How Much to Charge for Gutter Cleaning in 2026

TL;DR Residential gutter cleaning runs $0.95–$2.50 per linear foot depending on height, access, and debris, with single-story homes averaging $125–$225 and two-story homes hitting $175–$325. Commercial work prices at $0.75–$2.00 per foot with 15–25% discounts for maintenance contracts. Target 35–50% margins on residential and 25–40% on commercial to stay profitable.

Picture this. You quote a two-story colonial at $250 because it looked straightforward from the street. 

You show up and find two years of packed oak debris, three clogged downspouts, gutter guards that need to come off piece by piece, and a backyard fence that turns every ladder move into a 10-minute ordeal. 

Three hours later, with a full truck bed and a sore back, you realize you just worked for about $40 an hour before expenses. Your crew member made more than you did.

That job isn’t an outlier. It’s what happens when pricing is built on guesswork instead of a system. Most contractors pull a number from thin air, round it to something that “sounds right,” and move on. They don’t measure linear footage. 

They don’t apply surcharges for debris level or access difficulty. They charge the same rate in peak October as they do in slow July. And every time they underbid, they tell themselves they’ll make it up on the next one, except the next one is priced the same way.

This guide exists so you stop leaving money on the table. It covers exactly how to price gutter cleaning jobs from single-story ranches to 12-building apartment complexes, with a real service pricing framework you can use on your next estimate. 

Linear foot rates, flat rate packages, commercial multipliers, contract discounts, seasonal adjustments, and full cost breakdowns with profit margin targets baked in. Everything you need to quote with confidence and actually keep the money you earn.

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How Much Does Gutter Cleaning Cost? Quick Reference

Before we get into the weeds, here’s a snapshot of where the market sits in 2026:

Service Type	Price Range
Residential (single-story)	$125–$225
Residential (two-story)	$175–$325
Residential (three-story)	$250–$450
Commercial (per linear foot)	$0.75–$2.50
Commercial (per building)	$200–$1,500+
Maintenance contracts	15–25% discount on per-service rates

These are national averages. If you’re working in a high-cost-of-living metro, you’ll likely sit at the upper end. Running crews in a smaller market? You’ll probably land closer to the lower figures. 

Don’t copy these numbers blindly; use them as a starting point and calibrate to your area.

The pricing data presented in this guide is based on our analysis of the latest 2025–2026 cost information from leading home service platforms, including Angi, HomeAdvisor, HomeGuide, Thumbtack, and Homewyse, as well as industry resources from This Old House, LeafFilter, and Today’s Homeowner. These figures reflect thousands of real contractor quotes and completed projects across the United States. We’ve consolidated and updated this data to give contractors accurate, market-reflective rates for pricing residential and commercial gutter cleaning jobs in 2026.

Residential Gutter Cleaning Prices

Residential work is the bread and butter for most gutter cleaning companies. It’s steady, relatively quick per job, and you can stack multiple homes into a single day if your route planning is dialed in.

When it comes to pricing residential jobs, you’ve got two main approaches: linear foot and flat rate.

Linear Foot Pricing for Residential Properties

This is the most accurate way to price gutter cleaning, period. You’re charging for the actual scope of work instead of guessing based on how big the house looks from the driveway.

Residential Linear Foot Rates:

Home Type	Price Per Linear Foot
Single-story, easy access	$0.95–$1.25
Single-story, difficult access	$1.10–$1.50
Two-story, standard	$1.25–$1.85
Two-story, steep roof pitch	$1.50–$2.10
Three-story	$1.75–$2.50
Multi-level with dormers	$1.85–$2.75

The math is straightforward: measure the total gutter length (or get a solid estimate from satellite imagery), multiply by your per-foot rate, then tack on downspout fees and any surcharges for tricky access.

Flat Rate Pricing by Home Size

Flat rates are less precise, but they’re fantastic for marketing. 

