Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Breakeven cleaning fee
$126.67
True cost per turnover
$126.67
Surplus / (shortfall) vs charged fee
-$26.67
Monthly surplus / (shortfall)
-$320.00
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One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.
How to use this
- 1Enter cleaner pay per turnover ($).
- 2Enter supplies per turnover ($).
- 3Enter laundry service per turnover ($).
- 4Enter host coordination time (min).
- 5Enter host time value ($/hr).
- 6Enter cleaning fee charged to guest ($).
- 7Enter turnovers per month.
- 8Read your breakeven cleaning fee on the right — it updates as you type.
- 9Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Short-term rental hosts often price cleaning fees arbitrarily, either eating the cost themselves or overcharging and tanking conversion. This calculator figures out your true per-turnover cost — cleaner labor, supplies, laundry, and a share of your own coordination time — then compares it to what you're currently charging guests. It also shows the gap per stay and projects the monthly shortfall or surplus at your current booking volume. The goal isn't just to break even on cleaning; it's to know precisely how much of your nightly rate is silently subsidizing turnover costs if the fee is set too low, which distorts your true profit per stay and can make an unprofitable listing look fine on paper.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Cleaner pay per turnover: 85 $
- Supplies per turnover: 12 $
- Laundry service per turnover: 18 $
- Host coordination time: 20 min
- Host time value: 35 $/hr
- Cleaning fee charged to guest: 100 $
- Turnovers per month: 12
Results
- Breakeven cleaning fee: $126.67
- True cost per turnover: $126.67
- Surplus / (shortfall) vs charged fee: -$26.67
- Monthly surplus / (shortfall): -$320.00
What each field means
Inputs
- Cleaner pay per turnover ($)
- The cleaner pay per turnover used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 85 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Supplies per turnover ($)
- The supplies per turnover used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 12 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Laundry service per turnover ($)
- The laundry service per turnover used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 18 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Host coordination time (min)
- The host coordination time used in the calculation, measured in min. Starts at 20 min so you have a working example on load.
- Host time value ($/hr)
- The host time value used in the calculation, measured in $/hr. Starts at 35 $/hr so you have a working example on load.
- Cleaning fee charged to guest ($)
- The cleaning fee charged to guest used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 100 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Turnovers per month
- The turnovers per month used in the calculation. Starts at 12 so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Breakeven cleaning fee
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- True cost per turnover
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Surplus / (shortfall) vs charged fee
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Monthly surplus / (shortfall)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Should the cleaning fee include my own time?
Yes, if you're doing scheduling, quality checks, restocking, or driving supplies. Hosts who ignore their own time often think cleaning is 'break even' when it's actually a hidden hourly wage well below minimum wage once totaled across a portfolio of units.
Does a high cleaning fee hurt bookings?
It can, especially for short stays where the fee becomes a large percentage of total cost. Guests fixate on the total price shown at checkout more than the nightly rate, so some hosts fold turnover cost into the nightly rate instead and keep the cleaning fee low or at zero to improve search ranking and conversion.
How do I lower true turnover cost without cutting quality?
Standardize the cleaning checklist to cut cleaner time, buy supplies in bulk, and batch laundry across units if you run a portfolio. Switching from linens you own to a rental laundry service breaks even around 15-20 turnovers a month for most short-term rentals.
What if my calculated breakeven fee is higher than competitors charge?
That's a signal to either raise the nightly rate and lower the visible cleaning fee, negotiate cleaner rates, or accept a thinner margin per stay. Don't just absorb the loss silently — know the number so it's a deliberate decision, not an accident.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
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Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Short-Term Rental Cleaning Fee Breakeven Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/str-cleaning-fee-breakeven
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/str-cleaning-fee-breakeven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Short-Term Rental Cleaning Fee Breakeven Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Short-Term Rental Cleaning Fee Breakeven Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/str-cleaning-fee-breakeven) (2026).