# How to retain cleaning employees: keeping your cleaning team past the first year

> You keep a cleaning team the same way you keep a client: pay what you promised, on time, and make the work predictable. Pay at or above the local median for maids and housekeeping cleaners ($17.07 an hour nationally in 2025 O*NET data), guarantee weekly hours, keep routes tight, pass on every tip, and give each cleaner a visible next step. Measure 90-day and 12-month retention, not just who quit this month.

Published 2026-10-29, updated 2026-10-30 by Broombook · Hiring and your team · 12 min read  
Canonical page: https://broombook.com/guides/how-to-retain-cleaning-employees

## Key takeaways

- Replacing one cleaner costs roughly four to five weeks of their wages once you count ads, screening, a trial clean, training and lost clients (hypothetical math below).
- O*NET lists a 2025 median of $17.07 an hour for maids and housekeeping cleaners, with the top 10% above $23.35; pay below the median and the next employer wins.
- In our experience, unstable hours drive more quits than a dollar of pay: guarantee a weekly minimum and schedule the same homes on the same days.
- Recognition that costs nothing (reading client reviews aloud, a zero-complaint bonus, a named parking spot in the route) beats a yearly pizza party.
- A three-step path (cleaner, lead, trainer or inspector) with pay attached gives people a reason to stay 12 months instead of 4.

## What does cleaning staff turnover really cost?

Losing a cleaner costs you far more than the ad to replace them. Add the hours you spend screening, the paid trial clean, two to three weeks of slower work while the new person learns each home, and the one or two clients who leave because the cleaner they liked is gone. For a small company, that adds up to roughly four to five weeks of the cleaner’s wages, every time it happens.

### A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

Swap in your own figures. These are round numbers to show the method, not a survey.

| Cost of losing one full-time cleaner | How it adds up | Cost |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Job ads and your screening time | $100 in ads, plus 6 hours of your time at $40 | $340 |
| Paid trial cleans | Two candidates, 4 hours each at $18 | $144 |
| Training weeks | 3 weeks at about 60% output: 36 lost billable hours at $45 | $1,620 |
| Your time shadowing and inspecting | 10 hours at $40 | $400 |
| A client who leaves with the old cleaner | One biweekly client worth $48 profit per visit, 10 visits | $480 |
| **Total** |  | **$2,984** |

A cleaner on $18 an hour for 35 hours earns $630 a week, so this example costs almost five weeks of wages. If you lose four cleaners a year, you spend close to $12,000 on replacing people, which is more than a $1 an hour raise for a team of five would cost you ($1 × 35 hours × 52 weeks × 5 cleaners = $9,100). That is the whole argument for cleaning employee retention in one line: keeping people is usually cheaper than paying them more, and paying them more is usually cheaper than replacing them.

To put real numbers behind the “lost billable hours” line, the [cleaning business profit calculator](https://broombook.com/tools/cleaning-business-profit-calculator) shows what an hour of cleaning is worth to you after pay and supplies.

## Why do cleaners quit?

In our experience, cleaners quit for five reasons, in roughly this order: hours that change every week, pay that is below what the shop down the road offers, a body that hurts, working alone with no one noticing good work, and no way up. Pay gets the blame, but in a small company the schedule is usually the first thing to fix.

The labor market gives cleaners options. O\*NET, which publishes Bureau of Labor Statistics data, lists [1,332,100 maids and housekeeping cleaners](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/37-2012.00) employed in 2025 and projects 175,500 job openings a year over 2025 to 2035 from growth and replacement. The [janitors and building cleaners](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/37-2011.00) occupation is bigger still, with 2,432,600 employed and 321,800 projected openings a year. Someone who cleans well can find another job within a week, so the question is never whether they can leave, only whether they want to.

- **Unpredictable hours.** A cleaner promised 30 hours who gets 18 one week and 38 the next cannot plan childcare or rent. They leave for a job with a fixed schedule even when it pays less.
- **Pay surprises.** Unpaid drive time, tips that never arrive, a “training rate” that lasts longer than promised.
- **Physical strain.** Four deep cleans in one day, heavy vacuums and no proper tools wear people out. Our [housekeeping checklist](https://broombook.com/guides/housekeeping-checklist) guide covers safe lifting and chemical handling.
- **Feeling invisible.** Nobody sees a great bathroom except the client, and the client rarely says so to the cleaner.
- **No next step.** If the job looks the same in year three as in week three, ambitious people move on.