You can throw a number on your website or flyer that gives homeowners a ballpark without making them wait for a formal quote. Just be ready to adjust when you see the property in person.

Flat Rate Pricing by Square Footage:

Home Size	Single-Story	Two-Story	Three-Story
Under 1,500 sq ft	$125–$150	$175–$225	$250–$300
1,500–2,500 sq ft	$150–$200	$200–$275	$300–$375
2,500–3,500 sq ft	$175–$225	$250–$325	$350–$425
3,500+ sq ft	$200–$275	$300–$400	$400–$500+

These assume moderate debris and a standard gutter setup. If the homeowner hasn’t cleaned their gutters in three years and has gutter guards slapped on top of packed leaves, that’s a different conversation (and a higher price).

Residential Pricing Add-Ons

Here’s where a lot of contractors leave money on the table. The base gutter cleaning is just the starting point. 

These extras are easy upsells that genuinely help the homeowner:

Add-On Service	Typical Price
Downspout flushing	$5–$10 per downspout
Downspout unclogging	$25–$50 per downspout
Gutter guard cleaning	$50–$100 additional
Roof debris removal (valleys, edges)	$50–$150
Minor gutter repairs (resealing, rehang)	$75–$200
Gutter brightening/exterior cleaning	$1–$2 per linear foot
Gutter guard installation	$8–$25 per linear foot

Most contractors bundle downspout flushing into every job as standard; it’s quick, it adds value, and it bumps the invoice just enough to matter over hundreds of jobs a year. 

Itemize it on your estimate template so the customer can see they’re getting it.

Commercial Gutter Cleaning Prices: Per Foot, Per Building & Contract Rates

Commercial gutter cleaning is a different animal. The buildings are bigger, the access is more complicated, and the people signing the checks expect volume discounts. 

But here’s the thing most contractors miss: the commercial segment is wildly underserved. If you can show up on time, price accurately, and communicate like a professional, you’ll find far less competition than on the residential side and significantly higher revenue per client.

Commercial Gutter Cleaning Rates by Property Type

Not all commercial buildings are created equal. A ground-level strip mall is a completely different job from a three-story office building, where you need a boom lift just to reach the gutters.

Commercial Pricing by Building Type:

Property Type	Linear Feet (Typical)	Price Per Linear Foot	Total Range
Small retail/strip mall	200–400 ft	$0.85–$1.25	$200–$500
Large retail center	500–1,500 ft	$0.75–$1.15	$450–$1,725
Small office building (1–2 stories)	300–600 ft	$0.90–$1.40	$300–$840
Mid-rise office (3–5 stories)	400–1,000 ft	$1.25–$2.00	$500–$2,000
Apartment complex (per building)	150–400 ft	$0.80–$1.35	$150–$540
Apartment complex (full property)	1,000–5,000 ft	$0.70–$1.10	$700–$5,500
Warehouse/industrial	400–2,000 ft	$0.65–$1.00	$300–$2,000
Church/religious facility	250–800 ft	$0.85–$1.30	$250–$1,040
School/educational building	500–2,000 ft	$0.75–$1.20	$450–$2,400
HOA common buildings	100–300 ft per bldg	$0.90–$1.35	$100–$400 per bldg

Height and Access Multipliers for Commercial Properties

The higher you go, the more it costs; that’s non-negotiable. Taller buildings eat up more time, require better equipment, and carry more risk. Apply these multipliers to your base per-foot rate:

Access Condition	Multiplier
Ground-accessible (ladder work)	1.0x (base)
Extension ladder required (2–3 stories)	1.25–1.5x
Boom lift or aerial equipment needed	1.5–2.0x
Roof access only (no ladder points)	1.3–1.6x
Steep commercial roof pitch	1.4–1.75x
OSHA-regulated height requirements	1.5–2.0x

One thing worth calling out: if you’re renting a boom lift at $350/day, put that as its own line item on the quote. Don’t try to bury it in your per-foot rate. Property maintenance managers and facilities directors appreciate transparency, and it protects you from eating equipment costs on underbid jobs.

