Three ways of pricing the same job
| Source | Basis | For a 2,000 sq ft home |
|---|---|---|
| Fixr, January 2026 | $0.15 to $0.35 per square foot | $300 to $700, average $500 |
| This Old House, April 2026 | $0.15 to $0.40 per square foot | $300 to $800 |
| Bob Vila, November 2023 | $25 to $50 per vent, average $35 | $268 to $492, average $379 |
The two per-square-foot rates start at exactly the same place, $0.15, and differ only at the top. Our arithmetic: multiply each by 2,000 square feet and the resulting bands, $300 to $700 and $300 to $800, are the same number at the bottom and $100 apart at the top.
That is unusually close agreement for this site. Budget $300 to $800.
The figure that does not fit, and where it comes from
This Old House's page opens with a different number: $450 to $1,000, attributed to the National Air Duct Cleaners Association.
Two things about that.
It contradicts their own table. The same page gives $0.15 to $0.40 per square foot and a table showing $300 to $800 for 2,000 square feet. Our arithmetic: a headline of $450 to $1,000 on that house implies $0.225 to $0.50 per square foot, which is above the rate they publish.
NADCA is the trade association of duct cleaning companies. It is the industry body for the people selling the service. That does not make the figure wrong, and the association has better data on its own trade than most. It does mean the highest of the three published figures on this page is the one produced by the sellers, and we think you should know that before you treat it as the benchmark.
Our rule across this site is that where a source takes a number from a party that profits from the work, we name it. We named it when This Old House sourced its gutter cleaning average to LeafFilter, and this is the same case.
Per square foot or per vent
Bob Vila prices by vent instead, at $25 to $50 each, averaging $35:
| Vents | Bob Vila |
|---|---|
| 8 | $200 to $400 |
| 12 | $300 to $600 |
| 16 | $400 to $800 |
And by home size, from Fixr and This Old House:
| Home size | Fixr | This Old House |
|---|---|---|
| 1,200 sq ft | $180 to $420 | $180 to $480 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $225 to $525 | $225 to $600 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $300 to $700 | $300 to $800 |
The bottom figures are identical on every row, because both start at $0.15 a square foot. The tops diverge because of the $0.35 against $0.40.
Which basis to ask for, marked as ours: per vent is the more honest basis, because the work is done at the vents and a sprawling single-storey house has more of them than a compact two-storey one of the same square footage. If you are quoted per square foot, count your supply vents and divide: a quote working out far above $50 a vent is worth questioning.
Why the averages sit lower than the ranges suggest
Fixr's average is $500 and Bob Vila's is $379, a gap of $121 by our subtraction, with nearly three years between the guides.
Neither average sits in the middle of its own range, and both are below the midpoint. That is the normal shape for home services: the top of a range describes large or difficult houses, and the typical job is a long way below it.
What should be included
Fixr lists what moves the price: home size, the number of vents, how accessible the ducts are, and how long it has been since the last clean.
Before you book, ours: ask how many vents are in the price, whether the return ducts are included and not just the supply vents, and whether anything is extra. A duct cleaning quote that names a square footage but not a vent count has not looked at your house.
For the service that actually gets scheduled every year, see our HVAC maintenance page, where four published figures disagree in a way that turns out to be explainable. The other air that moves through a house is the attic's, and our attic fan page prices moving it. If the ducts are not dirty but loud, that is airflow rather than dust, and our noise page covers what actually helps.
Sources
- Fixr, Air Duct Cleaning Cost, updated January 29, 2026 (the $300 to $700 range, $500 average, per-square-foot rates and the table by home size)
- This Old House, How Much Does Air Duct Cleaning Cost? (2026 Pricing), updated April 9, 2026 (the $0.15 to $0.40 per square foot rate, the table by home size, the NADCA figure)
- Bob Vila, How Much Does Air Duct Cleaning Cost?, updated November 29, 2023 (the $268 to $492 range and $379 average via Angi and HomeAdvisor, per-vent pricing)
Price figures are national US ranges from the sources above as of the date shown. Your local price depends on labor rates, permits and site conditions. Read how we get our numbers.