If you manage a building in Alabama and you are collecting cleaning bids, the first thing you notice is how far apart the numbers are. Three vendors can walk the same office and come back with three very different prices. This guide explains what janitorial services cost in the wider market, what moves the number, and how to tell whether two bids are even pricing the same work.
One note before the figures. Every dollar amount below is a published market range from an industry or pricing source, listed at the end. None of them is a Squeaky Clean Team price. We price each building after a walkthrough, for the reasons this guide lays out.
Typical market ranges
ISSA, the cleaning industry trade association, publishes general per square foot guidelines for routine janitorial work. Its pricing guide lists these ranges by building type:
| Building type | Published range per square foot |
|---|---|
| General office | $0.09 to $0.17 |
| Medical and healthcare | $0.14 to $0.29 |
| Industrial or manufacturing | $0.08 to $0.20 |
| Retail | $0.07 to $0.15 |
| Schools and educational facilities | $0.07 to $0.14 |
ISSA calls these general guidelines, not fixed prices. Its worked example divides a monthly contract price by the building's square footage, so read the figures on a monthly basis.
Other sources frame the number differently. Housecall Pro, which sells software to cleaning contractors, lists standard recurring office cleaning at $0.07 to $0.20 per square foot and commercial cleaning labor at $30 to $75 per hour, with specialty and after hours work running higher. It notes that its market rates come from self reported averages on consumer pricing sites. Thumbtack reports a national average of $161 to $402 for a commercial cleaning job booked through its platform, which mostly reflects small spaces and single visits.
These are national figures. None of the sources we opened publishes an Alabama only rate. Local wages, drive time and building condition all shift the number, so treat the ranges as a sanity check and not as a quote.
What drives the price of janitorial service
Square footage
Cleanable square footage is the starting point. Bigger buildings cost more in total but usually less per square foot, because setup time and travel are spread across more floor. Be clear about whether you are quoting total leased space or only the space that gets cleaned. Storage rooms and server rooms often do not.
Frequency
A building cleaned five nights a week costs more per month than one cleaned twice a week. But each visit is faster, because dirt does not build up. ISSA notes that more frequent service often lowers the per square foot rate.
Restrooms
Restrooms take the most labor per square foot of any room in a building. Fixture count matters more than room count. An office with two single restrooms is a very different job from one with two six stall restrooms and a shower.
Floor types
Carpet gets vacuumed. Vinyl tile, sealed concrete and ceramic get swept and mopped, and some need machine scrubbing. Periodic floor work is normally priced apart from the nightly service. ISSA lists carpet cleaning at $0.08 to $0.25 per square foot, a hard floor scrub and recoat at $0.20 to $0.40, and a strip and refinish at $0.30 to $0.60.
Building type
The table above shows the pattern. A medical office costs more to clean than a general office of the same size because of disinfection steps and stricter procedures. A warehouse office with tracked in dust needs more floor time than a law office. Our medical office cleaning and office cleaning pages show how the scopes differ.
Supplies and consumables
Ask who buys the paper towels, toilet paper, soap and liners. Some bids include consumables. Some bill them at cost. Some expect you to stock them. A bid that looks cheap may simply leave them out.
After hours and day service
Most offices are cleaned in the evening. Service that has to happen overnight, on weekends or inside a narrow access window can cost more. So can a day porter who stays on site during business hours.
Traffic and condition
A call center with 200 people is harder on a building than an executive suite with 20. A building that has gone months without proper cleaning may need a paid first time deep clean before the recurring price applies.
How to compare janitorial bids
Price is only comparable when the work is. Before you line up the totals, check these points on every bid:
- Same basis. Is the price per visit, per month or per square foot? Convert them all to a monthly cost.
- Same frequency. Confirm the number of visits per week and whether holidays are skipped or made up.
- Same task list. One bid may dust weekly and another monthly. One may include interior glass and another may not.
- Consumables. Included, billed at cost or supplied by you.
- Periodic work. Floor refinishing, carpet extraction and high dusting are either in the price, listed as add ons or missing.
- Insurance. Ask for a certificate of insurance showing general liability and workers compensation. A vendor with no workers compensation coverage can bid lower and leaves you exposed if a cleaner is hurt in your building.
- Supervision. Who inspects the work, how often, and who do you call when something is missed?
- Staffing. Will the same crew come every time, or whoever is available?
If one bid is far below the rest, it usually means fewer labor hours. Ask the vendor how many hours per visit the price assumes. Then decide whether your building can really be cleaned in that time.
What a written scope should include
A written scope is what turns a price into a commitment. Without one, you have nothing to inspect against. A usable scope has:
- Tasks listed by room type: offices, restrooms, break rooms, lobbies, conference rooms, stairwells
- Frequency for each task: every visit, weekly, monthly or quarterly
- Service days and the time window for access
- Areas that are excluded
- Who supplies consumables and equipment
- Periodic services and how they are priced
- How inspections work and how missed items get reported and fixed
- Insurance carried, and how to request a certificate naming your company or property manager
- Term, notice period and how price changes are handled
Why the pricing basis changes by service
Not every cleaning service is measured the same way, which is one reason bids are hard to compare. Across the industry, and in how Squeaky Clean Team quotes, the basis usually looks like this:
| Service | What the quote is based on |
|---|---|
| Recurring janitorial and office cleaning | Square footage and frequency of visits |
| Apartment and student housing turns | Per unit, by floor plan |
| Post construction cleaning | Square footage and phase: rough, final and touch up |
| One time deep cleans and hoarding cleanup | Estimated crew time after an assessment |
When you collect bids, ask each vendor which basis they used. A price built on square footage and a price built on hours can describe the same job and still look very different on paper.
How Squeaky Clean Team prices janitorial service
We price recurring commercial cleaning and janitorial work per visit or per month. The price comes from square footage, restroom count, floor types, traffic and frequency, after a free walkthrough or video call. We do not publish a rate sheet, because the same square footage can be two very different jobs.
Every recurring account gets the same assigned crew, a written scope by room type and a team lead who inspects. A missed item reported within 24 hours is fixed at no charge. We carry general liability and workers compensation and provide a COI, W9 and references for procurement.
We serve all of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle from Pensacola to Panama City. Project work such as post construction cleaning is quoted separately. To get a price for your building, send the details through our quote form. We reply the same business day.
Questions this guide answers
How much do janitorial services cost per square foot?
ISSA's published guideline for general office cleaning is $0.09 to $0.17 per square foot, with medical facilities at $0.14 to $0.29. These are national market ranges, not Squeaky Clean Team prices. Your price depends on frequency, restrooms, floor types and traffic.
Is janitorial service cheaper in Alabama than the national average?
The pricing sources we reviewed publish national ranges and do not break out Alabama. Local labor costs and travel affect the number, so the only reliable figure is a quote built from a walkthrough of your building.
Is it better to pay per visit, per month or per hour?
For recurring service, a fixed price per visit or per month tied to a written scope is easier to budget and to hold a vendor to. Hourly pricing suits one time jobs where the amount of work is hard to know in advance.
Are supplies included in a janitorial price?
Cleaning chemicals and equipment usually are. Paper products, soap and liners vary by vendor. Ask each bidder to state it in writing so you compare the same thing.
How does Squeaky Clean Team quote janitorial service?
We do a free walkthrough or video call, then price per visit or per month from square footage, restroom count, floor types, traffic and frequency. We reply to quote requests the same business day.