How to Price a Window Cleaning Job (Per Pane, Per Window, Per Hour)
Price a window cleaning job by counting the windows, applying a per-window (or per-pane) rate for each type and height, adding screens, tracks, and hard-water work as separate lines, and then checking the total against what the job costs you in crew hours, drive time, supplies, and overhead. Residential work is commonly quoted around $4 to $8 per window for exterior only and $8 to $15 per window inside and out, with a job minimum so small homes still pay. The rate card gets you to a number fast; your cost is what tells you whether that number is any good. CRMb turns the count into a clean, signable quote, then tracks the crew hours actually punched on the job so you can see whether the price held.
Window cleaning has low material cost and almost all of its cost in labor. That makes it easy to start and easy to underprice. A crew that looks busy all week can still be running at a loss if second-story windows, screens, and drive time are quietly folded into a flat "per house" number. A repeatable pricing method fixes that.
The four ways window cleaners price work
Per pane. Each piece of glass is counted. A double-hung window with a divided top and bottom may be two panes; a French door with fifteen lites is fifteen. Per pane is the most precise method and the most common for detailed residential work, but it requires an accurate count and can surprise a customer who expected a per-window price.
Per window. Each window opening is one unit, whatever the number of panes. It is simpler to explain and faster to quote. It works when your windows are fairly uniform, and you add a premium for large picture windows, French doors, and divided-lite units that take longer.
Per house (flat rate). A single price for a defined scope: "all exterior glass, screens cleaned, $275." Customers like the certainty. It is safe only when the flat price is built from a per-window count you already trust, because a flat price is a per-window estimate with the math hidden. See flat rate vs hourly pricing for when that trade-off works.
Per hour. Reserved for unpredictable work: post-construction cleanup with paint and mortar on the glass, heavy hard-water staining, or a building you have never seen. Hourly protects you when effort is unknown, but most homeowners resist an open-ended clock, so quote a not-to-exceed figure alongside it.
Most operators quote per window or per pane on the first visit, then convert to a per-house price for repeat customers once they know how long the house really takes.
Typical window cleaning rates
Rates vary widely by region, competition, and access, so treat these as a starting point to test against your own costs, not a price list.
| Item | Common residential range |
|---|---|
| Exterior only, standard window | $4 – $8 per window |
| Inside and out, standard window | $8 – $15 per window |
| Second-story or ladder work | +$2 – $5 per window |
| French door / divided-lite window | Priced per pane, or 2 – 3× a standard window |
| Screen cleaning | $1 – $5 per screen |
| Track and sill detailing | $2 – $5 per window |
| Hard-water stain removal | Quoted separately, often per pane or per hour |
| Job minimum | Commonly $100 – $200 |
Three rules keep these numbers safe:
- Always carry a job minimum. A ten-window condo can take nearly as long door to door as a house twice its size once you count the drive, setup, and the walk-through. Without a minimum, small jobs lose money. The full method is in how to charge for drive time.
- Price height separately. Ladder work is slower and carries more risk. A second-story premium that sits on its own quote line is easier to defend than a vague bump to the whole house.
- Never bundle hard water into a standard clean. Mineral staining can take five times as long as a normal pane. Quote it as its own line after you have seen it, or the first heavily stained house of the season wipes out a week of margin.
Build the estimate from your real costs
A rate only protects you if it sits above your cost. Before trusting any per-window number, work out what an hour of your crew's time actually costs and how many hours the job takes.
Labor. Almost all of a window cleaning job is labor. Multiply the crew hours, including drive time and setup, by your loaded hourly rate: wage plus payroll taxes, workers' compensation, and insurance. Window cleaning often carries a higher workers' comp rate than ground-level cleaning because of ladder work, so do not borrow a janitorial burden figure. See how to calculate labor burden rate and how to calculate labor cost per job.
Hours. Estimate time per window by type, not per house. A standard double-hung window inside and out may take a practiced tech 6 to 10 minutes including the screen; a divided-lite French door takes much longer. Your own punched hours from past jobs beat any rule of thumb. See how to estimate labor hours for a job.
Supplies and equipment. Solution, scrim, blades, channels, ladders, extension poles, and, if you run one, a water-fed pole system with its resin. Per job this is small, which is exactly why it gets forgotten. Fold a supplies-and-equipment allowance into every quote.
Overhead and profit. Insurance, vehicle, phone, software, and the time spent quoting all have to be carried by the jobs. Add your overhead rate, then price to the margin you decided on in advance. Use markup vs margin to make sure you add the right percentage; a 35% markup is not a 35% margin.
Price = labor + supplies and equipment + overhead + profit
The per-window rate card is a shortcut for jobs you have priced this way often enough to trust.
A worked example
A two-story house with 24 standard windows: 14 on the ground floor, 10 on the second floor. The customer wants inside and out, plus screens. A two-person crew.
Step 1: the rate card price.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Ground floor, inside and out (14 × $10) | $140 |
| Second floor, inside and out (10 × $14) | $140 |
| Screens (24 × $3) | $72 |
| Rate card total | $352 |
Step 2: the cost check.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| On-site time: 24 windows × 10 min | 4.0 crew-hours |
| Drive and setup: 2 people × 0.5 hr | 1.0 crew-hour |
| Total crew-hours | 5.0 |
| Labor at $35 loaded per crew-hour | $175 |
| Supplies and equipment allowance | $10 |
| Overhead at $12 per direct labor hour | $60 |
| Total cost | $245 |
Step 3: compare. At $352 the job earns 352 − 245 = $107, a margin of about 30%. If your target is 35%, the price needs to be 245 ÷ 0.65 ≈ $377. You can quote $375, or accept the 30% because this customer is likely to become recurring. Either way, you are choosing the margin instead of discovering it.
