Trade guide
Window Cleaning Business
The cheapest trade on this site to start, and the one where a bad twenty seconds ends everything.
The numbers that matter
$8–$15 per window. Second story adds 30–50%. $900 to start.
Charge per window, not per hour, and price the ladder work separately from the ground work. The uplift upstairs is not a markup — it is two to three times the minutes.
Thirty-one windows before most people finish coffee
He works a block of 1940s bungalows outside Springfield, Missouri, where every house has the same eighteen double-hungs.
He quotes them without leaving the truck.
That works because he did the boring thing first: he counted. A ground-floor double-hung inside and out is three minutes. The same window on the second story is six to nine, once the ladder is set, leveled, climbed and moved.
That gap is the entire pricing model for this trade.
Rates at a glance
| Job | Time | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard window, ground, in & out | 3–5 min | $8–$12 |
| Standard window, second story | 6–9 min | $12–$18 |
| Exterior only | 2–3 min | $5–$8 |
| Screen clean, each | 1–2 min | $2–$4 |
| French pane, per pane | 1 min | $1.50–$3 |
| 24-window single-story home | 2–2.5 hr | $210–$290 |
| 24-window two-story home | 3.5–4 hr | $290–$400 |
| Storefront, per visit | 10–25 min | $25–$65 |
| Post-construction, per window | 8–15 min | $18–$35 |
How to hold a minimum and raise a route price is in the pricing guide.
The same 24 windows, two different houses — Springfield, MO
Single story, 24 windows at $10: $240, two hours twenty minutes, $103 an hour.
Two story, 12 down and 12 up: 12 at $10 plus 12 at $15 is $300. Three hours fifty minutes. $78 an hour — and that is with the 50% uplift applied.
Price the upstairs windows the same as the downstairs ones and it drops to $62 an hour for the harder, riskier half of the job.
Your insurance probably has a height limit you have not read
General liability for a solo window cleaner commonly runs $700 to $1,600 a year.
Many of those policies carry a height exclusion — often at two or three stories — and above that line you are simply not covered.
Nobody reads the exclusion page.
Ask the agent one question, in an email so you have it in writing: "What is the maximum height I am covered to work at under this policy?" Save the reply. If you ever bid a three-story job, you will need to know the answer before you say yes, not after.
What you actually need to start
- A 12-inch and an 18-inch squeegee with spare rubber — rubber is a consumable, not a purchase.
- A strip washer, a razor scraper, and a bottle of dish soap. That is the cleaning solution.
- A 24-foot extension ladder and a standoff stabilizer so you never lean on the gutter.
- Ladder mitts or levelers, because the ground is never flat where the window is.
- General liability insurance with the height limit confirmed in writing.
- A city business license, plus a sales tax permit if your state taxes cleaning.
- A written window count on every quote, so nobody argues later about the basement or the garage.
Never set a ladder on a deck rail, an AC pad, or a slope you fixed with a scrap of plywood. The four-to-one rule is the whole safety system: base out one foot for every four feet of height, three feet of ladder above the landing point, three points of contact going up. A fall from twelve feet ends the business, not just the day. If a window needs a setup you are improvising, quote a water-fed pole job instead or walk away from it.
The pole paid for itself in nineteen jobs — Tacoma, WA
Water-fed pole system with a DI filter: $1,450. It only does exteriors, so it did not replace anything indoors.
What it changed: a two-story exterior-only route house went from 14 ladder setups to 2. That's 47 minutes saved per house on a job billed at $165.
At three of those a week, the pole cleared its cost in nineteen jobs. The ladder stayed in the van — interiors still need it.
Count the windows on your next quote before you name a price
Walk the whole house first, including the basement egress and the garage side nobody mentions.
Say the count out loud to the customer, then the number: "That's 26 windows, 11 of them second story — $310, inside and out, screens included."
How many upstairs windows did you clean last month at the downstairs price?
Common questions
How much should I charge per window?
$8 to $15 per window inside and out on a standard double-hung. Ground floor at the low end, second story 30 to 50 percent higher. Hold a $150 to $200 visit minimum so a small house still pays for the drive.
Why does the second story cost more to clean?
Three minutes becomes six to nine once you set the ladder, level it, climb it and move it. The uplift pays for the minutes and for the risk, not for the glass.
How much is insurance for a window cleaning business?
Commonly $700 to $1,600 a year solo. Many policies exclude work above two or three stories entirely. Email your agent and ask what height you are covered to, and keep the reply.
Do I need a license to start a window cleaning business?
No state has a window cleaning trade license, but most cities require a general business license and some states tax cleaning services. Hire anyone and workers comp and OSHA fall-protection rules apply. Check your city clerk and state revenue department.
How many houses can one window cleaner do in a day?
Two to four. A 24-window single-story home is about two and a half hours; the same count with half upstairs is closer to four.
Is a water-fed pole worth it?
At $900 to $2,600 it pays back fast if you run two-story exterior route work — it cuts ladder setups dramatically. It does not do interiors and needs a proper filter in hard-water areas. Keep the ladder too.
Ranges here are compiled public ranges for solo residential window cleaning operators as of August 2026 — a starting point, not a quote or survey result. Insurance figures vary widely by state, carrier and claims history.