Commercial Contract Pricing and Frequency Discounts

Commercial clients aren’t just buying a one-time cleaning. They’re offering you something incredibly valuable: predictable, recurring revenue. In return, they expect a break on price. 

That’s a fair trade, and you should structure your discounts to reward real commitment.

Frequency-Based Discounts:

Service Frequency	Discount Off Per-Service Rate
One-time service	0% (full rate)
Semi-annual (2x/year)	10–15%
Quarterly (4x/year)	15–20%
Monthly	20–25%
Annual contract, single service	5–10%

Multi-Property Discounts:

Number of Properties	Additional Discount
2–5 properties	5%
6–15 properties	10%
16+ properties	12–15%

These discounts can stack. A property management company with 10 buildings on quarterly service might get an 18% frequency discount plus 10% for multi-property, and your margins stay healthy because you’ve eliminated marketing costs for those accounts and locked in reliable income all year.

Commercial vs. Residential Gutter Cleaning: Key Pricing Differences

If you’re thinking about moving into commercial work (and you should be), here’s how the two worlds compare:

Factor	Residential	Commercial
Average job size	120–200 linear feet	300–2,000+ linear feet
Pricing method	Flat rate or per-foot	Per-foot with volume discounts
Decision maker	Homeowner	Property manager, facilities director, or owner
Sales cycle	Same-day to 1 week	1–4 weeks, often requires multiple bids
Payment terms	Due on completion	Net 15–30 typical
Repeat frequency	1–2x per year	2–12x per year
Equipment needs	Ladders, basic tools	Often requires lifts, additional safety gear
Insurance requirements	Standard liability	Higher limits, additional insured certificates
Profit margin target	35–50%	25–40% (higher volume compensates)

The per-foot margins on commercial work are lower, no question. But when a single contract brings in $6,000+ annually and fills your job schedule with dependable work, the math works out. The healthiest gutter cleaning businesses carry a mix of both.

Gutter Cleaning Cost Factors That Affect Your Pricing

Nine things drive what you should charge. Skip any of them, and you’ll end up underpricing jobs and wondering why your bank account doesn’t match your hustle.

1. Linear Footage

This is the biggest variable, full stop. More gutters mean more time, more hauling, and more disposal. Always measure or estimate linear footage before quoting. Pricing off square footage alone is a recipe for getting burned on homes with complicated rooflines.

2. Building Height and Stories

Every additional story adds ladder repositioning, extra caution, and slower progress. A two-story colonial takes meaningfully longer than a single-story ranch with the same gutter footage. Three-story homes and commercial buildings often need specialized equipment entirely. Your rates need to account for this.

3. Roof Pitch and Access

Steep roofs limit safe ladder placement and slow everything down. Homes boxed in by fencing, dense landscaping, or a pool where you need to set up, all of that eats clock time. Tack on 10–25% for genuinely difficult access conditions.

4. Debris Level and Type

There’s a massive difference between clearing a few handfuls of dry leaves and dealing with two years’ worth of packed, decomposed sludge mixed with shingle grit. Price accordingly:

Debris Level	Surcharge
Light (routine maintenance)	Base rate
Moderate (seasonal accumulation)	+15–25%
Heavy (neglected, packed debris)	+30–50%
Severe (structural concerns, growth)	+50–100%

5. Gutter Guard Presence

Here’s a myth that still catches contractors off guard: gutter guards don’t eliminate cleaning, they just change how you do it. Many guard types need to be carefully removed, cleaned underneath, and reinstalled without damaging the system. 

That’s slower, fussier work. Add $0.25–$0.75 per linear foot, depending on the guard type.

6. Downspout Condition

Clogged downspouts can turn a quick job into a frustrating one. Underground drainage connections add another layer of complexity. Price downspout work separately or bake it into your standard rate with a clear scope so there’s no confusion.

