Short answer
Charge for pool cleaning by the stop: minutes at the pool plus drive minutes, at your loaded wage plus overhead, plus chemicals, divided by (1 − margin). Monthly price = per stop × 52 ÷ 12. Example: a 36-minute stop with $6.75 of chemicals prices at $44.06, or $190.93 a month.
- Assumed: $26 wage, 18% burden and $8 of overhead make a $38.68 break-even hour, $56.88 at 32% margin.
- A month is 52 ÷ 12 = 4.33 visits. Billing four gives away $176.24 a year on the example pool.
- Same pool, same service: $39.32 a stop at 5 drive minutes, $53.54 at 20.
- Chemicals scale with gallons: $4.50 a visit at 10,000 gallons, $13.50 at 30,000, on the assumed rate.
- A green-pool clean-up is its own job: $353.01 on the assumed hours and chemicals.
On this page
- How much to charge for pool cleaning: the per-stop formula
- Pool cleaning price calculator (opens on one weekly full-service stop)
- How much to charge for pool cleaning per month: 52 ÷ 12, not 4
- Pool cleaning price list by service level
- Chemical cost per visit by pool volume: 10,000 to 30,000 gallons
- Route density: the same pool at 5 to 25 drive minutes
- Weekly vs every-other-week service, and a green-pool clean-up
- Add-ons, repairs and licences: filter clean, salt cell, opening and closing
- Seasonal pools: a 7 to 9 month season on a flat 12-month bill
- Excel formulas for a pool route price sheet, and the markup mistake
- Calculator, free starter sheet or custom build: where to keep pool prices
- Step-by-step
- FAQ
How much to charge for pool cleaning: the per-stop formula
Price one stop from the minutes it takes and the chemicals it uses, then multiply up to a month. The pool's size and the service level change the inputs, not the formula.
- Hours per stop = (minutes at the pool + drive minutes to the next stop) ÷ 60.
- Chemicals = what this visit uses, in dollars. This is the materials line.
- Break-even = hours × (loaded wage + overhead per hour) + chemicals.
- Price per stop = break-even ÷ (1 − margin).
- Monthly price = price per stop × visits a year ÷ 12.
I build pricing maths; I do not run a pool route. Every minute, dollar and gallon below is an assumption for one person working alone. Replace each with your own.
Wage and burden (assumed): a $26 hourly wage you pay yourself or a technician, plus 18% burden for the taxes and insurance that ride on that wage, is $30.68 an hour. If you are self-employed, the IRS puts the self-employment tax rate at 15.3%, which is one part of that burden. Ask your accountant for your own figure; the labor burden calculator guide builds it line by line.
| Item | Per year (assumed) |
|---|---|
| Truck: fuel, insurance, repairs and wear | $9,600 |
| Liability insurance and licences | $2,640 |
| Test kit and reagents, poles, brushes, nets, vacuum and hoses | $1,400 |
| Route software and phone | $1,500 |
| Marketing and bookkeeping | $1,500 |
| Total | $16,640 |
Overhead per hour: $16,640 ÷ (260 billable days × 8 hours = 2,080 hours) = $8. The 260 days assume the route runs five days a week, every week. Break-even is $38.68 an hour; divided by 0.68 for a 32% margin, each hour sells at $56.88.
Pool cleaning price calculator (opens on one weekly full-service stop)
Enter hours, wage, burden, materials, overhead and margin to get break-even and the price for one stop. It opens on the example, so it shows $44.06.
Hours are (26 minutes at the pool + 10 drive minutes) ÷ 60 = 0.6. Materials are the visit's chemicals: 15,000 gallons ÷ 10,000 × an assumed $4.50 = $6.75.
