Short Term Rental Cleaning Margin Calculator

Cleaning fees are a meaningful margin line — or a loss leader — for STR operators.

Guest-paid cleaning fee

Cleaner cost per turn

Turns per month

Supplies/linen per turn

Monthly cleaning margin

$480

Margin per turn

$48

Margin % of guest fee

0.3%

How the math works

Margin per turn = guest fee − cleaner − supplies. Monthly = per turn × turns.

$150 − $90 − $12 = $48 margin × 10 turns = $480/mo net cleaning margin, 32% of fee.

How to Use

Enter guest-paid cleaning fee.
Enter cleaner cost per turn.
Enter turns per month.
Enter supplies/linen per turn.
Read monthly cleaning margin.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's typical cleaning markup?

Small/studio: guest fee $50-100, cleaner $40-60, $10-40 margin. 2BR: fee $125-200, cost $75-110, margin $50-90. 4BR: fee $250-400, cost $150-250, margin $100-150. 6BR luxury: fee $500-800, cost $300-500, margin $200-300. Markup averages 35-65% of cleaner pay. Below 20% markup typically means the operator is eating laundry, supplies, linen replacement, and quality control themselves. Margin per turn compounds fast when a property does 8-12 turns/month.

When is cleaning a loss leader?

Hosts who compete on listing price may absorb cleaning cost into the nightly rate and charge minimal cleaning fee to reduce 'sticker shock.' Airbnb and Vrbo display cleaning separately in search results, so a $150/night listing with $0 cleaning fee may look cheaper than a $120/night + $100 cleaning listing. This is a pricing strategy decision, not a cost decision. Most top operators use a mid-market cleaning fee ($75-150) and price compete on the nightly rate.

How do professional cleaning companies price?

Solo turnover cleaners: $25-40/hr, 1.5-3 hours/turn depending on size. Cleaning companies: $55-85/hr, 1.5-2 hours (pairs work faster). Full-service companies (Turno, Properly, MaidThis): $90-180/turn for 2BR, $200-350 for 4BR, includes supplies and linen. Full-service is more expensive but reduces host admin time by 80%+. Scale host economics almost always pencils to full-service above 4 properties.

How do institutional STR operators track this?

Large STR operators (Vacasa, Awning, Evolve) model cleaning as a P&L line, not just a pass-through. Benchmark: cleaning margin should run 5-10% of gross rental revenue. Below 3% and the operator is subsidizing guests. Above 15% and the operator is overpricing — guests will defect to competitors. Monitor monthly and adjust fees with a 60-day notice window (Airbnb allows cleaning fee updates on next bookings).