7. Geographic Location and Local Labor Rates

A crew in San Francisco has a fundamentally different cost structure than one operating in rural Tennessee. 

What you need to charge per hour depends on where you’re running trucks, what your competitors charge, and what the local market will bear. Don’t blindly adopt national averages.

8. Seasonality and Demand

Fall is the gold rush for gutter cleaners. When your phone won’t stop ringing, and your schedule is packed three weeks out, you have pricing power; use it. A lot of contractors bump rates 10–20% during October and November, then pull back slightly in the slower summer months to keep crews busy.

9. Property Condition and Safety Requirements

Some jobs just take longer than they should: aggressive dogs in the yard, wasp nests under the eaves, rotted fascia boards that make ladder placement sketchy, or a homeowner who wants to stand next to you narrating every scoop. Build buffer into your estimates, and don’t be afraid to add surcharges for conditions that genuinely slow you down or increase risk.

Calculating Your True Costs and Profit Margins

Revenue looks great on paper until you subtract everything it actually costs to run your business. If you’re not crystal clear on your numbers, you could be losing money on jobs that feel profitable.

Direct Labor Costs

This is where most contractors get tripped up. Your labor cost isn’t just the hourly wage, it’s the fully burdened rate that includes everything you pay on top of that number:

• Base hourly wage
• Payroll taxes (7.65% employer portion of FICA)
• Workers’ compensation insurance (5–15% of payroll for exterior work, depending on your state)
• Health insurance contributions
• Paid time off accrual
• Training time

That $20/hour technician? They’re actually costing you $28–$35/hour once you add it all up. 

If you haven’t calculated your burdened rate recently, run the numbers through a labor cost calculator to get an accurate picture.

Equipment and Vehicle Costs

Every truck mile, every ladder that eventually needs replacing, every gutter scoop — it all has a cost. Track these and allocate them:

• Vehicle depreciation and maintenance
• Fuel costs per job or per day
• Ladder and equipment depreciation
• Tool replacement
• Safety gear (harnesses, hard hats, glasses)

Some contractors calculate a daily equipment cost and divide it across jobs. Others use a per-job allocation. Either approach works as long as you’re consistent about it.

Insurance and Overhead

Your liability insurance, office rent, software subscriptions, marketing spend, and admin time all need to be recovered through your pricing. Add up your monthly overhead, then make sure your job volume covers it, with room to spare. 

This is also where tracking and reporting on your jobs pays for itself, because you’ll actually see where money is going.

Target Profit Margins

After everything is covered: labor, equipment, insurance, overhead, what’s left is your actual profit. Here’s where you should be aiming:

Job Type	Target Net Profit Margin
Residential (single-story)	40–50%
Residential (multi-story)	35–45%
Commercial (one-time)	30–40%
Commercial (contract)	25–35%

Lower margins on commercial contracts make sense because the revenue is predictable, you’re not spending on marketing to win those jobs every time, and you can batch the work efficiently.

Pricing Formula

Here’s a clean way to think about it:

1. Estimate job duration (include travel time, setup, and cleanup, not just time on the ladder)
2. Calculate labor cost (hours × burdened rate)
3. Add equipment allocation
4. Add materials (bags, disposal fees if applicable)
5. Sum everything for total direct costs
6. Divide by (1 − target margin) to get your price

Quick example: A job takes 2 hours, your burdened labor rate is $32/hour, equipment allocation is $15, and you’re targeting a 40% margin.

• Labor: 2 × $32 = $64
• Equipment: $15
• Total cost: $79
• Price: $79 ÷ 0.60 = $132

That $132 covers every dollar of cost and puts $53 in your pocket. Scale that across a full day of three or four jobs, and you start to see how the math builds.

Real-World Gutter Cleaning Pricing Examples

Theory is useful, but seeing how the numbers play out on actual jobs is where things click. Here are four scenarios you’ll probably recognize.

