BSCAI 2024, 73% report <10% loss |
| Supervisor:Cleaner Ratio | 1:30+ | 1:10 to 1:20 | 1:8 to 1:12 | Healthcare and gov require tighter ratios |
| DSO (commercial) | > 75 days | 45-60 days | < 35 days | ABM proxy ~60 days at IFM scale |
| Workers Comp Cost % of Payroll | > 9% | 4-6% | < 4% | NCCI janitorial class 9014 averages about $4.54 per $100 of payroll (roughly 4.5%), ranging by state and experience mod from ~$3.32 to $6.16 (NY 6.2%, FL 2.5%). High-cost states and loaded experience mods push toward the top of the range. |
| Insurance Total % of Revenue | > 4% | 1-3% | < 1.5% | GL + WC + bond stack. Janitorial operator benchmarks (analysis of 200+ real quotes) put the full stack at 1-3% of revenue; fleet-heavy or high-cost-state firms run higher. |
| Customer Concentration (top 5 % revenue) | > 60% | 30-40% | < 20% | Level founding-team observation; single account >25% is platform risk |
Benchmarks for other service businesses
Simple pricing
Three tiers, one ladder.
$99-$500/mo
Bookkeeping
The clean data layer: monthly books, reconciliations, and organized financials AI can work with.
$1,500-$5,000/mo
Scale
The full AI operating layer: custom agents, weekly actions, and benchmarks to grow margin per hour.
Custom
Platform / Multi-Office
Multi-branch benchmarking and scorecards for PE-backed and multi-location groups.
How does your cleaning company compare?
We'll benchmark your labor leverage, route density, gross margin, and contract retention against the industry. Free audit included.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a healthy gross margin for a commercial cleaning company?
Office janitorial typically runs 30-40% gross margin, with top quartile above 45%. Specialty work (healthcare, post-construction) runs higher (40-55%) because of premium pricing. Public IFM operators like ABM run ~12% consolidated, much lower because their model includes integrated facility services with thinner gross structures.
Why is cleaning industry turnover so high?
Industry consensus puts annual hourly turnover at 100-400%, with ~200% as the most-cited median. The labor model historically treated workers as interchangeable, which made retention nobody's job. Operators who invest in supervisor density (1:10 to 1:20), route stability, and meaningful pay raises consistently halve their turnover, and dramatically improve margin via lower training cost and account retention.
What should I price commercial cleaning per square foot?
ISSA pricing guidelines: $0.09-$0.17/sq ft/month for office, $0.14-$0.29 for medical, $0.08-$0.20 for industrial, $0.07-$0.15 for warehouse. But pricing is the floor, profit is determined by workloading. A $0.13 office contract is profitable at 5,000 sq ft/cleaner-hour and unprofitable at 2,500. Always price the labor minutes, then convert to $/sq ft.
How concentrated should my customer base be?
Top quartile cleaning operators keep top-5 customer concentration below 20%. Above 60% (bottom quartile) is platform risk, losing one contract can be existential. The Pareto reality: even diversified operators usually have top-quintile accounts driving 60-80% of profit, so concentration of profit (not just revenue) is the real risk to manage.
What's a normal DSO in commercial cleaning?
Healthy SMB cleaners run 45-60 day DSO; public IFM operators like ABM are around 60 days. Property managers and large institutional clients often pay slowly. Negotiate ACH-on-receipt for new contracts, offer 2/10 net 30 discounts (a 2% discount for 20 days early payment is cheaper than financing $500K of AR), and escalate at 30 days past due, not 60.
Sources
- • BSCAI 2024 Industry Market Study (account turnover buckets)
- • ISSA Commercial Cleaning Pricing Guidelines
- • BLS OEWS, janitors and building cleaners (SOC 37-2011) wage percentiles
- • ABM, Aramark, Vestis 10-K filings (working capital, gross margin, EBITDA proxies)
- • FMLink janitorial staffing benchmarks
- • NCCI workers comp loss cost guides (Class 9014)
- • Level Index, the founding team's analysis of 2,200+ contractors ($13.25B revenue) across operating, private-equity, and CFO roles, extended with cleaning operator observations
The Level Index represents the personal analysis and professional opinions of the Level team, compiled from public industry surveys, government statistics, SEC filings, and the founding team's operator analysis. All data is anonymized and aggregated. Specific figures are rounded and should be treated as directional benchmarks, not precise measurements. The Level Index does not constitute financial advice. Individual results vary based on segment, geography, company size, and operational maturity. © 2026 Level. All rights reserved.
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