Per-foot and per-hour, both methods side by side

Gutter Cleaning Cost Calculator (2026 Rates)

1Your home & the job

Gutter linear footage (ft)Rough rule: half your home's square footage, one story.

Stories

Debris levelHeavy debris = packed mud, seedlings, or first clean in years.

Add-on services

Downspout flushHose every downspout clear to grade — +$20–50Roof debris blow-offClear the roof plane before it rinses back in — +$40–100Minor resealingRe-seal leaky seams and end caps found on the job — +$50–100Gutter guard removal & re-cleanGuard must come off before the channel is serviced — ×1.25 on the cleaning

2Your 2026 estimate

Per visit

$184 – $460

Effective rate: $1.15–$2.87 per linear foot

Hourly method cross-check

3.1 crew-hours at $50–75/hr implies $153–$230. The per-foot quote runs above this — ask what the story or debris multiplier is covering.

Cleaning base (×1.15): $184–$460
Flat add-ons: none
Twice-a-year budget: $368–$920

Per-foot band

$1.00–2.50 per linear foot is the 2026 working range.

Hourly band

$50–75 per crew hour, ~60 ft cleared per hour at one story.

Twice a year

The baseline schedule; pine and oak homes need 3–4 visits.

Method comparison

Four Cleaning Methods, Priced and Rated

The same gutter can be cleaned four ways, and the quote differs by method as much as by company. The bars rate thoroughness, speed, and value-for-money out of 100 — the badges mark where each method genuinely belongs.

Scoop & bag from ladder

Recommended

Thoroughness

Speed

Value

The residential standard: debris scooped into a bag that stays on the ladder, ground tarps catch the rest. Thorough on packed grit, no downspout clogs pushed deeper, and priced right — this is the method most per-foot quotes assume.

Hand cleaning (bucket + gloved hands)

Premium method

Thoroughness

Speed

Value

Hands feel what a scoop misses — compacted sludge, stuck seams, early corrosion. On long runs it bills 15–25% above scoop-and-bag crews, so it earns its premium on small, detailed jobs rather than whole-house cleans.

Gutter vacuum with poles

Good fit

Thoroughness

Speed

Value

Fast from the ground and ideal for single-story homes, conservatories, and hazards a ladder should not touch. Wet-packed mud defeats the suction, so quality depends on the crew following up with a flush.

Telescopic pole from ground only

High-Risk

Thoroughness

Speed

Value

A brush on a pole clears loose leaves in half an hour — and leaves the packed bottom layer the next storm will rinse into the downspout. Fine as a between-visits touch-up; risky as a once-a-year primary clean.

Technician on a ladder cleaning out a residential gutter by hand

The method on the ladder is the price on the quotePhoto: Unsplash

Reference table 1

Gutter Cleaning Cost by Home Size & Stories

Standard-debris cleans, priced at the $1.00–2.50 per-foot band with story multipliers applied and no add-ons. Linear footage estimates assume a typical single-story ranch footprint of each size — hips and complex rooflines run longer.

Home Size (sq ft)	Linear Feet (est.)	1-Story	2-Story	3-Story
1,000	120 ft	$120–$300	$156–$390	$192–$480
1,500	160 ft	$160–$400	$208–$520	$256–$640
2,000	200 ft	$200–$500	$260–$650	$320–$800
2,500	240 ft	$240–$600	$312–$780	$384–$960
3,000+	280 ft	$280–$700	$364–$910	$448–$1120

The method premium on long runs

Hand cleaning (bucket + ladder) bills 15–25% above scoop-and-bag crews on long runs; most pros now quote per linear foot, not per hour. If a quote specifies “hand clean” on a 200-foot run, expect that premium on top of the band — and decide whether your seams and valleys need it.

Reference table 2

Add-On Service Pricing

The services that turn a $180 clean into a $350 ticket — some worth approving, some worth questioning. Every line below is a legitimate, commonly quoted add-on; the trick is knowing which your gutters actually need this visit.

Service	Typical Add-On Cost	When It Earns Its Price
Downspout flush	+$20–50 per visit	Every 2–3 visits, or any time a downspout gurgles instead of flowing
Roof debris blow-off	+$40–100	Pine needles or leaf litter on the roof plane — it rinses straight back in otherwise
Gutter guard removal & re-clean	×1.25 on the cleaning	Annually on micro-mesh homes — grit packs under the mesh where scoops cannot reach
Minor resealing	+$50–100 per job	Dripping seams or end caps spotted during the clean — cheaper than a seam replacement

The schedule that protects the budget

Twice a year is the baseline schedule — homes under pines or overhanging oaks need 3–4 cleanings; guard-fitted gutters still need an annual rinse because grit washes through micro-mesh. Skipping visits does not save the money; it converts a cleaning line item into a downspout replacement line item.

Reading a quote like an estimator

A professional quote names the method, the footage, the story count, and the add-ons in separate lines. A quote that says only “clean gutters — $250” is not wrong, but it gives you nothing to negotiate with. The copy button on the dashboard above produces exactly the itemized shape most companies price against.

