Residential cleaning franchise finance
The median brand here reports average revenue of $439,243 a unit. Percentage fees at the median brand come to 9.2% of sales. The median cost to open runs $118,410 to $161,000.
Residential cleaning franchises at a glance
- Averan Franchise compares six residential cleaning franchise brands, each from its own 2026 FDD.
- The cost to open a residential cleaning franchise runs from $93,440 at Two Maids to $203,950 at Molly Maid.
- The Cleaning Authority reports the highest average sales of these brands, at $1,468,011, and The Maids the lowest, at $386,244.
- Franchise fees take 8% to 15% of sales across the five brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure.
These figures come from each brand's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
Where to next
- Fractional CFO, for the forecast behind a second location and the cash plan that carries it
- Bookkeeping for franchise owners, what this looks like when someone else keeps the books
- Home and Commercial Services Franchise Finance, the category guide
- Averan Franchise, every breakdown in the library
- Bookkeeping, monthly close built around the way your brand reports
Find a residential cleaning brand
This guide covers six brands, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
All 6 brands
The brands in this group
Each brand has its own page on how its locations make money, with every figure set out against the brand’s disclosure document it comes from.
- MaidPro Job counts published beside sales
- Merry Maids Per-business revenue falls as the ownership group grows
- Molly Maid Revenue by group · Every charge priced per target household, so the minimum marketing charge lands 46 times harder on the lowest-selling
- The Cleaning Authority Sales by thirds · Price per clean, customers, customers lost, leads and cost of goods for 212 territories
- Two Maids Household count accounts for almost nothing
Residential cleaning cost lines as a share of sales
Three of the six residential cleaning brands in Averan Franchise disclose what their locations spend on wages, rent and space, or cost of goods. Each figure is a share of the average location's sales, from the brand's 2026 FDD. Rent and space covers rent and the other costs of the premises.
| Brand | Wages | Rent and space | Cost of goods |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cleaning Authority | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 62.0% |
| The Maids | 38.6% | 4.9% | 1.1% |
| Two Maids | 45.0% | Not disclosed | 48.0% |
How fast new residential cleaning locations build sales
The pages for two of the six residential cleaning brands in Averan Franchise show how a new location's sales build after opening, by month or by years open, in dollars from each brand's FDD. The months before sales cover costs are the ones to plan cash for, and the minimum fee calculator shows what the fees cost during them.
Common questions
How much does a residential cleaning franchise cost to open?
Among the six residential cleaning brands in Averan Franchise that publish it, the cost to open runs from $93,440 at Two Maids to $203,950 at Molly Maid, according to their 2026 FDDs.
Which residential cleaning franchise costs the least to open?
Two Maids has the lowest starting cost of the residential cleaning brands in Averan Franchise, at $93,440 to $149,890.
Which residential cleaning franchise has the highest average sales?
The Cleaning Authority reports the highest average sales of the residential cleaning brands in Averan Franchise, at $1,468,011 in its 2026 FDD.
What do residential cleaning franchise fees cost as a share of sales?
Across the five residential cleaning brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure, franchise fees take 8% to 15% of sales.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- What should I be looking at every week?It lists the handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.
- Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?It explains what each role owns and when the next hire pays for itself.
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →How many jobs did you run last week?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around job count, a minimum fee your brand imposes. A chart of accounts mapped to the benchmark you are being measured against.
Talk to AveranThe model
The business model the top performers in residential cleaning are running
What the top performers can do that others cannot
Four of the six brands here sell a cleaning schedule. Rostering against demand is the constraint.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys a visit that repeats every week or two. At one of them the model is different: the customer buys a quoted job, usually once, which asks something else of the owner. A location at the middle brand sells $439,243 a year, and the median top group sells $1,085,621. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume. The product is the same.
Who the customer is, and how often they come back
This is a retention business. The money is made in the second year of a customer, not the first month, so the number that decides the year is how many stay. A median 42% of locations reach their own brand’s average, so most of the system is below the number the brand advertises, and the gap usually comes from low demand. Effort is usually not the cause. The top group sells $1,085,621 against $130,847 at the bottom. Trade area and site set that range before an owner takes a booking.
How the money works
Opening costs $93,440 to $203,950 across the group, and inside one brand the top of the range is typically 1.4 times the bottom. At the middle brand the cost stack runs cost of sales 48.0%, franchise fees 9.2% of sales.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in residential cleaning
Across the residential cleaning brands that publish both figures, the median top group of locations sells $1,085,621 a year and the median bottom group sells $130,847. Across these brands, a median of 42% of locations reach their own brand’s average.
Decided before you open
- Opening cost against sales.The top group sells $1,085,621 a year against a build that tops out at $203,950, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $5.32 for every dollar it cost to open.
Live operating levers
- Two of the six brands here run a recurring plan.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Recurring plans and booked return visits
- Unit economics
- Customers on a plan times visits a month
- Wages by brand.Wages run 38.6% of sales at The Maids and 45.0% at Two Maids, the two brands that disclose them. The levers are scheduling against booked demand hour by hour, sales per paid hour, and keeping part of pay variable. On the top group’s $1,085,621 of sales, a point of wages are $10,856 a year; on the bottom group’s $130,847 it is $1,308.
- Cost of goods by brand.Products and materials take 48.0% of sales at the middle brand, 1.1% to 62.0% across the three that disclose it. The levers on this line are buying on the brand program, holding the price list instead of discounting to close, and counting waste weekly.