Example 1: Standard Single-Story Ranch

Property: 1,800 sq ft ranch, single story, 145 linear feet of gutters, 6 downspouts, moderate leaf debris.

Line Item	Calculation	Amount
Base gutter cleaning	145 ft × $1.10	$159.50
Downspout flushing	6 × $8	$48.00
	Total	$207.50

Quoted at $210. In and out in about 1.5 hours, including drive time. Solid margin, happy homeowner, and you’re on to the next one.

Example 2: Two-Story Colonial with Heavy Debris

Property: 2,800 sq ft colonial, two stories, 190 linear feet, 8 downspouts, heavy debris from overhanging oak trees, no cleaning in over two years.

Line Item	Calculation	Amount
Base gutter cleaning	190 ft × $1.45	$275.50
Heavy debris surcharge	35%	$96.43
Downspout flushing	8 × $8	$64.00
Downspout unclogging (2 clogged)	2 × $35	$70.00
	Total	$505.93

Quoted at $500. This one takes about 2.5 hours with a two-person crew. You’ll pay maybe $25 in dump fees for the debris, but the margin is still strong. 

Jobs like this are also a great opportunity to pitch a twice-a-year maintenance plan. Once the homeowner sees how much gunk came out of their gutters, they’re usually very receptive.

Example 3: Apartment Complex (12 Buildings)

Property: 12-building apartment complex, each building 2 stories with 175 linear feet on average. The property manager wants quarterly service.

Line Item	Calculation	Amount
Per-building base rate	175 ft × $0.95	$166.25
All 12 buildings	$166.25 × 12	$1,995.00
Quarterly contract discount	18%	−$359.10
	Per Service Total	$1,635.90
	Annual Contract (4×)	$6,543.60

The client pays $6,544 per year for quarterly cleanings. Each visit takes a two-person crew roughly 6 hours. That’s reliable revenue you can count on every quarter, and it becomes the backbone of your annual forecast. 

Send a professional invoice after each service, set up your payment terms, and let the relationship build from there.

Example 4: Strip Mall with Lift Requirement

Property: L-shaped strip mall, 8 units, flat roof with parapet walls, 380 linear feet of gutters. A boom lift is needed for safe access.

Line Item	Calculation	Amount
Base gutter cleaning	380 ft × $0.90	$342.00
Lift access multiplier	1.6×	$547.20
Boom lift rental (pass-through)		$375.00
	Total	$922.20

Quoted at $925. The job takes about 4 hours with the lift. Breaking out the equipment rental as its own line item shows the property manager exactly where their money is going, and most commercial clients respect that kind of transparency far more than a suspiciously inflated per-foot rate.

Seasonal Pricing Strategy for Gutter Cleaning

Gutter cleaning demand is seasonal, and your pricing should be too. Fighting this reality instead of working with it is one of the biggest mistakes contractors make.

Peak Season: October Through November

This is when everyone suddenly remembers they have gutters. Leaves are falling, homeowners panic about winter, and your phone lights up. During peak:

• Hold firm on your rates — no discounts
• Consider adding a 10–15% peak season premium
• Book 2–3 weeks out minimum
• Give priority to maintenance contract clients who’ve been with you all year
• Charge extra for rush requests (or decline them if your plate is full)

Secondary Peak: March Through April

Spring brings a smaller wave of demand as homeowners deal with winter debris and leaf removal. Rates stay strong, though not quite at fall levels.

