Search for what a house cleaner makes in Philadelphia and you get numbers that describe different things: an employee's wage, a contractor's gross rate and what a household pays per hour. The government figures below describe employees, not independent cleaners. This guide explains what changes when you work for yourself and gives you a worksheet for costs, total working time and a tax reserve. There is no verified average for independent Philadelphia cleaners in these sources.
The short answer
- Employees working as maids and housekeeping cleaners in the Philadelphia metro area had a median wage of $17.09 an hour in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is an employee wage, not what an independent cleaner earns.
- An independent cleaner's hourly rate cannot be compared with a wage until costs come out. You pay for your own supplies, travel, insurance and taxes, and some of your hours are unpaid.
- The tax example below totals $209.40 only under its stated assumptions, including the City's 2025 resident rate. It is not a 2026 tax estimate or a recommended amount to save.
- For a platform visit, start with the pay offered to you, not the price the household pays. Allow for time spent travelling, restocking and arranging the work as well as cleaning.
What the one government number says
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program publishes hourly wages for maids and housekeeping cleaners (occupation code 37-2012) in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan area. These are the May 2025 figures:
| Measure | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Jobs counted | 11,330 |
| 10th percentile hourly wage | $14.45 |
| 25th percentile | $15.49 |
| Median | $17.09 |
| Mean | $17.37 |
Read these as a reference point, not as a ceiling or a floor for you. In its BLS OEWS questions and answers, BLS says "The survey does not cover the self-employed" and goes on to list other groups it leaves out, among them domestic employees. So the table describes people paid a wage by a business, in a metro area that also includes Camden and Wilmington. It says nothing about what an independent cleaner charges or keeps.
From a gross rate to what you keep
When you work for yourself, the hourly rate you quote is revenue, not pay. The worksheet below takes it down to what is left. We leave every cost blank on purpose: your supplies, your car and your insurance are yours, and we will not invent a number for them.
| Line | Your entry for the same week or month |
|---|---|
| A. Revenue | Your rate times paid hours, or the sum of your per-visit pay. Use the amount payable to your business, not a platform's customer price. |
| B. Supplies and equipment | Your spending during that period. |
| C. Work travel | Your travel costs for this budget, not an assumed tax deduction. |
| D. Other business costs | Your insurance allocation and other costs. Include any fees not already deducted from A; do not subtract them twice. |
| E. Operating balance before tax | A minus B, C and D. This budgeting balance is not automatically taxable profit. |
| F. Total working hours | Cleaning plus work travel, messages, scheduling and restocking. |
| G. Before-tax return per working hour | E divided by F. |
| H. Tax reserve | Your own estimate for federal, state and local taxes, accounting for their different bases, credits and rules. |
| I. Budget remaining after reserve | E minus H. Divide by F for a planning figure per working hour, not a guaranteed take-home rate. |
Keep both sides before tax when comparing them: line G is a starting point beside the gross BLS wage, not line I. Even then, benefits and working arrangements differ. Do not compare your after-tax balance with an employee's before-tax wage. Use several weeks of your own records rather than treating your busiest visit as a normal day.
Federal self-employment tax
The IRS self-employment tax page says "The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%." and describes it as "similar to the Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from the pay of most wage earners." IRS Topic no. 554 adds "Generally, the amount subject to self-employment tax is 92.35% of your net earnings from self-employment." Multiplying the two gives about 14.13% for the limited illustration below. Social Security has an annual limit, and additional Medicare tax may apply. This multiplication is not a universal tax rate on your profit. It applies once "Your net earnings from self-employment (excluding church employee income) were $400 or more." The IRS also says "You can deduct the employer-equivalent portion of your self-employment tax in figuring your adjusted gross income," which affects your federal income tax and is not modelled here.
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue says "Pennsylvania personal income tax is levied at the rate of 3.07 percent against taxable income" and lists "net profits from the operation of a business, profession or farm" among the classes of income it taxes.
Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Net Profits Tax page lists "3.74% of net profits (resident)" and "3.43% of net profits (non-resident)" for tax year 2025, and names "Individuals (sole proprietors)" among those who owe it. It adds "A return must be filed even if a loss is incurred." and "The NPT does not take the place of the net income portion of the Business Income & Receipts Tax (BIRT)." We do not explain BIRT here. Ask a tax professional whether it applies to you.