- Fees as a share of sales.Fees run a median 9.2% of sales across five brands, from 8.0% to 15.0%. Where a minimum applies, lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. At $1,085,621 the fees cost $99,769 a year; at $130,847 they cost $12,025.
Context you underwrite around
- First-year build-up.One of six filings in this group show how a new location builds up. The others do not show it.
- Brands without sales bands.One brand publishes only an average, with no sales bands.
The figures, brand by brand
| Measure | Median | Brands | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average sales per unit | $439,243 | 5 of 6 | Median of each brand’s disclosed average |
| Median sales per unit | $339,352 | 3 of 6 | Median of each brand’s disclosed median |
| Initial franchise fee | $47,500 | 6 of 6 | |
| Royalty | 6.2% | 6 of 6 | Headline rate |
| Brand or advertising fund | 2% | 6 of 6 | |
| Fees paid to the brand | 9.2% | 5 of 6 | Royalty, brand fund and other fees paid to the brand or its affiliates, as a share of average sales |
| Cost to open, low | $118,410 | 6 of 6 | |
| Cost to open, high | $161,000 | 6 of 6 | |
| Profit margin | Fewer than three disclose | 1 of 6 | Each brand’s own profit line; definitions differ |
| Labor, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 2 of 6 | |
| Building costs, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 1 of 6 | |
| Unit growth over each FDD’s Item 20 period (2025, or 2023 to 2025) | 2.9% | 6 of 6 | (End − start) ÷ start |
| Customers lost over each FDD’s Item 20 period (2025, or 2023 to 2025) | 3.8% | 6 of 6 | Terminated, non-renewed, reacquired and ceased, ÷ opening units; transfers excluded |
Each figure is the median of the brands that disclose it, and the Brands column counts them.
How we calculated this
Revenue is each brand's own reported figure on its own unit basis, so the median describes the group and no single brand. Growth and customers lost are our calculations from each brand's outlet table. Where fewer than three brands disclose a figure, no benchmark is shown.
These are the things that separate top performers in residential cleaning
The top group at the typical residential cleaning brand sells $1,005,377 a location. The bottom group sells $180,372. That is $825,005 more a year, 5.6 times over, on the same agreement, the same fee schedule and the same playbook. A median 39% of locations reach their own brand’s average, so the average describes the upper part of each system. It does not describe the middle of it.
Decided before you open
- Opening cost against sales.The top group sells $1,085,621 a year against a build that tops out at $203,950, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $5.32 for every dollar it cost to open.
Live operating levers
- A recurring plan is a lever at two of the six brands here.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Recurring plans and booked return visits
- Unit economics
- Customers on a plan times visits a month
- Wages by brand.Wages run 38.6% of sales at The Maids and 45.0% at Two Maids, the two brands that disclose them. The levers are scheduling against booked demand hour by hour, sales per paid hour, and keeping part of pay variable. On the top group’s $1,085,621 of sales, a point of wages are $10,856 a year; on the bottom group’s $130,847 it is $1,308.
- Cost of goods by brand.Products and materials take 48.0% of sales at the middle brand, 1.1% to 62.0% across the three that disclose it. The levers on this line are buying on the brand program, holding the price list instead of discounting to close, and counting waste weekly.
- Fees as a share of sales.Fees run a median 9.2% of sales across five brands, from 8.0% to 15.0%. Where a minimum applies, lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. At $1,085,621 the fees cost $99,769 a year; at $130,847 they cost $12,025.
Context you underwrite around
- First-year build-up.One of six filings in this group show how a new location builds up. The others do not show it.
- Brands without sales bands.One brand publishes only an average, with no sales bands.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
These are the levers each brand's filing supports. Each brand has three to five, read from its own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
6 brands
MaidPro
Residential cleaning
- Jobs. Each job is won separately. Track how many quotes turn into work and the average job value.
- Memberships and rebooking. A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 8.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Merry Maids
Residential cleaning
- Sales depend on recurring cleans. The owner works on how many cleans happen each week, how many customers are still there in six months, and how tightly the route is packed.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 9.6% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Molly Maid
Residential cleaning
- Sales depend on recurring cleans. The owner works on how many cleans happen each week, how many customers are still there in six months, and how tightly the route is packed.
- Fees and the minimum. A minimum fee applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
The Cleaning Authority
Residential cleaning
- Products and materials. Products and materials take 62.0% of sales. The levers are buying terms, price discipline and waste.
- Sales depend on customers. The owner works on how many customers are won, how many are lost, and what each spends in a year.
- Memberships and rebooking. A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 8.1% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
The Maids
Residential cleaning
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 9.2% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Sales depend on recurring cleans. The owner works on how many cleans happen each week, how many customers are still there in six months, and how tightly the route is packed.
- Sales depend on customers. The owner works on how many customers are won, how many are lost, and what each spends in a year.
- Wages. Wages take 38.6% of sales. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
Two Maids
Residential cleaning
- Products and materials. Products and materials take 48.0% of sales. The levers are buying terms, price discipline and waste.
- Sales depend on recurring cleans. The owner works on how many cleans happen each week, how many customers are still there in six months, and how tightly the route is packed.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 15.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Where these figures come from
Every figure here comes from the brands' 2026 FDDs and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brands. The medians, growth and customers lost figures are our own calculations. The figures describe past performance at other businesses. They are not a projection of your results. This page is an educational summary and is not an offer to sell a franchise or financial, legal or tax advice. All trademarks belong to their owners. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.