The rate card alone would have looked fine. The cost check is what tells you how fine. And if the crew takes six hours instead of five, the margin falls to about 22%, which is why the second half of this method is comparing the estimate to the hours actually worked.
Residential vs. commercial window cleaning pricing
Residential work is priced per window or per pane, with height, screens, and tracks as add-ons. Jobs are larger and less frequent: once or twice a year, often in spring and fall.
Commercial storefront work is the opposite: small, frequent, and priced per visit. A storefront route might be a short exterior clean every week or two at a low price per stop. Each stop barely pays on its own; the route pays because the stops sit close together and the crew moves from door to door with almost no drive time. The pricing question for storefronts is less "what per pane" and more "how many stops can one crew clear per hour on this route." How to schedule a cleaning crew covers route density in detail.
Low-rise commercial and offices are usually quoted per visit or per pane with a service agreement. High-rise work that requires rope access, swing stages, or lifts is a specialist category with its own equipment, insurance, and pricing, and is outside the scope of this guide.
Pricing recurring window cleaning
Recurring customers are the most valuable ones in this trade: no marketing cost to win them again, and a crew that already knows the house. Many operators offer a modest discount for a standing schedule, such as quarterly exteriors or twice-yearly full cleans, because repeat visits are faster and fill the calendar predictably.
Keep the discount smaller than the time you actually save. If a repeat visit takes 15% less time than the first, a 10% discount still leaves you ahead. A 25% discount does not. Write the frequency, scope, and price into the agreement so the second visit does not quietly grow into "and the inside this time." See recurring maintenance contracts for how to structure the agreement.
Quoting so the customer says yes
A window cleaning quote should list what is included, by line: exterior glass, interior glass, screens, tracks, and any hard-water work, with the price for each. Line items do three things. They show the customer what they are paying for, they let the customer remove a line instead of walking away, and they record the count your price was based on, so the price is defensible if the house turns out to have six more windows than the customer mentioned.
Offering two or three options, for example exterior only, inside and out, and inside and out with screens and tracks, often raises the average ticket because customers compare options rather than deciding yes or no. See good, better, best quotes. Then follow up within a day or two; most unsigned quotes are forgotten rather than rejected. See how to follow up on a quote.
Common window cleaning pricing mistakes
- No minimum. Small jobs lose money once drive and setup are counted.
- One price for every window. Picture windows, French doors, and second-story units take longer and should cost more.
- Hard water folded into the base price. Quote it separately, after you have seen it.
- Pricing from a competitor's flyer. Their costs, crew speed, and insurance are not yours.
- Never checking the hours. If you do not compare quoted hours to actual hours, you cannot tell which houses are paying and which are not.
For the broader cleaning trade, including houses and offices, see how to price a cleaning job. Many window cleaners also offer exterior washing; how to price a pressure washing job applies the same cost-first method to flatwork and siding.
FAQ
How much should I charge for window cleaning?
Residential window cleaning is commonly quoted around $4 to $8 per window for exterior only and $8 to $15 per window inside and out, with extra for second-story windows, screens, tracks, and hard-water removal, and a job minimum of roughly $100 to $200. Treat those ranges as a starting point and check every price against your own labor cost and overhead.
Should I charge per pane or per window?
Per pane is more precise and suits houses with divided-lite windows and French doors. Per window is simpler and faster to quote when the windows are fairly uniform. Many operators quote per window with a premium for multi-pane units, which keeps the quote readable while still pricing the slow windows correctly.
How do I estimate how long a window cleaning job will take?
Estimate minutes per window by type and height, multiply by the count, and add drive and setup time. The best source for minutes per window is your own past jobs: if your crew records time against each job, the hours from the last ten similar houses will predict the next one better than any rule of thumb.
What is a good profit margin for a window cleaning business?
Because material costs are low, window cleaning can support healthy gross margins, and many operators aim for 30% to 50% gross on labor. What matters more than a benchmark is whether each price clears your actual cost. See how to estimate profit margin on a job.
How do I price commercial window cleaning?
Storefront work is usually priced per visit on a recurring route, and its profitability depends on how close the stops are to each other. Low-rise offices are often priced per visit or per pane under a service agreement. Build the price from crew-hours per visit plus a share of overhead, then set the frequency in writing.
Should I charge extra for screens and tracks?
Yes. Screens and tracks add real time, and listing them as separate lines lets the customer choose. Customers who see "screens: $3 each" understand the price better than a house total that grew for reasons they cannot see.
How do I price hard-water stain removal?
Quote it separately, after inspecting the glass, either per pane or per hour with a stated maximum. Heavy mineral staining can take several times longer than a standard clean and sometimes cannot be fully removed, so set expectations in writing before you start.
Should I offer a discount for recurring window cleaning?
A small discount for a standing schedule is common and usually worthwhile, as long as it is smaller than the time saved on repeat visits. Put the frequency, scope, and price in a written agreement so the recurring price stays tied to the recurring scope.
Getting started with CRMb
Pricing window cleaning profitably comes down to two habits: quote from your real costs, and check each quote against the hours the job actually took. CRMb is built for both.
Count the windows, apply your rates, and CRMb produces a clean, itemized quote with a public share link the customer can review, approve, and sign from their phone. Recurring customers go on the schedule as repeating jobs. Crew hours punched in Punch land on the job as labor cost, supplies pulled from inventory are costed at average cost, and Reports show the margin on every job against real punched hours, so you can see which houses and routes pay and adjust your rates before the next quote goes out.
Start a 14-day free trial and price your next window cleaning job from the numbers instead of a guess.