House Cleaning Prices in Australia: What a Cleaner Costs in 2026
Whether you’re chasing your first quote or squinting at one that’s just landed, it helps to know what the going rate is. So here’s the lot: what the market charges in each capital city, what pushes a quote up or down, and what cleaners typically charge.
One thing worth knowing early, because the tables can’t show it. The rates don’t change by the cities we operate in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. Everything else is below, table first if you’d rather just scan.
House cleaning prices by city in 2026
In 2026, house cleaning prices run from $45 an hour in Perth and Adelaide to $75 an hour in Sydney. City averages sit between $52 and $65. Here is the whole national picture in one table. The hourly range is what an established service charges for a police-checked, insured cleaner, and the last column is a fortnightly clean of a three-bedroom home, the most common booking in the country.
| City | Typical hourly rate | City average | 3-bedroom, fortnightly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | $55–$75/hr | $65/hr | $180–$260 |
| Melbourne | $52–$70/hr | $61/hr | $170–$240 |
| Brisbane | $50–$65/hr | $57/hr | $150–$220 |
| Canberra | $50–$65/hr | $57/hr | $150–$220 |
| Perth | $45–$60/hr | $52/hr | $140–$200 |
| Adelaide | $45–$60/hr | $52/hr | $140–$200 |
The spread is smaller than people expect: $13 an hour between the priciest capital and the least, which on a three hour clean is about $39 a visit.
Cleaners found through marketplace apps quote lower, $30 to $50 an hour nationally. Those are different arrangements, and usually don’t include insurance or a criminal history check, so it isn’t a like-for-like comparison.
House cleaning prices by home size
A fortnightly clean costs $90 to $165 for a one-bedroom unit and $260 to $450 or more for five bedrooms, across the six capital cities in 2026. The top of each range is Sydney, the bottom is Perth and Adelaide.
| Home size | Fortnightly regular clean | Time on site |
|---|---|---|
| 1-bedroom unit | $90–$165 | 2–3 hrs |
| 2-bedroom home | $120–$205 | 2.5–3.5 hrs |
| 3-bedroom home | $140–$260 | 3–4.5 hrs |
| 4-bedroom home | $180–$330 | 4–5.5 hrs |
| 5-bedroom or larger | $260–$450+ | 5+ hrs |
What drives the price
What moves a quote most: how big the house is, how often you book, what the clean covers, and how far the cleaner travels. City matters too, but less than people assume.
Home size
Size is the biggest lever, because it decides how long the job takes. A one-bedroom unit runs $90 to $165 a fortnight, a four-bedroom house $180 to $330. It isn’t strictly bedroom count: it’s bathrooms, floor area and clutter.
What the clean covers
A clean covering floors and bathrooms only is the lowest-priced option, from $50 an hour. A full clean of the whole house runs $50 to $75 an hour depending on the city, and home help that goes past cleaning runs $55 to $65.
| Type of clean | What it covers | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Floors and bathrooms | Vacuuming, mopping, bathrooms | From $50 |
| Full regular clean | Whole house: kitchen, bathrooms, dusting, floors | $50–$75 |
| Home help | Cleaning plus the washing, meal prep, tidying, errands | $55–$65 |
| Deep clean | A standard clean, done harder | About 50% above standard |
| One-off visit | A single clean, no schedule | 30–50% above standard |
How often you book, and one-off versus regular
A house cleaned every fortnight takes less time than one cleaned every three months, so the per-visit price falls as frequency rises. A single visit costs 30 to 50 per cent above the same house on a regular schedule, and a deep clean around 50 per cent above a standard one. The first clean of any house takes longest, and a cleaner filling a one-off gap has no repeat work to bank on.
Where you live in the city
Inner suburbs cost $5 to $15 an hour more than outer ones, everywhere. Travel time is unpaid time, so distance shows up in the rate.
The two ways cleaning is priced in Australia
Every quote is built one of two ways: by the hour, or as a flat rate for the job. Knowing which you’re looking at is the difference between comparing and guessing them.
Hourly versus flat rate
Hourly means you pay for the time the cleaner is in your house, $45 to $75 an hour depending on the city. You control the spend by controlling the hours. The risk is a job bigger than anyone thought.
Flat rate means one price for the whole clean, $90 to $450 depending on home size. You know the number before anyone arrives. The catch is scope: a flat rate is a fixed list of tasks, and anything outside it is extra.
Hourly suits a house where the work varies week to week. Flat rate suits a house where it doesn’t.
Agency, franchise, matching service or independent cleaner
Where you book from changes the price. A cleaning company or franchise charges $45 to $75 an hour, a matching service charges a one-off fee and then an hourly rate, and an independent cleaner charges $30 to $50 an hour.
