STR Cleaning Labor Efficiency Calculator

Cleaning cost is the largest controllable STR expense — benchmark labor efficiency per turnover.

Property sqft

Minutes / sqft

Loaded labor / hr

Guest cleaning fee

Supply cost / turn

Turns / month

Monthly cleaning margin

-$5,600

Margin per turn

-$560.00

Labor cost per turn

$700.00

How the math works

Labor = (sqft × min/sqft / 60) × rate. Margin = guest fee − labor − supplies.

1,500 × 1 / 60 = 25 hr × $28 = $700 labor — way too high. Real: 2-person × 3 hr = 6 hr × $28 = $168 labor.

How to Use

Enter property sqft.
Enter minutes per sqft.
Enter loaded labor rate / hour.
Enter guest cleaning fee charged.
Enter supply cost per turn.
Enter turns per month.
Read cleaning margin per turn and monthly margin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Minutes per sqft benchmark?

Budget/quick turn: 0.5-0.8 min/sqft. Standard: 0.8-1.2 min/sqft. Deep/luxury: 1.2-2.0 min/sqft. 1,500 sqft property × 1.0 min = 25 hours per turn seems high — usually 2-3 cleaners × 5-8 hours = 10-20 worked hours. Luxury villa with laundry on-site, pool, BBQ, deep detailing: 2-4+ cleaners × 6-10 hours each.

Cleaning fee markup?

Guest-facing cleaning fee is separate line item in STR pricing. Typical: 1.3-1.8× actual cost. Host profit margin on cleaning fee: $40-120 per turn (host keeps the spread). Some hosts charge at-cost; others mark up aggressively (Airbnb pushes back — fees >30% of total cost flagged in search ranking). Sweet spot: fee $100-250 for budget, $250-500 mid, $400-1000 luxury.

Team-cleaning efficiency?

Solo cleaner: 1-1.5× sqft/hr benchmark. 2-person team: 1.8-2.2× (not 2× because coordination overhead). 3-person team: 2.5-2.8× (diminishing returns). Optimal for most 1,500-3,000 sqft STR: 2-person team, 4-6 hour turn. Larger properties >3,000 sqft: 3-person team. Smaller studios: solo cleaner sufficient.

Supply cost per turn?

Linens (laundered): $8-25 per turn (laundry vendor $1-3/lb). Consumables (TP, paper towels, soap refills, coffee): $5-20. Cleaning products: $3-10 (amortized). Restocking welcome basket: $8-25 (optional). Linen rental services (Tech, Sheets Laundry): $25-75/turn all-in for sheets + towels. Total supply cost: $15-60 typical per turn.