In-House vs Outsourced Facility Management: The Real Cost
The hidden costs of managing cleaning in-house versus outsourcing — salary, insurance, supplies, and management overhead.
Think In-House Cleaning Is Cheaper? Do This Math.
You're paying your cleaner $18/hour and feeling good about it. But have you added payroll taxes, workers' comp, liability insurance, supplies, equipment, and your own time managing them? Most facility managers haven't — until they do.
Full Cost Breakdown: In-House
| Cost Component | Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Cleaner Salary (2 FTEs @ $18/hr) | $74,880 |
| Payroll Taxes (7.65%) | $5,728 |
| Workers' Comp Insurance | $3,000-$6,000 |
| General Liability Insurance | $2,000-$4,000 |
| Cleaning Supplies | $3,600-$7,200 |
| Equipment (amortized) | $2,000-$4,000 |
| Management Overhead (your time) | $8,000-$15,000 |
| Total | $99,208-$116,808 |
This doesn't include finding replacements for call-outs, managing quality, or compliance documentation.
Outsourced: What You Actually Pay
A typical 10,000 sqft professional office cleaned 5x/week costs $1,200-$2,000/month outsourced, or $14,400-$24,000/year. That's roughly 75-80% less than in-house.
The Third Option: Someone Else Manages the Vendors
What if you got the cost savings of outsourcing without losing control? XIRI vets the contractors, verifies every shift digitally, and gives you one person to call — not a call center, not a ticket system. One number. One invoice. One person who knows your building.