- A cleaning company or franchise sends whoever is scheduled. A business to call when something goes wrong, less say in who turns up.
- A matching service introduces you to one cleaner and steps back. A one-off fee for the matching, then an ongoing hourly rate. Fewer new faces, more of your input at the start.
- An independent cleaner or app booking is arranged directly between you and them. Insurance, checks and cover are yours to sort out.
House cleaning prices city by city
Hourly rates range from $45 in Perth and Adelaide to $75 in Sydney, and each city works a bit differently underneath that. The full guides cover suburb rates, what’s included, and how long each home size takes.
Sydney
The most expensive capital, at $55 to $75 an hour, average $65. A three-bedroom fortnightly clean runs $180 to $260. The spread inside the city is the widest in the country, $60 to $78 an hour in the Eastern Suburbs down to $50 to $65 in the Greater West. More in our guide to house cleaning costs in Sydney, and you can see what a cleaner costs on our Sydney house cleaning page.
Melbourne
Second highest, at $52 to $70 an hour and an average of $61. A three-bedroom fortnightly clean runs $170 to $240, and flat-rate quotes $140 to $300. Bayside tops out at $58 to $74 an hour, the northern and western growth corridors at $50 to $64. More in our guide to house cleaning costs in Melbourne, alongside our Melbourne house cleaning page.
Brisbane
$50 to $65 an hour, average $57, and a three-bedroom fortnightly clean at $150 to $220. Flat rates start at $100 for a one-bedroom unit. Brisbane sits almost exactly on the national average, a useful yardstick if you’re comparing interstate quotes. See our guide to house cleaning costs in Brisbane or our Brisbane house cleaning page.
Perth
$45 to $60 an hour, average $52, and a three-bedroom fortnightly clean at $140 to $200. Perth and Adelaide are the lowest-priced capitals. Distance matters more here than most cities: $50 to $58 an hour inner city, $45 to $52 outer ring. More in our guide to house cleaning costs in Perth, and our Perth house cleaning page.
Adelaide
$45 to $60 an hour, average $52, matching Perth almost exactly. A three-bedroom fortnightly clean runs $140 to $200, and flat rates span $90 to $345 by home size. Read our guide to house cleaning costs in Adelaide, or head to our Adelaide house cleaning page.
Canberra
$50 to $65 an hour, average $57, level with Brisbane. A three-bedroom fortnightly clean runs $150 to $220. Inner North and Inner South top out at $55 to $65 an hour, and Tuggeranong sometimes attracts a travel fee. See our guide to house cleaning costs in Canberra and our Canberra house cleaning page.
What it costs through Family Clean
There are two ways to get help at home, depending on what you need. The rates are the same across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.
Home Assistant
From $60 an hour per person
Cleaning is the starting point, but your Home Assistant can help with the other jobs that make up everyday home life too. Think washing, meal prep, tidying, organising a cupboard that’s got away from you, or walking the dog.
The minimum callout is $120, covering up to two hours.
Barefoot Basics
From $50 an hour per person
This is the simpler option, covering the regular essentials: floors and bathrooms. It’s not designed as a whole-house clean, just the big hitters that make a real difference to how fresh a home feels.
The minimum callout is $100, covering up to two hours.
A couple of things to keep in mind when looking at the hourly rates: they’re per person, so a two-person team is charged at double the hourly rate but gets the work done in roughly half the time.
Visits are weekly or fortnightly, so once you’re matched and settled into a routine, your regular cost stays predictable.
Family Clean has been matching Australian households with independent cleaners and Home Assistants since 1994. We’re in six capital cities, with more than 800 Google reviews and a 4.8-star rating.
How the matching works
Getting started is pretty simple. You tell us what life at home actually looks like, and we get to work finding someone who fits.
Tell us about your home. How big it is, what you’d like help with, which day works best and any of the little details that matter. Maybe there’s a dog who thinks the vacuum is his mortal enemy. We’d like to know about that too.
We find your match. We look for a cleaner or Home Assistant who works in your area and fits what you’ve told us, including the type of help you need and when you need it. Everyone we match is police-checked and insured.
Then you settle into a routine. Your visits continue weekly or fortnightly, with the hourly rate depending on which service you’ve chosen: from $60 per person for a Home Assistant or from $50 per person for Barefoot Basics.
The idea is that you’re not just booking someone to turn up and clean. You’re finding someone who fits into the way your home works.
Cleaning in one of those six cities? Your city’s page is the place to start: house cleaning in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide or Canberra. Tell us about your place, your week and your family, and we’ll do the matching.