How to price bin cleaning

Bin cleaning has a going rate. Across the US, the median basic monthly plan is $25, and a typical two-bin home pays about $29 a month. You don’t need to invent a price; you need to place yours sensibly against the five companies nearest you, structure your plans so the monthly plan is the obvious choice, and make sure every stop covers its real cost.

Every price here comes from our research on 411 US bin cleaning companies, checked September and October 2026, unless another source is named.

What bin cleaners charge

Two clusters stand out in the monthly prices: $15 to $19, and $25 to $29.

Watch out: “First bin” often really means “up to two bins.” 38% of the sites we read price a bundle of up to two bins, and 33% price per bin. Companies that truly price per bin charge a median $19.99 a month; companies whose price covers two bins charge $25. Compare like with like.

What a typical two-bin home pays (94 companies that say how many bins their price covers):

A monthly customer is worth more than twice a quarterly one, $348 a year against $160, for three times the visits. The plan you sell matters as much as the price you charge.

Prices by region

The West’s lower median comes from low-priced companies in Idaho, Utah and Washington. California is the most expensive state with ten or more prices, at a $30 median. Regions overlap heavily, so the five companies nearest you matter far more than any average.

Real price lists

From each company’s website, October 2026 (Fresh Bins LA, Clean The Cans). Fresh Bins LA and Zafra are clients of ours.

How the plans relate

For companies that list both prices, per visit:

• One-time is about 2.3 times the monthly price.
• Quarterly is about 1.5 times the monthly price.
• Every other month is about 1.4 times the monthly price.

That ladder is on purpose. A one-time clean is the most work (a first clean of a filthy cart takes two to three times as long) and the least loyal customer. Pricing it high makes the plan look like the deal, which is what you want: plan customers fill your routes and pay every month.

Every 4 weeks or once a month?

Your cleanings follow trash day, so “monthly” usually means every four weeks on the customer’s trash day. That’s 13 cleanings a year, not 12. Two companies we found sell every-4-weeks plans and list 12 cleanings a year.

Every 4 weeks also keeps you in step with recycling picked up every other week. A cleaning on “the first Tuesday of the month” is sometimes four weeks after the last one and sometimes five, which flips you onto the week the recycling cart is still full.

Decide how you’ll charge, on purpose:

• Charge per visit, 13 times a year. At $25 a visit that’s $325 a year, against $300 for 12.
• Or charge a monthly price and plan the 13th visit as a holiday or winter skip. Some companies build that slack into their schedule.

Either way, say it plainly on your sign-up page.

Your cost floor

Before you copy anyone’s price, know what a stop costs you.

• Variable cost per two-bin stop: about $3.50 to $4.10 in our model. Water, heat and chemicals together are under a dollar; card fees (about $1.20 on a $31 charge) and driving are the bigger pieces.
• Fully loaded cost per stop, once your equipment payment, insurance, software and marketing are spread over the month’s cleanings: about $10 to $15 in our likely case, and $18 to $25 in our careful case, which has fewer cleanings per customer, more cancellations and longer drives.

So in the careful case, a $19 cleaning loses money once everything is counted. Run your own numbers in the calculator in Lesson 7.

How to set your prices

1. Write down the five nearest competitors’ prices for one and two bins on each plan. Note whether each price covers one bin or two.
2. Choose per-bin or per-home pricing. “$29 for up to two bins” and “$19.99 a bin, $10 each extra” can come to the same money. Pick the one that reads simplest to your customers.
3. Price the monthly plan near the local middle. Bigger companies don’t charge less: the median is $25 a month for companies with 100+ reviews and for those with under 30. Being the cheapest wins you the customers least likely to stay.
4. Build the ladder: every other month about 1.4 times the monthly price per visit, quarterly about 1.5 times, one-time about 2.3 times.
5. Set extra bins at $5 to $10 on plans, more on one-time cleans.
6. Check every plan against your cost per stop in the calculator.
7. Raise prices once a year. Bin Scrub raised its per-visit prices 51% to 71% between 2021 and 2026 and roughly tripled its one-time price. In 2018 some operators charged $10 to $12 a month; one with two trucks and about 175 customers told a local paper it wasn’t yet profitable.