The first weeks are a separate problem with their own fixes. Our guide on [hiring cleaners](https://broombook.com/guides/how-to-hire-cleaners) covers the first 90 days, including 30, 60 and 90-day check-ins. This guide is about the months after that.

## How much should you pay to keep cleaning employees?

Pay at or above the median for your area, publish a raise schedule, and pay for every minute of work, including driving between homes. A cleaner who knows what next year’s rate will be has a reason to be here next year.

Use published wage data as your floor, not your target. O\*NET’s [wage page for maids and housekeeping cleaners](https://www.onetonline.org/link/localwages/37-2012.00) shows these 2025 national figures:

| Percentile (US, 2025) | Hourly | What it means for you |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10th | $13.29 | Pay here and you are the training ground for everyone else. |
| 25th | $14.59 | Still below most hotel and janitorial jobs in the same city. |
| Median | $17.07 | The minimum for a cleaner you want to keep. |
| 75th | $19.03 | Where experienced residential cleaners and leads should sit. |
| 90th | $23.35 | Lead or trainer pay in a higher-cost metro. |

These are national numbers; the same O\*NET page lets you pick a state or zip code, and your local figure may be several dollars higher. Janitors and building cleaners had a slightly higher 2025 median of [$17.71 an hour](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/37-2011.00), which matters because office cleaning companies recruit from the same pool as you.

### A raise schedule people can see

- Start rate in the ad, with the 90-day raise written into the offer letter.
- A second step at 12 months, tied to a clean inspection record and attendance.
- A lead rate for anyone who runs a two-person team or trains new hires.
- Drive time between homes paid at the normal rate, and mileage reimbursed if they use their own car.

### Can your prices afford it? (hypothetical numbers)

A $1.50 raise for a cleaner working 35 hours costs $52.50 a week, or about $63 with a 20% allowance for payroll taxes and workers’ comp. If that cleaner finishes 12 homes a week, you need $5.25 more per home to cover it. On a $160 clean that is a 3.3% price increase, less than most annual increases. Our guide on [how much house cleaners make](https://broombook.com/guides/how-much-do-house-cleaners-make) goes deeper on hourly, per-job and percentage pay, and [W-2 or 1099 for cleaners](https://broombook.com/guides/independent-contractor-vs-employee-cleaners) explains why hourly employees are easier to keep than contractors.

## Do steady schedules matter more than pay?

For most cleaners with families, yes. A guaranteed weekly minimum, the same start time every day and the same homes on the same days do more for cleaning employee retention than a raise that comes with chaos.

- **Guarantee hours.** If the ad says 30 hours, pay 30 even in a slow week. Fill the gap with deep cleans for existing clients, supply runs or training rather than sending people home.
- **Keep the same cleaner on the same home.** Clients ask for it, cleaners get faster each visit, and both sides build the relationship that stops the client leaving when something small goes wrong.
- **Build dense routes.** Three homes in one neighborhood beat three homes across town. Less unpaid windshield time, less fatigue, more money per hour for everyone.
- **Publish the schedule a week ahead.** Same-day changes should be rare and paid. A cleaner who learns at 7 am that their 8 am is cancelled should still be paid for that slot or offered a replacement.
- **Protect the body.** Alternate deep cleans with standard cleans, cap the day at a set number of bathrooms, and buy lighter equipment before you buy a bigger van.

This is where booking and scheduling software like Broombook fits a cleaning company: recurring visits stay on the same cleaner and the same weekday, the day’s route and access notes sit on each cleaner’s phone, and automated reminders cut the last-minute cancellations that wreck a cleaner’s week. Our [cleaning scheduling software](https://broombook.com/software/cleaning-scheduling-software) page shows how recurring schedules and routes are set up.

## Which benefits can a small cleaning company afford?

Start with the benefits that cost little and matter daily: paid holidays, a few paid sick days, mileage, a phone allowance and a simple bonus. Health insurance and retirement plans come later, when the team is big enough to spread the cost.