Worked example: One weekly full-service stop at a 15,000-gallon pool: 26 minutes at the pool + 10 drive minutes = 36 minutes (0.6 hours); materials = chemicals for the visit (all inputs are assumptions; the yearly row assumes 60 stops a week)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $26.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 18% |
| Materials (input) | $6.75 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $16,640.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 260 |
| Target margin % (input) | 32% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 60 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 0.6 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $30.68 |
| Crew-hours | 0.6 |
| Labour cost | $18.41 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $8.00 |
| Overhead share | $4.80 |
| Break-even cost | $29.96 |
| Price to quote | $44.06 |
| Profit on the job | $14.10 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $39.54 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 24.24% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $4.51 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $14,075.33 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Check it: 0.6 hours × $30.68 = $18.41 of labour, plus $4.80 of overhead and $6.75 of chemicals, is $29.96. Divided by 0.68 that is $44.06 a stop. The widget stops there; the monthly step is yours: $44.06 × 52 ÷ 12 = $190.93. The free job pricing calculator runs the same maths on its own page.
How much to charge for pool cleaning per month: 52 ÷ 12, not 4
A weekly customer gets 52 visits a year, which is 4.33 a month on average. Multiply the per-stop price by 52 and divide by 12; do not multiply by 4.
| Billing rule | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Per stop × 52 ÷ 12 | $190.93 | $2,291.12 |
| Per stop × 4 | $176.24 | $2,114.88 |
| Given away | $176.24 |
The gap is four visits a year done for nothing. On a route of 60 pools like this one it is $10,574.40 a year. If you would sooner bill per visit, invoice the visits actually made each month; over a year that also comes to 52.
Pool cleaning price list by service level
A price list is the same formula run once per service level. Each row below is one computed stop at the 15,000-gallon pool with 10 drive minutes.
| Service level | Minutes at the pool | Break-even | Price per stop | Price per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemicals only: test, balance and dose the water | 8 | $18.35 | $26.99 | $116.96 |
| Chemicals plus baskets and skim: the above, plus empty the baskets and skim the surface | 14 | $22.22 | $32.68 | $141.61 |
| Full service: the above, plus brush, vacuum and a filter pressure check | 26 | $29.96 | $44.06 | $190.93 |
What a pool cleaning service includes is whatever your scope list says, and the scope list sets the minutes. Write down each task, time it on a few pools, and price the total. The chemicals-only row, $26.99, is also this route's minimum charge: the shortest stop it will drive to.
Try it with your numbers — free
The free calculator does this whole method in about a minute: loaded labour, overhead share, break-even and the price to quote at your margin. No signup, nothing to download, and your numbers stay in your browser.
Open the free job pricing calculator →Get the free spreadsheetWant it built around your own rates, services and branding? Done-for-you custom calculator ($497).
Chemical cost per visit by pool volume: 10,000 to 30,000 gallons
Chemical use follows the water, so cost it per gallon. This page assumes $4.50 of chemicals per 10,000 gallons per weekly visit; take your own figure from a season of receipts divided by visits and gallons.
Pool volume. The City of Akron's pool gallons sheet gives length × width × average depth × a multiplier: 7.5 for a rectangle, square or free-form pool and 5.9 for a round or oval one. Average depth is the shallow-end depth plus the deep-end depth, divided by two. A 16 × 32 foot rectangle averaging 4.5 feet deep is 17,280 gallons.
| Pool volume | Chemicals per visit | Break-even | Price per stop | Price per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 gallons | $4.50 | $27.71 | $40.75 | $176.58 |
| 15,000 gallons | $6.75 | $29.96 | $44.06 | $190.93 |
| 20,000 gallons | $9 | $32.21 | $47.36 | $205.23 |
| 30,000 gallons | $13.50 | $36.71 | $53.98 | $233.91 |
Each extra 5,000 gallons adds $2.25 of chemicals and $3.31 to the stop. The minutes are held at 26 here; a bigger pool may take longer to brush and vacuum, so time it.
Chemicals included, up to a limit. The example price carries $6.75 a visit, which is $29.25 a month. If a month uses an assumed $45, the extra $15.75 is yours unless the agreement says otherwise. Billed at cost it recovers $15.75; billed at the same margin it is $23.16. Which rule you print is a policy choice.
When chemical prices rise. An assumed $1.50 more per visit moves the stop by $2.20 and the month by $9.53 at the same margin.