When cleaning stops being the answer

Three consecutive visits with heavy debris, standing water after rain, or seams that re-leak after resealing are the classic signs the channel itself is at end of life. At that point the annual cleaning budget is better redirected — run the replacement math on the main calculator before paying for a fourth clean.

The Annual View: What a Decade of Cleanings Actually Costs

Single cleanings undersell the real number because gutters are a recurring liability. A 160-foot single-story home at the standard twice-a-year schedule spends roughly $320–800 per year at 2026 rates; the pine-covered version of the same house, with three visits and an annual downspout flush, pushes past $1,000 without ever misbehaving. Over ten years that is $4,000–10,000 spent on maintenance — comparable to a full replacement, which is why the decision point belongs in the budget conversation, not after the third consecutive heavy-debris visit.

The other half of the annual view is what cleaning protects. Overflowing gutters do not fail gracefully: water sheets over the front lip, saturates the fascia, wicks into the soffit, and finds the foundation. The repair ladder runs from a $12 fascia board through basement seepage to a cracked slab, and the $300 clean at the bottom of that ladder is the cheapest insurance quote a homeowner will ever receive. Price the visits against the risk, not against doing nothing.

Guard-fitted homes live in a different spot on the curve: the guard converts two heavy cleanings a year into one lighter rinse plus an occasional under-mesh flush, and the ×1.25 removal multiplier only applies on the years the guard actually comes off. The calculator above handles that scenario directly — tick the removal add-on and the estimate reprices, which is exactly the comparison to run before believing any “never clean your gutters again” pitch.

Pair this tool with the full system calculator

Cleaning is the maintenance half of the story; the system itself is the other half. The free gutter calculator on the Gutter Calculator homepage sizes the runs, spouts, and fittings a replacement would need — useful the moment cleaning stops keeping up. And for every other sizing and cost decision on the roofline, the all-calculators directory is the shelf they all sit on.

A 160-foot single-story home runs $160–400 per 2026 cleaning — and if your annual cleaning spend is closing on a quarter of a replacement quote, the replacement math deserves ten minutes.

FAQ

Gutter Cleaning Cost Questions, Answered

The questions homeowners ask before the ladder goes up — pricing, schedules, and the add-ons that move the number.

How much does gutter cleaning cost in 2026?

The working band is $1.00–2.50 per linear foot of gutter, scaled for stories and debris — which puts a typical 160-foot single-story home at roughly $160–400 per visit. Two-story homes add about 30% and three-story about 60%. Most companies quote per linear foot today; the hourly method ($50–75 per crew hour) survives mainly as a cross-check on small or unusually messy jobs.

How do 2026 prices compare to 2025 gutter cleaning rates?

The per-foot band drifted up modestly — roughly 5–8% — as insurance and ladder-time costs rose, but the structure of pricing did not change: story count and debris level still dominate the spread. If a 2025 quote and a 2026 quote differ by much more than that, the difference is usually scope (add-ons like downspout flushing or roof blow-off), not the market.

What do gutter cleaners charge per hour?

$50–75 per crew hour is the common range, and a two-person crew clears 50–70 feet of gutter per hour on a single-story home. The hourly view is useful as a sanity check: if a per-foot quote implies more than about $100 per crew hour, either the debris level or the story multiplier is doing heavy lifting — ask which, or get a second quote.

How much does mobile home gutter cleaning cost?

Mobile and manufactured homes usually land at the bottom of the band: low eaves mean ground-ladder work only, so crews charge for the minimum visit — typically $75–150 — rather than a per-foot computation. Many companies have a trip minimum regardless of footage, and a short mobile home run rarely clears it on footage alone.

Is a free gutter cleaning estimate actually free?

Mostly, yes — reputable companies quote from photos, a tape measure at the eave, or a quick drive-by at no charge because the visit is their sales pitch. What is not free is the upsell discovered mid-job: downspout flushes, resealing, and guard cleaning are legitimate add-ons, but a crew that invents them after the ladder goes up deserves a second opinion before you approve.

How often should gutters be cleaned, and what does the year cost?

Twice a year is the baseline schedule — late spring and late fall. Homes under pines or overhanging oaks need 3–4 cleanings, and guard-fitted gutters still need an annual rinse because grit washes through micro-mesh. Budget accordingly: two visits on a 160-foot single-story home run $320–800 a year, while a heavy-debris three-visit home can pass $1,000.

Why does gutter guard removal and re-clean cost more?

Because the guard has to come off before the gutter can be serviced properly. Removing micro-mesh or screen, cleaning the channel beneath, and re-seating the guard roughly multiplies the labor by 1.25, and some systems' clips do not survive removal gracefully. It is worth it — a guard left on over packed grit turns the whole run into a planter — but it is a real add-on, not a free touch-up.

Is hand cleaning worth the premium over scooping?

On the right job, yes. Hand cleaning reaches into seams, behind end caps, and through packed sludge that a scoop rides over, which is why hand-cleaned runs stay clog-free longer. But on long simple runs the difference rarely justifies the 15–25% premium most crews charge for it — the sensible split is hand detail at seams, valleys and outlets, scoop-and-bag everywhere else.