Pressure washing pricing calculator.

Why pressure washing quotes go wrong

Most pressure washing quotes are a per-square-foot figure borrowed from somewhere else. The trouble is that the work is not linear: a 1,500 sq ft job and a 400 sq ft job both need the van loaded, the hoses run and the drive made, so the small job costs far more per square foot. Pricing from your own production rate and your fixed time per job shows where that bites, and the minimum charge field puts a floor under it.

The other common slip is treating the margin as a markup. Adding 35% to cost leaves you with 25.9% of the price as profit. This page divides by one minus the margin, so a 35% margin really is 35% of what the customer pays, and it shows the equivalent markup on cost beside it.

Worked example

A 1,500 sq ft job with a two-person crew at 300 sq ft per person-hour needs 1,500 ÷ 300 = 5 production hours of labour, plus 0.5 hours setup and 0.5 hours driving for each of two people: 7 paid hours. At a $20 wage with 7.65% burden that is $150.71. Add $22.80 for 30 miles at $0.76, $36.00 for 3 on-site hours of machine at $12, and $30.00 of detergent: direct cost $239.51. With 10% overhead the cost is $263.46. At a 35% margin the price is $263.46 ÷ 0.65 = $405.32, about $0.27 per sq ft, leaving $141.86 profit. Every input here is an example, not a market rate.

How it is calculated

1. Paid labour hours = units ÷ production rate + (setup + drive) × crew size. Production time is the part that scales with job size; setup and driving are paid for every person every job.
2. Labour cost = paid hours × hourly wage × (1 + payroll burden). The 7.65% starting figure is the employer share of Social Security (6.2%) plus Medicare (1.45%) in IRS Publication 15 (2026), which also lists a $184,500 Social Security wage base that an hourly crew will not reach.
3. Direct cost = labour + vehicle (miles × cost per mile) + equipment (on-site hours × running cost) + materials. Overhead is added as a percentage of direct cost.
4. Price = (direct cost + overhead) ÷ (1 − target margin). Dividing by one minus the margin is what makes the margin a share of the price; multiplying cost by 1.35 would give a 25.9% margin, not 35%. The quote is never below the minimum charge.

The 7.65% payroll starting point comes from IRS Publication 15 (2026). The $0.76 mileage figure is the IRS business standard mileage rate for July 1 to December 31, 2026. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook gives a $17.71 median hourly wage for janitors and building cleaners (May 2025); it is a wage reference for a related cleaning occupation, not a pressure washing rate. Calculation as of October 26, 2026. Payroll rates, mileage rates and wage statistics change, so check the pages in Sources before you rely on the reference figures.

What this does not cover

• Any market price. The production rate, wage, overhead and margin are yours; this page ships no local rate card and makes no claim about what customers in your area pay.
• Sales tax on services, which depends on your state or province, and the business income tax on your profit.
• Surface-specific risks such as damage to soft wood or old mortar. Price those into your margin or your minimum charge.

Sources

• IRS Publication 15 (2026), Employer’s Tax Guide: employer Social Security and Medicare rates (opened 2026-10-26)
• IRS standard mileage rates: 2026 business rates (cents per mile) (opened 2026-10-26)
• BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Janitors and Building Cleaners (median pay, May 2025) (opened 2026-10-26)