Mileage
If you choose the IRS standard rate for business driving, the IRS standard mileage rates page lists "Self-employed and business: 76 cents/mile" for July 1 to December 31, 2026 (IR-2026-29), after 72.5 cents per mile for January 1 to June 30, 2026 (IR-2025-128). A mileage deduction is not the same as cash spent on your car. Eligible business miles, the method you may use and the tax year's rules matter. For line C, track travel spending separately; do not silently substitute the mileage deduction for cash costs or count both as the same expense.
What $1,000 of net profit looks like
For arithmetic only, assume $1,000 is the applicable profit base separately for each of these taxes, the full self-employment tax calculation applies, and the cleaner is a Philadelphia resident using the City's 2025 NPT rate. Ignore credits, other wages and other taxes in this illustration. Those assumptions will not fit every return, so treat it as scale, not as a calculation of your return. This is not a forecast of tax due on 2026 earnings.
| Line | Arithmetic | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Amount subject to self-employment tax | $1,000 x 92.35% | $923.50 |
| Self-employment tax | $923.50 x 15.3% | $141.30 |
| Pennsylvania personal income tax | $1,000 x 3.07% | $30.70 |
| Philadelphia Net Profits Tax, resident | $1,000 x 3.74% | $37.40 |
| Total of the three | $209.40 |
Under those assumptions alone, the three lines total about 21% of the example's profit. Federal income tax and any BIRT liability are outside this example, as are deductions and credits that can change the result. Do not use this percentage as your tax reserve. Take your records to a tax professional to fill line H.
What an employer used to carry
Moving from a cleaning company's payroll to your own business moves some costs onto you. These come from the public pages above, and they are a comparison, not a ruling on anyone's status.
| Item | If you are an employee | If you work for yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare | The IRS says these taxes are "withheld from the pay of most wage earners" and that "Employers calculate Social Security and Medicare taxes for most wage earners." | The self-employment tax calculation is yours; include it in your tax planning. |
| Workers' compensation | The Pennsylvania L&I page says insuring it is "mandatory for any employer that employs at least one employee". | L&I's exclusion list includes "Sole proprietor or general partners with no other employees". Ask L&I or an attorney before you hire anyone. |
| Tools, supplies and expenses | The IRS lists who provides tools and supplies, and whether expenses are reimbursed, as factors in the relationship. | On Hometress you bring your own supplies and equipment, so lines B and C are yours. |
Sources: the IRS self-employment tax page, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry employer page and the IRS independent contractor page. The IRS page says "The keys are to look at the entire relationship and consider the extent of the right to direct and control the worker." Whether an arrangement is employment or self-employment depends on the facts, and neither page decides it for you. Neither do we. For how households weigh the same trade-off, see independent cleaner vs. cleaning company.
Where Hometress fits
Hometress is a cleaning marketplace that connects independent cleaning professionals with customers. It is free to join, cleaners carry their own insurance and bring their own supplies and equipment, and the pay for a visit is shown before you accept it. Our cleaner pay guide explains the published examples; the amount offered for your actual visit is what belongs in your worksheet. Top cleaners can reach $40+ an hour. That is an upper-end gross earning claim, not typical pay or a promise for every working hour. Costs, taxes and time outside the visit still matter. If you want to see where Hometress is onboarding, apply to be a service provider.
Questions cleaners ask
Is the BLS wage what an independent cleaner earns?
No. BLS says its survey does not cover the self-employed. Use it as context for an employee's gross wage in this metro area. Your before-tax line G and after-reserve line I answer different questions; neither is a promise of future work.
Do I pay self-employment tax if I clean part time?
The IRS page says "You must pay self-employment tax and file Schedule SE (Form 1040) if either of the following applies." The first condition is "Your net earnings from self-employment (excluding church employee income) were $400 or more." The test is the net amount, not the number of hours you worked.
Do I file a Philadelphia return if I lose money?
The Net Profits Tax page says "A return must be filed even if a loss is incurred." Ask a tax professional how that applies to you.