No dose rates appear on this page. The EPA says products that claim to prevent, remove, control or eliminate algae or bacteria are considered pesticides, which must be registered and carry EPA-approved labelling. Dose from the product label.
Route density: the same pool at 5 to 25 drive minutes
Drive minutes are sold minutes. The same full-service stop prices at $39.32 when the next pool is 5 minutes away and $53.54 when it is 20.
| Drive minutes | Minutes per stop | Stops in an 8-hour day | Price per stop | Price per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 31 | 15 | $39.32 | $170.39 |
| 10 | 36 | 13 | $44.06 | $190.93 |
| 15 | 41 | 11 | $48.80 | $211.47 |
| 20 | 46 | 10 | $53.54 | $232.01 |
| 25 | 51 | 9 | $58.28 | $252.55 |
The far customer. A pool 25 minutes off the route costs $14.22 more a stop than the 10-minute one, or $61.62 a month.
Worked example: The far customer: the same pool and service, 25 drive minutes instead of 10, so 51 minutes (0.85 hours) (assumed inputs; the yearly row assumes one such stop a week)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $26.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 18% |
| Materials (input) | $6.75 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $16,640.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 260 |
| Target margin % (input) | 32% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 1 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 0.85 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $30.68 |
| Crew-hours | 0.85 |
| Labour cost | $26.08 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $8.00 |
| Overhead share | $6.80 |
| Break-even cost | $39.63 |
| Price to quote | $58.28 |
| Profit on the job | $18.65 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $52.31 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 24.24% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $5.97 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $310.31 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Bill that pool the route price of $44.06 and it still clears its $39.63 break-even, but only $4.43 is left: 10% of the price, not 32%.
Unsold hours. The overhead figure assumes all 2,080 hours are sold. If driving gaps and cancellations leave 6 sold hours a day, enter 195 billable days in place of 260: the example stop rises to $46.41.
Weekly vs every-other-week service, and a green-pool clean-up
Every-other-week service is 26 visits a year, so its month is the per-stop price × 26 ÷ 12. It is not half the weekly price, because each visit is longer.
Assumed here: an every-other-week visit takes 36 minutes at the pool in place of 26 and 1.6 times the chemicals ($10.80). That stop breaks even at $40.45 and prices at $59.49, or $128.90 a month: 68% of the weekly price for half the visits. How often a pool needs service depends on the pool; I found no official page that sets a frequency for home pools, so define it in your agreement.
A green pool is a separate job. Price the recovery as hours plus chemicals over several visits and quote it before weekly service starts. It is not a free first visit.
Worked example: One-off green-pool clean-up: three visits of 90, 60 and 45 minutes at the pool + 3 × 10 drive minutes = 225 minutes (3.75 hours); $95 of chemicals (assumed inputs; the yearly row assumes one clean-up a week)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 1 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $26.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 18% |
| Materials (input) | $95.00 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $16,640.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 1 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 260 |
| Target margin % (input) | 32% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 1 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 3.75 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $30.68 |
| Crew-hours | 3.75 |
| Labour cost | $115.05 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $8.00 |
| Overhead share | $30.00 |
| Break-even cost | $240.05 |
| Price to quote | $353.01 |
| Profit on the job | $112.96 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $316.87 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 24.24% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $36.15 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $1,879.73 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Three visits and $95 of chemicals come to $353.01 here.
Add-ons, repairs and licences: filter clean, salt cell, opening and closing
Price each add-on from its own minutes and materials, with no extra drive when it is done during a regular stop.
| Add-on | Assumed | Break-even | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filter clean | 45 minutes, $12 of cleaner and o-ring lube | $41.01 | $60.31 |
| Salt-cell clean | 25 minutes, $4 of cleaning solution | $20.12 | $29.58 |
| Pool opening | 120 minutes, $40 of start-up chemicals | $117.36 | $172.59 |
| Pool closing | 120 minutes, $55 of winterising chemicals and plugs | $132.36 | $194.65 |
| Repair call minimum (diagnosis, no parts) | 30 minutes on site plus a 20-minute drive, parts extra | $32.23 | $47.40 |
Repairs may need a licence. Florida's statute (section 489.105, Florida Statutes) says a licence is not required for cleaning a pool or spa in a way that does not affect its structural integrity or its associated equipment, while replacing equipment permanently attached to the pool for water treatment or cleaning requires licensure. In California, the Contractors State License Board's D-35 classification covers a contractor who installs, replaces or repairs pool motors, pumps, filters and gas heaters. Other states differ. Check with your state board before you put repairs on the price list; this is arithmetic, not legal advice.