Contracts, minimums and cancellations

Both approaches work. Fresh Bins LA added a 12-month agreement to its monthly and quarterly plans because people were signing up monthly and canceling in month two. Its early-cancel charge is the one-time rate minus the plan rate for each cleaning done, capped at $75 a bin, for new sign-ups only, and it’s spelled out on the pricing page, the FAQ, the terms and the welcome email. Zafra sells “no contracts, no cancellation fees” instead. Bin Scrub charges the one-time price if a plan is canceled after the first visit.

Whatever you choose, show it before the customer pays and make canceling simple. Federal law requires clear terms and consent for automatic renewals (Lesson 4).

Intro offers that don’t wreck your price

On Facebook and Instagram the standard bin cleaning ad is a gross-out photo and a discount: 10 of the 29 live advertisers in October 2026 offered 50% off, usually the first clean. Others offered the first clean free with a quarterly plan, $10 off, or up to 30% off with a code.

What works:

• Discount the first clean only when someone starts a plan. Keep the one-time price high.
• Put the terms next to the offer, and don’t raise the plan price to pay for a “free” clean. The FTC expects offer terms stated clearly beside the price (FTC).
• Use a deadline for founding-customer prices before launch (Lesson 10).

Group and HOA pricing

Neighbors on one trash day are your cheapest stops, so many companies discount them:

• Can Cleaners offers HOAs up to 30% off, with free service for the HOA contact.
• Magic Bin Cleaners in Connecticut sells an HOA-only $40 clean for one or two bins with an 18-home minimum, against $84.95 normally.
• Texas Scrub Hub gives the organizer of a neighborhood cleaning day one free clean for every 10 neighbors who book.

A 10% to 20% discount for a street of 20 homes still leaves you ahead, because you skip the driving between them.

Commercial prices, briefly

Only 13 of the sites we read publish dumpster prices. They run $100 to $200 a month (median $175), $150 to $250 a quarter, and $150 to $700 one-time (median $300). Commercial work is quoted after a site visit; Lesson 13 covers it.

Key takeaways

• The median basic monthly plan is $25; a typical two-bin home pays about $29 a month, $36 every other month, $40 a quarter or $60 one-time.
• Many companies’ “first bin” price covers two bins. Compare like with like.
• Set one-time at about 2.3 times the monthly price and quarterly at about 1.5 times, so the plan is the obvious deal.
• Every 4 weeks is 13 cleanings a year. Decide how you charge for it and say so.
• Know your fully loaded cost per stop (about $10 to $25) before you price, and raise prices once a year.

FAQ

How much should I charge to clean a trash can?

Start from the local market. Nationally the median is $25 a month for a basic plan, about $36 per quarterly visit and $50 to $55 for a one-time clean, with extra bins at $5 to $10. A typical two-bin home pays about $29 a month. Place your price near the middle of your five nearest competitors and check it against your own cost per stop.

How much does a one-time trash bin cleaning cost?

The median one-time price is $50 to $55 for the first bin, and about $60 for a two-bin home. Most companies price one-time cleans at about 2.3 times their monthly price, because a first clean takes longer and the customer may never return.

Should I charge per bin or per home?

Either works. 33% of companies price per bin and 38% price a bundle of up to two bins. Per bin is easy to understand; a two-bin bundle makes the second cart feel free. What matters is that your price covers a two-bin stop at your real cost.

Should bin cleaning customers sign a contract?

About 30% of companies advertise no contract, and only about 2% require 12 months. A middle path is a short minimum of three or four visits, or charging the one-time price if someone cancels right after the first clean. Show the terms before checkout and make canceling easy.

How often should I raise my bin cleaning prices?

Review them every year. Prices across the industry roughly doubled between 2018 and 2026, and Bin Scrub, one of the largest operators, raised its per-visit prices by 51% to 71% since 2021. Give existing customers notice, and consider keeping founding customers at their price for a set time.