2021 Carpet Cleaning Benchmarking Survey Report

The results of our 2021 Carpet Cleaning Benchmarking Survey are in! Find an infographical overview here, and download complete results by clicking on the image at right. Our thanks to all the hard-working industry pros who participated this year.

Click to view or download complete survey results.

We found, despite current labor shortages, respondents didn’t consider staffing the most important challenge. Instead, maintaining margins during supply chain and economy issues was the biggest thorn, with 96% saying it is most important.

The industry is standing strong despite the current chaos in the world. While the pandemic was the biggest factor affecting revenue (34% saw a negative impact), most companies reported strong sales in 2021. Only 9% expect a decrease in gross revenue, a huge improvement over the 46% in 2020. Meanwhile 74% of companies expect growth this year.

Read on to see other industry figures and find out how your business stacks up against its peers.

Download the survey results in PDF here.

About this report: The data in this survey is based on results from carpet cleaning contractors responding to invitations for this survey. Results are not necessarily based on audited financial statements. This report was made possible with support from Legend Brands.

This year saw a big uptick in those reporting full-service offerings over carpet cleaning alone.

Almost all respondents were company leaders, but most have found a decent work-life balance, with 81% reporting working less than 55 hours a week.

Respondents from North America and worldwide participated in this year’s survey. See a breakdown of employee wages and pricing by location on page 22.

Fewer companies than ever reported being part of a franchise system as the industry continues to be dominated by independently owned businesses.

The number of respondents reporting their companies as S corporations rose sharply, 9% over the 31% reported in 2020.

Most respondents’ primary revenue came from carpet cleaning, with 72% getting at least half from that source. Other revenue sources included various restoration services, hard floorcare, and rug cleaning, among

[infobox title=’2021 COVID-19 Data’]The pandemic continues to wreak havoc on small businesses.

More than a third of respondents said the pandemic negatively impacted revenue this year, though 18% saw a positive impact. [/infobox]

Every category under “currently offering” rose over 2020, with trauma cleaning seeing a huge 41-point jump.

More than three quarters charge between $.21 and $.50 per square foot of residential carpet.

Most companies (48%) who offer rug cleaning do so both on location and in a wash plant.

Wages Paid per Hour by Region

Average starting wage in the South rose by $3 an hour over 2020, though pay for a tenured employee stayed the same. Meanwhile, the Northeast’s starting wage stayed the same, but the average wage rose by $3 an hour. Other areas were unchanged or stayed within a dollar of last year.