Seasonal pools: a 7 to 9 month season on a flat 12-month bill
Where pools close for winter, two things change. The overhead is earned in fewer days, and customers may want one flat bill all year.
First, cut the billable days to the season: weeks × 5. That raises overhead per hour and the stop price. Then season revenue = price per stop × visits, and the flat bill = season revenue ÷ 12.
| Weekly visits in the season | Billable days | Price per stop | Season revenue | Flat bill × 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 150 | $49.23 | $1,476.90 | $123.08 |
| 35 | 175 | $47.48 | $1,661.80 | $138.48 |
| 39 | 195 | $46.41 | $1,809.99 | $150.83 |
The year-round stop was $44.06. Opening and closing are add-ons, priced above. A flat bill collects part of the season's money after the work is done, so say in the agreement what happens if a customer leaves mid-year.
Excel formulas for a pool route price sheet, and the markup mistake
Layout: B2 = minutes at the pool, B3 = drive minutes, B4 = pool gallons, B5 = chemical cost per 10,000 gallons per visit, B6 = wage, B7 = burden %, B8 = yearly overhead, B9 = sellable hours a year, B10 = margin %, B11 = visits a year (52 or 26).
Hours per stop
=(B2+B3)/60Put in B12. B2 = minutes at the pool, B3 = drive minutes to the next stop.
Chemicals per visit
=B4/10000*B5Put in B13. B4 = pool gallons, B5 = your chemical cost per 10,000 gallons per visit.
Price per stop
=ROUND((B12*(B6*(1+B7)+B8/B9)+B13)/(1-B10),2)Put in B14. B6 = wage, B7 = burden %, B8 = yearly overhead, B9 = sellable hours a year, B10 = margin %.
Price per month
=ROUND(B14*B11/12,2)B11 = visits a year: 52 for weekly, 26 for every other week.
Pool volume (rectangle)
=ROUND(D2*D3*(D4+D5)/2*7.5,0)D2 = length, D3 = width, D4 = shallow-end depth, D5 = deep-end depth, all in feet. Use 5.9 in place of 7.5 for a round or oval pool.
Stops in an 8-hour day
=INT(480/(B2+B3))Whole stops only. Tighter drive minutes raise this number.
The mistake: adding 32% to break-even in place of dividing. On the example stop that bills $39.54 and keeps 24.24% of the price, not 32%. It is $4.51 short on every stop, and $14,075.33 a year at 60 stops a week. The markup vs margin calculator guide has the conversion chart.
Calculator, free starter sheet or custom build: where to keep pool prices
One quote needs only the calculator above. A price list you reuse belongs in a sheet of your own.
| Option | Cost | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Job pricing calculator | Free, no signup | One stop at a time: loaded labour cost, overhead, break-even and the price to quote |
| Job Pricing Starter | Free | The same job maths on one sheet you keep, in Excel or Google Sheets |
| Done-for-you custom calculator | $497 one-time | A workbook built around your own line items and rates, such as your service levels and add-ons |
There is no ready-made pool service file in the shop, and neither free tool has a gallons, minutes or monthly cell. Convert minutes to hours yourself and apply 52 ÷ 12 to the result, as the formulas above do.
Put on the price list: each service level and its scope, the pool volume band it covers, the chemical allowance, the visit frequency, add-on prices, the green-pool rule and the billing rule.
For the method behind any service price, see how to price a service. For the overhead figure itself, see the overhead and profit calculator guide.
Step-by-step: How Much to Charge for Pool Cleaning: Price the Stop, Then the Month
- Write the scope and time it. List the tasks in the service level and time them at several pools. Add the drive minutes to the next stop.
