How to Price a Pressure Washing Job (So You Actually Profit)
The short answer: Price a pressure washing job by measuring the surface, applying a square-foot rate for that surface type, and checking the total against a minimum that covers your drive time, setup, chemicals, and equipment wear. Most residential exterior cleaning falls between $0.10 and $0.50 per square foot, with a job minimum of $150 to $250 so small jobs still pay. Build the estimate from real costs, not a competitor's flyer. CRMb turns those measurements and rates into a professional quote in minutes, then tracks the actual labor and chemical cost against the price so you learn whether each job made money.
Pressure washing looks like a simple job to price until the third quote of the week loses money. The water is cheap, the chemicals are not, and the real cost is the hour of drive time and setup that a $120 driveway never covers. A repeatable pricing method fixes that.
The three ways pressure washers price work
Every quote comes down to one of three approaches. Most successful operators use a blend.
Per square foot. The industry standard for flat surfaces like driveways, sidewalks, patios, and house exteriors. You measure the area and multiply by a rate. It scales cleanly and it is easy to explain to a customer.
Per job (flat rate). A single price for a defined scope, "wash the driveway and front walk for $185." Customers love the certainty. It only works when you already know your per-square-foot cost, because a flat rate is just a square-foot estimate with the math hidden.
Per hour. Reserved for unpredictable work, heavy grease, graffiti removal, or a surface you have never cleaned before. Hourly protects you when you cannot estimate the effort in advance, but most homeowners resist an open-ended clock, so use it sparingly and set expectations up front.
The trap is pricing per hour in your head while quoting a flat number to the customer, and never checking whether the two agreed. That is how a "$150/hour" business quietly runs at $70/hour.
Typical pressure washing rates by surface
Rates vary by region, water access, and how dirty the surface is, but these ranges are a realistic starting point for residential work:
| Surface | Typical rate |
|---|---|
| Concrete driveway / sidewalk | $0.15 – $0.30 per sq ft |
| Patio / pool deck | $0.20 – $0.40 per sq ft |
| House exterior (soft wash) | $0.15 – $0.40 per sq ft |
| Roof (soft wash) | $0.30 – $0.60 per sq ft |
| Deck / fence (wood) | $0.25 – $0.55 per sq ft |
| Commercial flatwork | $0.08 – $0.20 per sq ft |
Two rules make these numbers safe to use. First, always carry a job minimum, commonly $150 to $250, so a small driveway does not cost you money once travel and setup are counted. Second, soft washing is priced like pressure washing but is a different process, low pressure plus chemistry for surfaces like siding and roofs, and the chemical cost is higher, so do not quote a roof at driveway rates.
Build the estimate from your real costs
A rate only protects you if it sits above your cost. Work out the cost of a job in four buckets before you trust any per-square-foot number.
Labor. Your fully-loaded crew cost per hour, wage plus payroll taxes, workers' comp, and insurance, times the hours the job takes including drive and setup. If a two-person crew costs $70/hour loaded and the job is two hours door to door, that is $140 in labor before you have made a dollar. See how to calculate labor cost per job for the full method.
Chemicals and materials. Sodium hypochlorite, surfactants, degreasers, and detergents are a real per-job cost, especially on soft-wash work. Track what each job actually consumes so your rate reflects it.
Equipment and fuel. Pumps, hoses, surface cleaners, and the truck wear out and burn fuel. Fold an equipment-and-fuel allowance into every job rather than pretending the gear is free, see how to calculate equipment cost per hour thinking applied to your machines.
Overhead and profit. Insurance, your phone, software, and the time you spend quoting are overhead that every job has to carry a share of. Add your overhead rate, then add the profit margin you actually want on top, margin is not what is left over by accident, it is a number you decide in advance. See markup vs margin so you add the right percentage.
Price = labor + chemicals + equipment/fuel + overhead + profit. The per-square-foot rate is just a shortcut for jobs you have priced this way enough times to trust.
A worked example
A concrete driveway, 600 square feet, moderate dirt, standard suburban lot.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Square-foot price (600 sq ft × $0.22) | $132 |
| Check against job minimum ($175) | Use $175 |
| Estimated crew time (incl. drive + setup) | 1.75 hrs |
| Loaded labor cost | $122 |
| Chemicals + fuel | $18 |
| Total cost | $140 |
| Quoted price | $175 |
| Gross profit | $35 (20%) |
The square-foot math alone would have quoted $132, which is below the $140 it costs to do the job. The minimum is what saves you. This is exactly why a rate card without a minimum is dangerous on small work, and why you have to check the price against your cost every time until the pattern is second nature.
Why measuring beats guessing
The single most common pricing mistake is eyeballing the area. A driveway that "looks like about 500 feet" is often 700, and a 40% miss on the measurement is a 40% miss on the price. Measure it, from a walk-around, a wheel, or satellite imagery, and record the number on the quote so the price is defensible if the customer asks.
Recording the measurement also does something quieter and more valuable: it lets you compare the estimate to reality after the job. If you quoted 1.75 hours and the crew took three, the next driveway of that size gets priced correctly. That feedback loop is the difference between an operator who guesses forever and one whose numbers get sharper every month.
FAQ
How much should I charge for pressure washing a driveway? Most residential driveways land between $100 and $250, driven by size and how dirty they are, at roughly $0.15 to $0.30 per square foot. Always apply your job minimum, small driveways cost nearly as much to service as large ones once drive time and setup are counted.
What is a good profit margin on a pressure washing job? Aim for a gross margin that covers overhead and still leaves real net profit, many operators target 25% to 50% gross on labor-heavy exterior work. The number that matters is not a benchmark but whether the price clears your actual cost, see how to estimate profit margin on a job.
Should I charge per square foot or per hour? Per square foot for predictable flat surfaces, driveways, sidewalks, house washes. Per hour only when the effort is genuinely unknown, heavy grease, graffiti, or first-time surfaces. Whichever you quote, price it from cost first so the two methods agree.
How do I price a soft wash versus a pressure wash? Soft washing uses low pressure and more chemistry, so the chemical cost per square foot is higher even though the surface takes less physical effort. Price roofs and siding on their own rate, higher than driveway flatwork, and track chemical consumption so the rate stays honest.
Why do my pressure washing jobs feel busy but not profitable? Usually one of two reasons: no job minimum, so small jobs lose money on travel and setup, or labor time that runs long against the estimate without anyone noticing. Tracking actual crew hours against each quoted job surfaces both problems fast.
Getting started with CRMb
Pricing pressure washing profitably comes down to two habits: quote from real costs, and check the quote against what the job actually took. CRMb is built for both.
Measure the surface, apply your rate, and CRMb produces a clean, professional quote with a public share link the customer can approve and sign from their phone. Crew hours punched in Punch flow straight onto the job as labor cost, and chemicals pulled from inventory land on the job at average cost. Reports then show the margin on every job against real punched hours, so you can see which driveways, decks, and roofs are actually paying, and adjust your rates before the next quote goes out.
Start a 14-day free trial at crmb.io and price your next job from the numbers instead of a competitor's flyer.