How Much to Charge for Pressure Washing (Pricing Guide)

There is no single correct price for pressure washing. What you can charge depends on your local market, the surface, the size of the job, how dirty it is, how hard it is to reach, and whether you soft wash or use high pressure.

For a sense of what homeowners see when they research prices, two large consumer cost guides we checked in October 2026 landed in a similar range. Angi listed a typical range of roughly $213 to $449 to pressure wash a house, with a national average around $312, and a per-square-foot range of about $0.10 to $0.50. Thumbtack listed an average range of roughly $241 to $418 for pressure washing jobs. Both are national figures blended from many markets and job types. Your area could be well above or below them.

Use those numbers as a sanity check, not as your price list. The rest of this guide shows how to build your own prices from your costs and time, so every job you take is profitable. If you want to skip the arithmetic, plug your numbers into pressure washing price calculator.

Most operators use one main method and keep the others as backups.

• Per square foot. Measure the surface, multiply by a rate for that surface type. This is the most common method for driveways, patios, siding, and decks because it scales fairly with job size. You will usually want different rates for different surfaces: flat concrete is fast, while a two-story house or a wood deck takes more care per square foot.
• Flat price per job. A fixed price for common jobs, such as "standard two-car driveway" or "single-story house wash." Customers love the simplicity, and it rewards you for getting faster. It works best once you know your timings well.
• Hourly. Charging by the hour is uncommon for residential customers because it feels open-ended to them, but it is useful for unpredictable work like heavy grease removal, graffiti, or commercial jobs with unclear scope. Always give an estimate range.
• Minimum charge. A floor price for any job, no matter how small. It covers the drive, setup, and cleanup time that every job has regardless of size. Without one, a 10-minute walkway clean can cost you money.

Many businesses combine them: quote per square foot internally, present a flat total to the customer, and never go below the minimum.

Before you can price a job, you need to know what an hour of your time costs the business. It is more than your wage.

Add up your yearly overhead: insurance, equipment loan payments or replacement savings, truck costs, software, phone, marketing, licenses, and accounting. Divide by the number of hours you realistically expect to bill in a year. Remember that rain, travel, quoting, and slow months mean you will bill far fewer hours than you work.

Illustrative example (made-up numbers to show the method):

• Yearly overhead: $12,000
• Billable hours you expect: 800
• Overhead per billable hour: $12,000 / 800 = $15
• Wage you want to pay yourself: $35 per hour
• Base cost per billable hour: $35 + $15 = $50

That $50 is your break-even rate before materials and profit. Charging less means you are paying to work. If you hire a helper, add their wage plus payroll costs for every hour they are on site. The concept is explained at break even point and overhead.

With a base hourly cost, a quote is simple arithmetic. Estimate the time, add materials, then add your profit margin.

Illustrative quote (made-up numbers): a house wash plus a driveway

• Driving to the job and back: 0.5 hours
• Setup (hoses, mixing, protecting plants): 0.5 hours
• Driveway, about 600 sq ft: 1 hour
• Soft wash of siding, about 2,000 sq ft: 2 hours
• Cleanup and final walk-through: 0.5 hours
• Total time: 4.5 hours
• Labor and overhead: 4.5 x $50 = $225
• Chemicals and surfactant: $25
• Fuel for truck and machine: $15
• Total cost: $265
• Price with a 20 percent profit margin: $265 / 0.80 = about $331. Round to $335.

Two points about the margin. First, divide by (1 minus margin) rather than multiplying by 1.2; multiplying gives you a smaller margin than you intended. Second, the margin is not a luxury. It pays for equipment breakdowns, slow weeks, and growth. You can check any quote at profit margin calculator.

Once you have done this for 20 or 30 jobs, you will know your real per-square-foot cost for each surface and can quote faster with confidence.

Every job carries fixed time that has nothing to do with its size: driving, unloading, setting up, packing away, and invoicing. A minimum charge makes sure that time is paid for.

Illustrative minimum (same made-up numbers as above):

• Drive, setup, and cleanup: 1.5 hours x $50 = $75
• Minimum materials and fuel: $15
• Cost: $90
• With a 20 percent margin: $90 / 0.80 = about $113, rounded to $115

So in this example, any job under about $115 gets quoted at $115. Explain it plainly to customers: "Our minimum covers travel and setup for any visit. Since you are already paying for the visit, would you like us to do the front walkway and steps too?" That turns a small job into a bigger one instead of a lost one.

Adjust your base rates up for anything that takes extra time, extra risk, or extra product:

• Height. Second stories and steep roofs need ladders, extension wands, or extra safety gear.
• Heavy staining. Oil, rust, red clay, and thick mildew may need pre-treatment and dwell time.
• Delicate surfaces. Soft wood, painted surfaces, older brick, and stucco need lower pressure and more care.
• Access. Long hose runs, no water source on site, tight side yards, or lots of landscaping to protect.
• Water and runoff. Some cities have stormwater rules about what can flow into storm drains, which may mean extra steps to contain or redirect water. Check with your city before taking commercial work.
• Travel distance. Jobs well outside your core area deserve a travel fee.
• Urgency. Same-week or weekend scheduling in peak season can carry a premium.

On the other side, you can offer modest discounts for multiple services booked together, neighbors booking the same day, or recurring annual service, because each of those saves you drive and setup time.

Add-ons are often where the profit is, because you are already on site with your equipment set up. Price each one with the same time-plus-materials method.

• Gutter brightening: cleaning the outside face of gutters to remove black streaks.
• Gutter cleanout: removing debris from inside gutters.
• Window rinse: a spot-free rinse of exterior glass after a house wash.
• Deck or fence sealing and staining: a separate, higher-value service after cleaning wood.
• Concrete sealing: protects a freshly cleaned driveway or patio.
• Rust and oil stain treatment: a specialist chemical treatment priced per stain or per area.
• Roof soft washing: treating algae streaks on shingles with low pressure; requires care and the right safety equipment.
• Annual maintenance plans: a discounted yearly clean booked in advance, which smooths your seasonal cash flow.

Present add-ons as a short menu on every quote. Customers often choose one when they see the options side by side; see upsell for the broader idea.

National averages tell you very little about your town. Spend an afternoon finding out what local customers actually pay.

1. Check competitor websites. Some publish starting prices or minimums. Note the services they bundle.
2. Read Google Business Profiles and reviews. Customers often mention what they paid, and complaints reveal where competitors fall short.
3. Look at quote marketplaces like Thumbtack, Angi, or Nextdoor for local pros' starting prices.
4. Ask in local Facebook or neighborhood groups what people paid for a recent driveway or house wash.
5. Talk to real estate agents and property managers. They hire exterior cleaners often and know the going rate.
6. Note the spread, not just the average. If local prices range widely, decide where you want to sit. Being the cheapest is rarely a good strategy; being clearly better at something specific often is.

Then compare: if your cost-based price is far below the local market, you probably have room to raise it. If it is far above, look for ways to work faster, cut overhead, or target customers who value something you do better. For a broader take on pricing strategy, see how to price your product or service, and if you are still deciding whether to start, read the pressure washing SWOT in swot analysis examples.