- Cost the chemicals. Work out the pool's gallons, then multiply by your own chemical cost per 10,000 gallons per visit.
- Find break-even. Minutes ÷ 60 × (wage × (1 + burden %) + yearly overhead ÷ sellable hours) + chemicals.
- Apply margin by dividing. Break-even ÷ (1 − margin); for 32%, divide by 0.68.
- Turn the stop into a month. Price per stop × 52 ÷ 12 for weekly service, × 26 ÷ 12 for every other week.
- Check the far stops and the minimum. Rerun the price with the real drive minutes for any pool off the route, and never quote under your shortest stop.
Run your own numbers — free
The free calculator does this whole method in about a minute: loaded labour, overhead share, break-even and the price to quote at your margin. No signup, nothing to download, and your numbers stay in your browser.
Open the free calculator →Get the free spreadsheetWant it built around your own rates, services and branding? Done-for-you custom calculator ($497).
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge to clean a pool?
Charge the stop's break-even divided by one minus your margin. On this page's assumed inputs a 36-minute full-service stop with $6.75 of chemicals breaks even at $29.96 and prices at $44.06. Replace the minutes, wage, overhead and chemical cost with your own before you quote.
How much to charge for pool cleaning per month?
Multiply your per-stop price by 52 and divide by 12 for weekly service. The example stop at $44.06 becomes $190.93 a month. Multiplying by 4 gives $176.24, which leaves four visits a year unbilled: another $176.24 a year on this pool.
What is the average price for pool cleaning?
This page does not quote an average, because a going rate says nothing about your drive time, pool sizes or chemical cost. Compute your break-even per stop first. Then any local price you hear can be compared with a number you can check.
How often should the pool guy come?
That is your service definition, set in the agreement. This page prices weekly service at 52 visits a year and every-other-week service at 26. On the assumed inputs the every-other-week month is $128.90 against $190.93 weekly, because each of those visits is longer.
How profitable is pool cleaning?
It depends on route density and your own costs, so this is arithmetic and not an income forecast. On the assumed inputs one stop leaves $14.10 after a $30.68 loaded hour, chemicals and overhead are paid: 32% of its $44.06 price. Bill a pool 25 drive minutes away at that same price and 10% is left.
What should a pool cleaning service include?
Whatever your written scope says. This page prices three levels: chemicals only; chemicals plus baskets and skimming; and full service with brushing, vacuuming and a filter pressure check. Filter cleans, salt-cell cleans, opening, closing and repairs are priced as add-ons.
How do I price a pool that is far from my route?
Put the real drive minutes into the hours. On the assumed inputs a pool 25 minutes away prices at $58.28 a stop against $44.06 at 10 minutes. Billed at the route price it keeps 10% of the price in place of 32%.
Sources
- IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) — The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%
- US EPA, Pesticide Labels: Use of the Term "Shock" in Swimming Pool, Hot Tubs, and Spa Products — Products that make claims for the prevention, removal, control or elimination of algae or bacteria are considered pesticides; pesticide products must be registered with EPA and bear EPA-approved labelling
- City of Akron, Ohio: How to calculate the gallons in a swimming pool — Gallons = length x width x average depth x multiplier; 7.5 for a rectangle, square or free-form pool, 5.9 for a round or oval pool; average depth = (shallow end + deep end) / 2
- California Contractors State License Board: D-35 Pool and Spa Maintenance Contractor — The D-35 classification covers a contractor who installs, replaces or repairs pool motors, pumps, filters and gas heaters
- Florida Statutes, section 489.105 (definitions: swimming pool/spa servicing contractor) — A licence is not required for cleaning a pool or spa in a way that does not affect its structural integrity or associated equipment; replacement of equipment permanently attached to the pool requires licensure
I'm not a contractor, landlord or accountant. I build the pricing maths, and every number on this page shows its working so you can check it instead of trusting it. Guides are drafted with AI assistance; every worked figure is computed by the same code as the free calculators. How these guides are made → · Watch the breakdowns on YouTube →