Janitorial growth opportunities in 2023: Residential market trends

The global cleaning industry has grown since the pandemic arrived in 2019. 

A survey conducted with consumers post-COVID-19 found that 91% of people have become more aware of cleaning measures and sanitation in general. 

This growth has been met with a rise in density in the U.S. cleaning sector as well.

Since surpassing the 1 million mark in 2019, the number of janitorial service businesses in the U.S. has increased by 20%, reaching over 1.2 million registered businesses in 2023.  

With demand on the rise and an even steeper rise in competition, the crowded space of the janitorial industry is becoming a battleground for growth. Many cleaning service providers gain market share and establish a name in the industry, but they can also plateau due to marketing saturation, a lack of growth opportunities, and fewer office spaces to service with the rise in remote work.

Growth opportunities in the residential cleaning sector  

In 2022, almost 10% of U.S. households paid for professional house cleaning services. 

A growing awareness of their cleaning needs is causing consumers to seek professional services for not just homes, but office buildings and retail stores. House cleaning services are becoming a high-value opportunity for commercial cleaning companies in need of new avenues of growth. The growth rate in the residential sector shows what kind of opportunity is available for commercial small businesses. 

In 2018, the global home cleaning services market was valued at 31.45 billion U.S. dollars. That value rose to 31.99 billion in 2019, resulting in a slim growth rate of just under 2%. 

In 2020, that market value skyrocketed to over 34 billion, creating a growth rate increase of 8%. That trend continued in 2021 with a 9% in growth to market value for U.S. house cleaners. 

Since the pandemic era, the yearly growth rate for residential cleaning services has hovered around 6%

The value of the residential market and its trending growth is estimated to reach roughly 46.9 billion U.S. dollars in value by 2026.

Residential demand trends

While COVID-19 greatly improved the public’s awareness of professional cleaning services, more variables have played into the growing value of residential services.

The highest-growing residential cleaning companies experienced a growth rate of more than 20% per year before the pandemic. 

Since the pandemic, high-growth residential cleaning services have only grown. Over the past five years, U.S. consumers have found tremendous value in hiring professional cleaning technicians for their homes. 

As highlighted in a survey conducted by the American Cleaning Institute, U.S. consumers claimed to prefer spending an average of 6 hours every week cleaning their homes. A third of the survey respondents also claimed to have concerns about whether they were cleaning their homes correctly. 

The top 4 most worried over cleaning tasks among respondents were:

2. Cleaning the bathroom (52%)

4. Cleaning the kitchen (23%) 

6. Dusting (21%)

8. Mopping (20%)

Other top services that consumers prefer to trust professional services with include:

• Carpet cleaning

• Upholstery cleaning

• Sanitation

• Window cleaning

• Move-in/move-out cleaning

• Chimney cleaning

• Office cleaning 

• Deep cleaning

• Laundry

Overall, U.S. households reported spending an average of $645 per year on cleaning services in 2019, with the average residential cleaning job running $130 per visit.

One of the top reasons residential customers seek out professional services for their cleaning needs is due to the “time-savings.” Other reasons included lacking knowledge and cleaning skills, lacking equipment or cleaning products, and worrying that cleaning isn’t being done properly.  

One-off residential janitorial services comprise 61% of the market, with repeat cleaning contracts accounting for 39%.

That’s a 3:2 ratio of one-off and short-term jobs vs. repeat business. Those are inspiring numbers for high-growth commercial cleaners looking to build a loyal base of returning customers in 2023. And with gross profit margins ranging between 15%-30% in residential services, that’s a huge opportunity for revenue growth as well. 

Tapping into residential growth today

With the right management software, tapping into the growing opportunities of the residential cleaning industry is simple. Whether you’re an established janitorial business or new to commercial cleaning services all around, the residential sector is a viable strategy for becoming a hyper-growth property management business. 

99% of operating residential cleaners employ fewer than 100 people. (Gitnux)

With proper management tools, you can deploy team members with commercial experience into the residential sector or branch out by hiring high-quality subcontractors. Aspire’s cloud-based janitorial business software provides the features that guide business owners as they expand into new cleaning and disinfecting service verticals, such as residential, green cleaning, power washing, and more.

See it in action! Learn how Aspire's platform powers ServiceMaster Clean’s growth.