The SBA’s page on [hiring and managing employees](https://www.sba.gov/counseling/manage-your-business/#hire-and-manage) separates required benefits (Social Security contributions, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, disability pay in a handful of states) from optional ones, and notes that optional benefits help attract and retain employees, and that retirement plans are a popular benefit. Required benefits are not retention tools; they are the law. Everything below is optional.

| Benefit | Rough cost for a team of five | Why cleaners value it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 6 paid holidays | About 6 × 7 hours × $18 × 5 = $3,780 a year | Nobody else in their circle has to ask whether Thanksgiving is paid. |
| 5 paid sick days | Up to $3,150 a year if all are used | Stops people cleaning while ill and spreading it to clients. Some states and cities require paid sick leave; check yours. |
| Mileage reimbursement | Varies with routes; dense routes keep it low | In our experience, unpaid driving is the most common pay complaint. |
| Zero-complaint monthly bonus | $50 × 5 cleaners × 12 months = $3,000 maximum | Rewards exactly what keeps clients. |
| Health insurance contribution | Large and rising; price it with a broker | The benefit most likely to keep a parent for years. |

Two warnings. First, the IRS says a [fringe benefit is a form of pay](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/employee-benefits) and is generally included in an employee’s gross income and subject to withholding, with some exceptions, so run bonuses, gift cards and allowances through payroll rather than handing over cash. Second, this is general information, not tax or legal advice; sick leave rules, overtime and benefit taxation vary by state, so check with your accountant before you promise anything in writing.

## How do you recognize cleaners without a big budget?

Recognize the specific thing, soon after it happens, in front of someone. “Mrs. Alvarez wrote that the oven has never looked this good, that was you on Tuesday” does more than a generic thank-you at the end of the month.

- **Forward every review and compliment.** Read client reviews aloud at the weekly huddle and name the cleaner. Post the five-star ones on the wall of the supply room.
- **Pass on every tip, same week.** Our guide on [tipping house cleaners](https://broombook.com/guides/tipping-house-cleaners) covers how to collect and split tips fairly. A tip that arrives a month late feels like a deduction.
- **Tie bonuses to inspection scores.** If you walk homes with a scoring sheet, a month of scores above 90% earns the bonus. People trust a number they can see over a manager’s mood.
- **Ask for their opinion and act on it.** The cleaner who says a home always runs over is telling you to re-quote it. Do it, and tell them you did.
- **Small, personal, predictable.** A birthday off with pay, a work anniversary card with a $25 gift card, the first pick of summer vacation weeks for the longest-serving cleaner.

What does not work: a yearly party as the only recognition, a “cleaner of the month” plaque that always goes to the same person, or praise that is really a request for more work.

## What career path can a cleaning team offer?

A small company can offer a real three-step path: cleaner, lead cleaner, then trainer or inspector, with a pay step at each level and a written list of what it takes to move up. The path does not need a big org chart; it needs to be true and visible.

| Level | What they do | What it takes | Pay step (example) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cleaner | Cleans to the checklist, photographs finished rooms, reports issues | 90 days, inspections passed | Start rate, then +$1 at 90 days |
| Lead cleaner | Runs a two-person team, handles the client at the door, signs off the checklist | 12 months, zero-complaint streak, can drive | +$2 to $3 over cleaner rate |
| Trainer or inspector | Trains new hires, inspects a sample of homes, writes up re-quotes | 18 to 24 months, has trained at least two people | +$4 to $6, or a salary with a company phone |
| Operations lead | Builds routes, handles scheduling and client issues, covers for you | Usually your first office hire from the field | Salary plus a share of profit growth |

The example pay steps are illustrative, not market data. Write the criteria down, hand them to every new hire, and review them at each check-in. Our guide on [growing a cleaning business](https://broombook.com/guides/how-to-grow-a-cleaning-business) covers when a second crew and a team lead pay for themselves.

Some cleaners do not want to lead; they want to be very good and left alone. Give them a path too: a “senior cleaner” rate for the people who train by example, take the fussiest clients and never miss a day.

## How do you measure cleaning employee retention?

Track two numbers: the share of new hires still with you at 90 days, and the share of the team at the start of the year still with you at the end. Then ask the people who stay why they stay, not only the people who leave why they left.

### The formulas

- **Annual turnover rate** = cleaners who left during the year ÷ average number of cleaners on the team × 100. Eight leavers on an average team of ten is 80%.
- **90-day retention** = hires still employed at day 90 ÷ hires made × 100. If this is low, the problem is in the ad, the training or the first schedule, not in your benefits.
- **12-month retention** = team members at January 1 still here on December 31 ÷ team members at January 1 × 100.

