A housekeeper at a home cleaning company cleans customers' houses room by room to a set checklist, often on a small team. They dust, vacuum, mop and scrub kitchens and bathrooms in several homes a day, and note anything broken or out of place.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, building services companies · BLS, May 2025
The Housekeeper is responsible for maintaining a clean, organized, and welcoming environment in residences and offices by adhering to established cleaning protocols and procedures. This role is essential in upholding the company's commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction through consistent, high-quality service.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Execute cleaning tasks in residences and offices following established protocols and checklists.
Ensure all areas are sanitized, organized, and presentable for residents or office staff.
Adhere to safety guidelines and cleaning best practices during all tasks.
Report maintenance issues or safety hazards to the Housekeeping Manager in a timely manner.
Assist with inventory checks and communicate supply needs to management.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Inspect and clean designated areas including floors, surfaces, bathrooms, kitchens, and common spaces.
Dust, sweep, mop, and vacuum according to company procedures and customer needs.
Greet and interact courteously with residents or office personnel as needed.
Record completed tasks and any irregularities on daily checklists.
Maintain and organize cleaning equipment and supplies to ensure optimal performance.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars.
On-Time Task Completion: 95% of tasks finished within scheduled timeframes per shift.
Inspection Score: A minimum of 90% compliance during regular quality audits.
Efficiency Metrics: Average cleaning time per room not to exceed 45 minutes.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or equivalent.
1-2 years of experience in a housekeeping or cleaning environment.
Proficiency in using cleaning equipment and safe handling of cleaning chemicals.
Excellent time management, organization, and attention to detail.
Strong communication skills and the ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
Basic computer skills for logging tasks and inventory updates.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience working in professional residential or commercial cleaning settings.
Background in hospitality, property management, or related home services industries.
Familiarity with eco-friendly or green cleaning practices and products.
Experience in handling specialized cleaning equipment and supplies.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 25 lbs.
Frequent bending, kneeling, and reaching during cleaning tasks.
Prolonged periods of standing, walking, and performing repetitive motions.
Comfort with exposure to cleaning chemicals and working in varied environments.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Monday through Friday schedule with occasional weekend shifts based on client needs.
Onsite work across residential and office locations.
Minimal travel required within the assigned service area.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Hourly rate range: $15 - $20 per hour based on experience and performance.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses.
Comprehensive benefits package including Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance.
401(k) plan with company matching contributions.
Paid time off, holiday pay, and other fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we foster a culture of respect, continuous learning, and excellence.
We are dedicated to empowering our employees with opportunities for personal and professional growth in a supportive environment.
Our mission is to provide exceptional home services while ensuring every team member feels valued and part of our success story.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What makes housekeeping at a cleaning company different
Hotel and hospital housekeepers clean similar rooms in one building. A housekeeper at a home cleaning company works in several houses a day, each one lived in, laid out its own way and full of someone's things.
The same homes, visit after visit
Recurring customers get a visit every week or two, often from the same people, so a housekeeper learns each home: the dog that slips out, the room that stays closed, the counters that need a special cleaner. Good notes in the scheduling app let a fill-in housekeeper clean it the same way. Customers notice when someone new skips their usual extras.
Everything rides in and out of the car
A hotel housekeeper pushes a stocked cart down one hallway. A house cleaner carries the vacuum, mop, caddy and a bag of cloths from the car, up the stairs and back out again at every home. Good teams pack the car the same way each day and check each room on the way out, because a bottle left on a counter is the first thing a customer sees.
Someone's things are everywhere
Housekeepers dust around photos, electronics and heirlooms, and clean surfaces they didn't pick, like marble, unsealed wood and stainless steel. An acidic cleaner that's fine on porcelain can etch marble. Teach new housekeepers to try a product in a hidden spot, to ask when unsure, and to report anything broken right away instead of leaving it for the customer to find. Source: National Park Service: Preservation Brief 1, cleaning historic masonry (acidic cleaners and marble).
Grocery store cleaners still count
OSHA's chemical safety rule can cover store-bought cleaners. The exemption for consumer products ends when workers use a product longer or more often than a normal household would. One OSHA letter says cleaning staff who use a glass cleaner over and over every day need to know its hazards. A housekeeper sprays and wipes for hours, day after day. So keep safety data sheets and train on the hazardous products in the kit. Source: OSHA interpretation letter, December 24, 1992: when consumer products such as glass cleaner fall under hazard communication.
Lunch on the road
With homes spread across town, teams often eat in the car between houses. Federal rules count travel from one job site to the next during the workday as hours worked, so lunch on that drive is paid, for the driver and the riders. A meal break can be unpaid only when the worker is completely relieved of duty, ordinarily for half an hour or more. Check your state for its own break rules too. Source: 29 CFR 785.19: Meal periods (Cornell LII).