Off-Season: June Through August

Summer is traditionally slow. But slow doesn’t have to mean unprofitable. Here’s how to keep your crews productive:

• Offer modest discounts (10–15%) to fill schedule gaps
• Bundle gutter cleaning with other services like pressure washing or window cleaning
• Use the downtime to pursue commercial contracts — property managers are easier to reach when they’re not in crisis mode
• Market preventive maintenance to homeowners who plan ahead
• Cross-train crews on complementary seasonal work

Building Year-Round Revenue

The contractors who break out of the feast-or-famine cycle do it with a combination of strategies:

1. Maintenance contracts: They guarantee recurring revenue no matter what season it is.
2. Commercial clients: Their needs are steadier throughout the year compared to homeowners.
3. Complementary services: Adding pressure washing, window cleaning, holiday lighting, or snow removal keeps your team busy year-round and gives customers a reason to call you in every season.
4. Geographic expansion: Serving a wider area during slow months helps fill the gaps.

Common Gutter Cleaning Pricing Mistakes

Every one of these will cost you money. Some of them will cost you the business.

1. Underestimating True Business Costs

This is the #1 killer. Contractors’ price is based on what they pay themselves per hour, and forget about taxes, insurance, equipment wear, fuel, and all the overhead that keeps the lights on. If your pricing only covers the hourly wage, you’re slowly going broke while staying busy. 

2. Competing on Price Alone

There’s always somebody willing to do it cheaper. Always. If your entire strategy is being the cheapest option, you’re in a race to the bottom that ends with burnout and a truck you can’t afford to maintain. Compete on showing up when you say you will, communicating clearly, and doing work the homeowner doesn’t have to think about again for six months. The customers who only care about price aren’t your customers.

3. Inconsistent Pricing Across Estimates

If your quotes are different every time for similar jobs, you’re either losing money on the low ones or losing bids on the high ones. Build a consistent pricing methodology and stick with it. Adjust for real factors like debris level and access, not gut feeling or how your day is going. 

Having solid and reliable estimate software helps enormously here.

4. Ignoring Safety Equipment Costs

Harnesses, lanyards, roof anchors, safety training, all of it costs money. If you’re doing the work safely (and you absolutely should be), those costs need to be recovered through your rates. Never compete with guys who are cutting corners on safety. It’s not a business advantage; it’s a liability waiting to happen.

5. Failing to Document Your Methodology

When a homeowner asks why the job costs $350, you should be able to point to the gutter footage, the height multiplier, the debris surcharge, and the downspout count. When you can explain your pricing clearly, people trust it. When you can’t, they haggle, or they call somebody else.

A file management system that stores your job photos, measurements, and notes alongside each estimate turns “why does this cost $350?” into a conversation you win every time.

6. Neglecting Follow-Up Revenue

That first gutter cleaning isn’t a transaction. It’s the start of a relationship that should bring in revenue for years. If you’re not following up after every job, not offering maintenance plans, and not staying in touch through the off-season, you’re leaving a fortune on the table. 

A simple field service CRM can automate most of this and pay for itself many times over.

How to Get Started with Professional Gutter Cleaning Pricing

If you’ve made it this far, you already know more about pricing gutter cleaning than most contractors who’ve been doing it for years. Here’s a step-by-step guide to put it into action:

Step 1. Calculate your true costs. Know your burdened labor rate, equipment costs, insurance, and overhead. Don’t estimate, do the math.

Step 2. Research your local market. What are other contractors charging? Where are the gaps? What do customers in your area complain about most?

Step 3. Develop your rate structure. Set per-foot rates for different building types and conditions. Create flat-rate packages for your marketing. Build commercial multipliers for height and access.

Step 4. Document everything. Create estimate templates that capture every relevant factor. Measure accurately. Note property conditions.

Step 5. Track and adjust. Monitor profitability by job type. Figure out which work actually makes you money and which just keeps you busy. Adjust your rates based on what the numbers tell you.

Step 6. Build recurring revenue. Offer maintenance contracts. Follow up after every single job. Turn one-time customers into annual clients who refer their neighbors.

The contractors who build real, lasting businesses in gutter cleaning aren’t the ones with the flashiest trucks or the lowest prices. They’re the ones who price deliberately, show up consistently, and treat every job as the beginning of a long-term relationship.