### Stay interviews, 15 minutes twice a year

1. What makes you stay here? (Protect that.)
2. What almost made you leave in the last six months? (Fix that.)
3. Which home or client would you drop tomorrow? (Re-quote or let go.)
4. What would you need to see yourself here in two years?

### A 12-month retention plan

| When | What you do |
| --- | --- |
| Month 1 | Pull last year’s turnover numbers. Check every pay rate against local O\*NET figures. Fix unpaid drive time first. |
| Month 2 | Guarantee weekly hours in writing. Rebuild routes by neighborhood. |
| Month 3 | Write the three-level path and the raise schedule. Hand it to everyone. |
| Months 4 to 6 | Start inspection scoring and the zero-complaint bonus. Run the first stay interviews. |
| Months 7 to 12 | Add paid holidays and sick days once pricing covers them. Promote the first lead. Re-measure in December. |

Payroll and scheduling records make the measuring easy. Broombook keeps clock-in times, visits per cleaner and pay by hour, job or commission in one place, which is the data a stay interview should start from; see the [cleaning payroll software](https://broombook.com/software/cleaning-payroll-software) page for what it tracks. If you are still writing the job ad, the free [house cleaner job description](https://broombook.com/tools/house-cleaner-job-description) template puts the pay and the hours guarantee up front, where good applicants look first.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a normal turnover rate for a cleaning company?

There is no published figure for small residential companies, so compare against yourself: count who left in the last 12 months and divide by your average team size. In the worked example above, turnover above about 60% a year costs more than a $1 raise for the whole team would. Track 90-day retention separately, because early quits point to hiring and training rather than pay.

### How much should I pay cleaners to keep them?

At or above the local median for maids and housekeeping cleaners, which O*NET lists at $17.07 an hour nationally for 2025 with the 75th percentile at $19.03. Check the state or zip code figure on O*NET, pay drive time, and put a 90-day and 12-month raise in writing so people know what next year looks like.

### Why do cleaners keep quitting after a few months?

Usually hours that swing week to week, pay that differs from what the ad promised, physical exhaustion from too many deep cleans in a row, or feeling that nobody notices good work. Fix the schedule first, then pay, then recognition. If people leave inside 90 days, look at your ad, training and first-week schedule.

### Should I give cleaners a bonus or a raise?

Both, for different reasons. A raise schedule (90 days, 12 months, lead rate) rewards staying. A small monthly bonus tied to inspection scores or zero complaints rewards doing the job well right now. Run both through payroll, because the IRS treats bonuses and most fringe benefits as taxable pay.

### Do cleaners prefer hourly or per-job pay?

Most cleaners who stay long term prefer guaranteed hourly pay with paid drive time, because their income is predictable. Per-job pay can suit fast, experienced cleaners but punishes people for a dirty home or a long drive. If you pay per job, re-quote homes that always run over so the cleaner is not absorbing your pricing mistake.

### What benefits can a small cleaning business offer?

Paid holidays, a few paid sick days (required in some states and cities), mileage, a phone allowance and a simple bonus are affordable for a team of five. Health insurance and a retirement plan come later. The SBA lists required benefits such as workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance separately from optional ones.

### How do I keep my best cleaner from starting her own company?

You may not be able to, and that is fine. What you can do is make staying the better deal: lead or trainer pay, a say in routes and clients, guaranteed hours, and a bonus tied to growth. A non-compete is hard to enforce for hourly cleaners in many states and sours the relationship, so compete with a better job instead.

## Sources

- [O*NET OnLine: 37-2012.00 Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners, wages and employment](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/37-2012.00)
- [O*NET OnLine: wage percentiles for maids and housekeeping cleaners (2025 BLS data)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/localwages/37-2012.00)
- [O*NET OnLine: 37-2011.00 Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/37-2011.00)
- [SBA: hire and manage employees (required and optional benefits)](https://www.sba.gov/counseling/manage-your-business/#hire-and-manage)
- [IRS: employee benefits and fringe benefits](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/employee-benefits)

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Broombook is scheduling, online booking and crew software for residential cleaning businesses. More guides for cleaning business owners: https://broombook.com/guides