Where Is the Cleaning Industry Headed in 2027?
You’re the owner, the scheduler, the trainer, and the backup cleaner when someone calls out.
Demand for cleaning keeps growing. Your hours can’t. These are the 2027 cleaning trends and how an owner or operations manager can use each one to grow without working every shift.
Dr. Paul Borosky, Business Consultant, has worked with home and commercial cleaning companies as part of a client list of 1,000+ owners.
Talk to Dr. PaulCall or text (321) 948-9588.
Last Updated: November 2026
How This Guide Works
Need it quick? Doctor Owl tells you where to start, just above. The list below goes straight to each trend. Want the story? A family of field mice who run a cleaning crew in Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series lose two cleaners in a month. Their story comes after the first trend.
Flat-rate pricing or a bid walk-through new to you? The Cleaning glossary explains each term.
What Cleaning Trends Should You Watch in 2027?
Eight of them, with moves an owner or operations manager can start this week.
Is Demand for House Cleaning Still Growing?
Marketdata, in a report announced by ISSA in April 2026, put U.S. residential maid services at about $17.2 billion in 2025 and still growing.
There’s work out there. The question is whether you can staff it and keep it.
- Track recurring versus one-time clients every month.
- Offer a discount for weekly or biweekly service.
- Ask every one-time client if they’d like a regular day.
From the Fabled Forest
How Would a Forest Cleaning Crew Use These Trends?
Doctor Owl is the wise old owl the forest’s owners call when a growing business starts slipping. A family of field mice runs the forest’s busiest cleaning crew. They clean the Lone Oak every Thursday. One Thursday, nobody showed. Two cleaners had quit that month, and the mother mouse was covering three houses herself.
Doctor Owl asked: fire or foundation? Losing cleaners was costing clients now. Fire. They worked it through with Dr. Paul’s Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy.
- Organize. The mice listed why each cleaner left. Both said the same thing: a new schedule every week.
- Plan. They gave each cleaner set clients on set days.
- Grow. Clients started asking for “their” cleaner by name. The mice turned that into a biweekly plan.
Illustration only: if replacing one cleaner costs $2,000 in hiring, training, and lost jobs, keeping three more cleaners a year saves about $6,000.
The Lone Oak got cleaned the next Thursday, on time.
Illustration only: $2,000 to hire, train, and cover lost jobs per cleaner.
How Do Cleaning Companies Keep Their Staff?
Cleaning companies face a steady labor shortage. In November 2026, ISSA became the first sponsor of a federally registered Cleaning Technician apprenticeship.
Every cleaner who quits costs you hiring time, training time, and sometimes a client.
- Give cleaners set clients and set schedules.
- Train new hires with a written checklist.
- Look into apprenticeship programs to build a pipeline.
Are Cleaning Robots Worth It for a Small Company?
Connecteam estimates the cleaning robot market will grow from about $6 billion in 2024 to about $21 billion by 2030.
Robots won’t replace your crew. One machine on the right job can free up real hours.
- List the jobs with the most floor space and the least detail work.
- Price a machine against the labor hours it saves.
- Test one on a commercial account first.
Which Cleaning Niches Pay the Most?
Move-outs, post-construction, and medical offices pay more than standard cleans, and each needs different skills.
A niche can raise your price per job and make you easier to find.
- Look at your last 50 jobs. Which type made the most per hour?
- Train one crew for that niche.
- Market that niche by name.
Do Clients Care About Cleaning for Health and Green Products?
Connecteam lists cleaning for health, meaning truly clean and not just tidy, and sustainable products among the top 2026 trends.
Some clients will pay more for it. Ask before you assume.
- Ask your five best clients what they care about.
- Explain what you clean and how, not just that it looks clean.
- Price green or health-focused service as an add-on.
Should You Charge by the Hour or by the Job?
Many small cleaning companies still charge by the hour.
Charge by the hour, and your fastest cleaner earns you the least.
- Time your crew on your most common job types.
- Set a flat price for each type.
- Check your profit per job every month (revenue vs. profit).
How Do You Bid on Commercial Cleaning Contracts?
Commercial bids ask for a monthly price based on square footage and frequency.
Bid too low, and you lose money for the whole contract.
- Walk the site and time a sample of the work.
- Price from your real labor cost per hour.
- Build in a price review after six months.
Franchise or Independent: Which Way Should You Grow?
Some owners grow by joining a franchise. Others build their own system.
A franchise sells you a system and takes a cut. Independence means you build the system yourself.
- Write down which systems you already have, like scheduling and training.
- Compare franchise fees to what it would cost to build those systems.
- Use scheduling software before you add more crews.
Starting a cleaning company? Get your numbers right first with a cleaning business plan template.
Real World Help From Dr. Paul
Where Should a Cleaning Company Owner Start?
- Find what’s costing you now: turnover, hourly pricing, or one-time clients. That’s your fire.
- Pick one thing to build: recurring clients, a niche, or a trained crew. That’s your foundation.
- Write both into your 2027 plan.
Want help sorting it out? Dr. Paul works with cleaning company owners in person, and on Zoom when that’s easier. See consulting for cleaning companies.
Is Turnover Eating Your Cleaning Profit?
Book a free 15-minute call with Dr. Paul. Bring your client list and how many cleaners left this year, if you know. Starting a cleaning company? Bring your plan. You leave knowing where to start, and what further help would run if you want it.
Or call or text (321) 948-9588.
What Do Cleaning Company Owners Ask About 2027?
Is a cleaning business still a good business in 2027?
Demand is growing. The hard part is keeping good cleaners, so the companies that do well build steady schedules and recurring clients.
Should I charge by the hour or by the job?
By the job is usually better once you know how long each job type takes. It rewards fast, good work.
Does this help an operations manager?
Yes. Schedules, pricing by job, and turnover tracking are things an operations manager runs every week.
About the Author
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, is a business consultant who helps cleaning company owners and other service owners build teams and systems that grow without the owner covering every shift.
Sources
- Marketdata, U.S. residential maid services report, announced by ISSA (April 8, 2026).
- ISSA, registered apprenticeship announcement (November 4, 2026).
- Connecteam, cleaning industry trends (2026).