How much housekeepers make
The closest BLS group for housekeepers is maids and housekeeping cleaners. Maids and housekeeping cleaners who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $17.13 an hour ($35,630 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $35,510 median for maids and housekeeping cleaners in all industries. About 92,440 of the 860,670 maids and housekeeping cleaners in that survey work for building services companies.
Most cleaning companies pay housekeepers hourly, plus overtime, and some add a bonus for inspection scores or attendance. Tips customers leave go to the employees: federal law bars the company from keeping any share of them.
Building services companies
$35,630$35,630 median Middle half $31,740–$39,810 10th–90th $28,350–$47,380
All industries
$35,510$35,510 median Middle half $30,350–$39,590 10th–90th $27,640–$48,570
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Building services companies
$28,350
$31,740
$35,630
$39,810
$47,380
All industries
$27,640
$30,350
$35,510
$39,590
$48,570
BLS doesn’t publish pay for maid services on their own. These figures cover services to buildings and dwellings, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Cleans to a checklist without skipping steps when no one is checking
Careful with customers' belongings and honest when something breaks
Finishes each home inside its booked time, several homes a day
Works well on a small team that shares a car and splits the rooms
Reads product labels and follows the safety steps on them
Teach these on the job
Your room-by-room checklist and order of work
Which products go on stone, wood, glass and stainless steel
Deep clean and move-out tasks, such as inside ovens and cabinets
Your scheduling app, time punches and home notes
How to report breakage, lockouts and safety problems
Most housekeepers work from a kit: a vacuum, often a backpack or HEPA model, microfiber cloths and mops, scrub brushes, a step stool and bottled cleaners filled at the branch. They also use a phone with the company's scheduling app for clocking in and reading each home's notes. In the ad, say whether the company supplies every product and vacuum or housekeepers bring anything of their own.
Housekeeper interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Compare housekeepers on homes of similar size and clean type, and base targets on what your branch has done before tying them to raises or bonuses.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Monthly ratings from customers' follow-up surveys on the homes this housekeeper cleaned. On team cleans the score is shared, so read comments about specific rooms or tasks before crediting or blaming one person.
On-Time Task Completion
Cleans finished inside the booked window, from start and end times in your scheduling app. Set aside late finishes caused by lockouts, traffic or extra requests from the customer.
Inspection Score
The field supervisor's checklist score on homes or rooms this housekeeper cleaned, from spot inspections after the visit. Everyone is scored on the same checklist, so results compare fairly.
Efficiency Metrics
Minutes on site divided by rooms cleaned, split by clean type. A first deep clean takes far longer than a weekly visit, so compare housekeepers only on similar homes and services.
Career path
Cleaning helperLearns the checklist on a team before cleaning alone.
HousekeeperCleans homes to the checklist, alone or with a team.
They clean several customers' homes a day to the company's checklist: dusting, vacuuming, mopping floors, and scrubbing kitchens and bathrooms. Deep and move-out visits add the inside of ovens, fridges and cabinets. Housekeepers also log their work, report breakage or safety problems, and keep their kit stocked for the next home.
How much does a housekeeper make?
Maids and housekeeping cleaners who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $17.13 an hour ($35,630 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $31,740 and $39,810 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What's the difference between a housekeeper and a house cleaner?
At a cleaning company they're usually the same job, and many ads use both titles. A housekeeper hired by one family may also do laundry, errands or cooking, and works for that family. If you use "housekeeper" in your ad, list the tasks so applicants know it means cleaning several homes a day for your customers.
Does a housekeeper need cleaning experience?
One to two years is the template's ask. You can hire with less if a lead has time to train, and some companies start new hires as helpers on a team. Cleaning a shower is quick to teach. Honesty when something breaks in a stranger's home is not, so ask about that in the interview. If you hire someone new to cleaning, plan paid training days before they clean on their own.
Should housekeepers clean alone or in teams?
Teams finish big homes faster, cover a call-out more easily and train new people as they work. Solo housekeepers give a recurring customer one familiar face and need no one to split rooms with. Some companies send teams to the big one-time cleans and one or two people to small recurring homes. Applicants should know which of these they'd be doing.
What should a housekeeper job ad include?
The days and hours, where shifts start, and whether housekeepers use their own cars or travel in a company vehicle. Say whether you clean in teams, what training looks like, and how tips and bonuses work. The template's duties mention a housekeeping manager; change that to the title your teams report to, such as the lead housekeeper. If you only clean homes, take out its mentions of offices.
