Do you need a license to start a cleaning business?
Most states have no special license for house cleaning. Here's what you do need, from registering the business to sales tax, insurance and bonds.
Good news first: in most of the US there's no special state license to clean houses. Unlike electricians or hairdressers, cleaners don't need to pass an exam or hold a trade license. That's one reason cleaning is such a popular business to start.
But "no cleaning license" doesn't mean "no paperwork". A legal cleaning business usually has a few things in place: the business is registered, it holds whatever general license its city or county asks for, it charges sales tax where the state taxes cleaning, and it's insured.
The six steps at a glance
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With the state
Register your business
Start as a sole proprietor, or form an LLC with your state.
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With the IRS
Get your EIN
A free tax number from the IRS.
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City or county
Get your city or county license
Where you live and where you work may each ask for one.
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With the state
Check sales tax on cleaning
Some states tax it, including Texas.
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An insurer
Get insured, and bonded if clients ask
General liability first; a bond protects your clients.
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You
Read commercial contracts closely
Offices and medical sites can ask for more.
Here's each one in more detail, in the order most owners do them.
1. Register your business
You can run a cleaning business as a sole proprietor under your own name with very little to file. Many owners form an LLC instead, which keeps the business's debts and lawsuits separate from their personal savings. Forming one means filing with your state and paying its fee.
Our LLC guides for every state list each state's fee, its yearly report and every step. If you'll use a name that isn't your own legal name, such as "Sparkle & Co" rather than "Maria Lopez", most states and counties ask you to register it as an assumed name, also called a DBA ("doing business as"). An LLC's own name is registered when you form it.
2. Get your tax ID
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS is free. You need one to hire employees, banks usually ask for one to open an LLC's account, and many owners get one even when they're on their own so they don't hand out their Social Security number. You can apply on the IRS's own site without paying anyone.
3. Check your city and county
This is where licensing really happens for cleaners. Many cities and some counties require a general business license, sometimes called a business tax receipt or occupational license, for anyone doing business there. It isn't specific to cleaning, it's usually inexpensive and it renews each year.
Search your city's name plus "business license", or call the city clerk. If you clean in several towns, check each one: some cities want a license from businesses that work there even if they're based elsewhere. The SBA's guide to licenses and permits is a good place to start.
4. Find out whether your state taxes cleaning
Most states don't charge sales tax on house cleaning, but some do. Texas is a clear example: its comptroller says tax is due "on the charge to clean a home, office, warehouse" and other buildings, so a Texas cleaning business registers to collect sales tax and adds it to its prices (Texas Comptroller, Publication 94-111). Only a self-employed person working as the household's own employee is exempt there.
5. Get insured, and think about a bond
No law usually requires insurance for a solo house cleaner, but customers often ask, and it protects you if you break something or a client gets hurt. A janitorial bond is different: it protects your customers if someone working for you steals from their home. The bonding company pays the client, and you pay the bonding company back.
| General liability insurance | Janitorial bond | |
|---|---|---|
| Protects | You and your business | Your clients |
| Pays for | Damage and injuries you cause | Theft by someone working for you |
| Who pays in the end | The insurer | You, after the bond company pays the client |
| Typical cost | About $51 a month for house cleaners | About $9 a month |
| Required? | Rarely by law, often by clients | Rarely by law, sometimes by offices |
Costs are Insureon's medians for cleaning businesses (August 2026). Once you hire, most states also require workers' compensation insurance for your employees.
6. Commercial cleaning can ask for more
If you clean offices, medical buildings or government sites, contracts can bring their own requirements: a minimum amount of insurance, a bond, background checks for your staff, or special training for things like medical waste. Read the contract before you bid, and price those costs in.
Your checklist to start legally
Your ticks stay on this device only.
Next steps
Our guide to how to start a house cleaning business covers the rest: what it costs to start, what to charge, what owners make, and every step from your first supplies to your tenth client. Pick your state there for its own fees and sales tax.
Before you register a name, check it's free. PressUp's Business Name Checkup checks a name against your state's records, and if you're still looking, we wrote 48 cleaning business name ideas to start from. When you're ready for clients, PressUp builds a cleaning business website from a few sentences about what you do.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules differ by state, county and city. Check with your local and state agencies, or ask an accountant or a lawyer about your situation.