2.2× The typical cleaning business for sale in the US asks 2.2 times its yearly cash flow.
We read 629 cleaning businesses listed for sale on a major online marketplace and compared each asking price with the cash flow its seller reported.
The findings in eight sentences.
- The middle half of cleaning businesses ask between 1.3 and 3.0 times their yearly cash flow.
- Cleaning businesses ask less than the typical business for sale, which asks 2.6 times.
- The typical asking price for a cleaning business is $258,000.
- Measured against revenue, the typical cleaning business asks 0.7 times its yearly sales.
- 26% of cleaning businesses for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
- 31% of owners who say why they're selling are moving on to other businesses or interests, and 30% are retiring.
- 10% of cleaning businesses for sale show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA, against 18% overall.
- 12% of the cleaning businesses for sale are listed in Florida, 10% in Texas and 6% in California.
Of the building and home service industries, cleaning businesses ask less than most.
Concrete contractors, HVAC and electrical contractors and roofing contractors ask the most, 3.0 times their yearly cash flow, and insulation contractors the least, 1.9 times.
- Concrete contractors: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.5× to 4.0×
- HVAC and electrical contractors: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.8×
- Roofing contractors: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.2× to 3.8×
- Plumbing and construction contractors: median 2.7×, middle half from 1.7× to 3.6×
- Landscaping and lawn care businesses: median 2.7×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.4×
- Painting contractors: median 2.2×, middle half from 1.6× to 2.8×
- Flooring contractors: median 2.2×, middle half from 1.7× to 3.0×
- Cleaning businesses: median 2.2×, middle half from 1.3× to 3.0×
- Pool service businesses: median 2.2×, middle half from 1.1× to 2.9×
- Restoration and remediation companies: median 2.0×, middle half from 1.3× to 2.9×
- Insulation contractors: median 1.9×, middle half from 1.4× to 2.8×
fulkersonadvisors.com
48% of cleaning businesses ask between two and four times their yearly cash flow.
44% ask less than two, and 8% more than four.
fulkersonadvisors.com
Bigger cleaning businesses ask less for each dollar of cash flow.
The typical ask is 2.3 times below $100,000 of yearly cash flow, 2.0 times at $100,000 to $250,000 and 1.7 times at $250,000 to $500,000.
- Under $100k: median 2.3×, middle half from 1.6× to 3.0×
- $100k to $250k: median 2.0×, middle half from 1.3× to 2.7×
- $250k to $500k: median 1.7×, middle half from 1.1× to 3.1×
fulkersonadvisors.com
What a cleaning business like yours would ask.
The middle half of similar listings ask
$169,000 to $339,000
The typical one asks $260,000, 2.0× its yearly cash flow.
Based on cleaning businesses with $100k to $250k of yearly cash flow. These are asking prices, not sale prices or appraisals.
After the close.
We write the software a newly bought business runs on, one process at a time, such as quoting, scheduling or billing, and the new owner keeps the code. How we work with buyers and operating partners.
The data.
We read the listings on September 24, 2026, and their full details from September 25 to 30, 2026.
Questions
What multiple of cash flow do cleaning businesses sell for?
Cleaning businesses listed for sale in the US ask a median 2.2 times their yearly cash flow (seller's discretionary earnings), and the middle half ask between 1.3 and 3.0 times. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How much does it cost to buy a cleaning business?
The typical cleaning business for sale asks $258,000, and the middle half ask between $150,000 and $400,000. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How many cleaning businesses for sale offer seller financing?
26% of cleaning businesses for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
What multiple of revenue do cleaning businesses ask?
The typical cleaning business for sale asks 0.7 times its yearly sales, and the middle half ask between 0.4 and 1.0 times.
Why are cleaning businesses for sale?
31% of owners who give a reason are moving on to other businesses or interests. 30% are retiring, and 10% are relocating.
How we did it
We read every listing on a major US online marketplace for businesses for sale on September 24, 2026, and went back to each one from September 25 to 30, 2026 for its full details. This page covers the 629 established cleaning businesses among them. 464 show both an asking price and a cash flow, and 461 of those are left after the exclusions below.
Older listings use a flat list of named categories, and newer ones a two-level list whose subcategories have no names. A listing without its own photo shows its category's default photo. Each default photo almost always shows up in a single newer subcategory, so each named category joins the subcategory where its photo appears.
A multiple is the asking price divided by the seller's discretionary earnings the listing reports. We left out multiples below 0.3 or above 20, and listings whose price includes the property. Prices and cash flows on this page come from the listings with a multiple. These are asking prices, and a business usually sells for less than it asks. The full method.
Cite this page
Fulkerson Advisors (2026). What cleaning businesses for sale ask. From What Small Businesses for Sale Ask: 39,587 US Listings, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/small-business-multiples/cleaning-businesses
Use any of these numbers or charts. Credit Fulkerson Advisors and link to this page. The data is under a CC BY 4.0 license.