How Much to Charge to Pressure Wash a Driveway (2026)

Charge $0.10–$0.35 per square foot to pressure wash a driveway in 2026. A standard two-car driveway (roughly 600–750 sq ft) lands between $100 and $250 in most US suburban markets — toward the low end for clean-ish concrete in a competitive market, toward the high end for heavy staining, gum, oil, or higher-cost metro areas. Whatever the math says, hold a minimum job price of $99–$150, because a $60 driveway doesn't cover the drive over.

That's the answer. The rest of this guide is how to actually apply it — because the number that matters isn't what you charge per square foot, it's what you keep per hour after equipment, fuel, and windshield time. I grew a route-based service company to 5,000 clients, and I can tell you the operators who fail rarely fail at cleaning driveways. They fail at pricing them.

Should you price per square foot or flat rate?

Price per square foot internally, quote flat rate externally. Do the measurement math to build your number, then give the customer one clean price: "$185 for the driveway, done."

Per-square-foot pricing is how you stay consistent and profitable across different job sizes. Flat-rate quoting is how you avoid customers doing math on you ("so if I only do half the driveway...") and how you keep quotes fast. Nobody wants an invoice with a rate table on it.

A quick sizing reference for your internal math:

*Below your minimum — charge the minimum instead. More on that next.

Measure with a wheel or a satellite-measuring tool before quoting; pacing it off works fine too once you've done fifty of them. All figures vary by market — a driveway in a high-cost metro prices differently than the same slab in a small town.

What's a minimum job price and why do you need one?

A minimum job price is the floor you charge regardless of size — for driveway work in 2026, $99–$150 is typical, varies by market. It exists because every job carries fixed costs that don't shrink with the driveway: driving there, unloading, setting up, hooking up water, breaking down, driving to the next one. That's often 30–45 minutes of non-cleaning time. A 300 sq ft single-car pad at $0.15/sq ft is $45 of "revenue" wrapped around an hour and a half of your day.

State the minimum on your website and in your quotes. It filters out the jobs that would have lost you money, and it doesn't scare off real customers nearly as much as new operators fear. The customers who balk at a $125 minimum were going to be your worst customers anyway.

What's your equipment actually costing you per hour?

More than you think, and this is where underpricing hides. Run the numbers once so your floor price is based on reality:

• Machine wear. A $2,500–$4,000 belt-drive pressure washer with a surface cleaner is good for a few thousand hours before major service. Call it $1.50–$3.00/hour in depreciation and maintenance — pumps, unloaders, hoses, and tips are consumables.
• Fuel. A gas machine burns roughly 1–2 gallons/hour; add truck fuel to and from the job.
• Water and chemicals. Post-treatment (sodium hypochlorite mix for organic staining, degreaser for oil) is a real per-job cost on dirty driveways.
• Insurance, phone, software, licensing. Divide the monthly total by billable hours. It's usually a bigger per-hour number than the fuel.
• The truck. Payment or depreciation, insurance, tires, maintenance — allocated per working hour.

Stack it up and most solo operators are carrying $15–$30/hour in true costs before paying themselves a dime. If a driveway takes an hour on site plus 30 minutes of drive and setup, and you charged $80 for it, you paid yourself fast-food wages to own a business. The fix isn't working faster — it's the minimum, the per-square-foot floor, and the add-ons below.

What add-ons should you offer on a driveway job?

Add-ons are where a $150 stop becomes a $300 stop with the equipment already unloaded. The three that matter:

• Sealing. Concrete sealing after cleaning typically runs $0.50–$1.50/sq ft depending on product and market — often more than the wash itself. Not every customer wants it; every customer should be offered it.
• Oil and gum spot treatment. Deep-set oil stains and gum need degreaser, hot water, or extra passes. Price as a line item — $25–$75 per treated area depending on severity — and set expectations that old oil may lighten rather than vanish (put that in writing; see the pressure washing contract guide).
• Adjacent flatwork. Sidewalks, walkways, patio slabs, curbs. Quote them while you're standing there. "Want the walkway done while I've got the surface cleaner out — another $45?" converts absurdly well because the marginal effort is low and the customer can see the before/after line forming in real time.

How do you upsell a house wash or roof wash from a driveway job?

By quoting it on site, the same day, while the clean driveway is doing your selling for you. Driveway customers are house-wash customers who haven't been asked yet. Typical 2026 suburban ranges, varies by market and home size:

Even a 20–30% take rate on a same-day house-wash offer changes your average ticket fast. The script is one sentence: "While I'm here, I can quote the siding — most people do the house once they see the driveway."

What are the most common driveway pricing mistakes?

The same four, over and over:

• Matching the lowball guy. Somewhere in your market a guy with a homeowner-grade machine is doing driveways for $60. He is not your competitor; he's a future cautionary tale. Price to your costs, not his ignorance of them.
• No minimum. Covered above — small jobs without a floor price are charity with extra steps.
• Ignoring drive time. A $200 driveway 40 minutes away pays worse than a $140 driveway around the corner. Cluster your jobs geographically; dense routes are the whole game in service work — the same math that governs mowing routes applies to wash routes.
• Quoting off photos alone. Condition is half the price. A driveway that hasn't been cleaned in a decade, with tire marks, irrigation rust, and a gum constellation, is not a $0.15/sq ft job. Photos hide texture; texture is where your time goes.

FAQ

How long does it take to pressure wash a driveway? With a surface cleaner and adequate GPM, a standard two-car driveway takes 45–90 minutes on site including setup, pre-treatment, and rinse. A wand-only setup can double that — which is why the machine pays for itself in throughput, not in cleaning quality.

Is $100 too cheap to pressure wash a driveway? For a small, lightly soiled single-car pad in a modest market, $100–$125 can be fine — that's why minimums start around there. For a standard two-car driveway, $100 usually means you skipped the cost math. Run your true hourly cost before deciding.

Should I charge more for a driveway that's never been cleaned? Yes. Heavy organic growth, embedded stains, and gum add pre-treatment product and passes. Quote from the $0.25–$0.35/sq ft end, or add a first-clean surcharge. Restoration work and maintenance work are different jobs that happen to use the same machine.

Do I need a contract for driveway jobs? A simple one, yes — mainly for scope, pre-existing damage photos, and the no-guarantee-on-set-stains line. The pressure washing contract template guide covers the clauses that matter.

What about charging by the hour instead? Don't quote hourly to customers — it punishes you for being fast and invites clock-watching. Use your target hourly rate internally to sanity-check flat quotes: if the flat price divided by realistic total hours (including drive time) is below your target, the quote is wrong.

Prices above are realistic 2026 US suburban ranges and vary by market, region, and condition — always price from your own costs first.