Housekeeper Payroll Cost 2026: What You'll Pay

You pay your house cleaner $100 per week. That's $5,200 a year. Simple, right?

Not quite. If you control how the cleaning work is done, the worker can already be your household employee. Once a nonexempt worker reaches the $3,000 per-worker FICA threshold in 2026, Social Security and Medicare generally apply. FUTA, state taxes, and worker-specific exceptions use separate tests.

The numbers are smaller than most people expect, though. And there are tax credits that can offset a big chunk of the cost.

Every dollar you'll actually spend.

A Real Example: $100/Week Housekeeper

Your cleaner comes once a week and you pay $100 per visit. That's $5,200 per year, well above the $3,000 threshold.

What you actually owe as an employer.

Your employer taxes

That's roughly $11/week on top of the $100 you're already paying. Your total cost per week: about $111.

What your cleaner sees

Your housekeeper also has taxes withheld from their pay (unless they opt out of income tax withholding):

Their take-home on a $100 paycheck is roughly $92–93 after FICA withholding, before any income tax.

Your total annual cost

Compared to the $5,200 you'd pay under the table, the difference is $670/year, about $13/week.

Use our free calculator to get the exact number for your state and wage.

How the Numbers Change at Different Pay Rates

Not everyone pays $100/week. How employer costs scale.

The pattern is clear: employer taxes cost less than you'd tip at a restaurant. An extra $7–20 per week is what it takes to be fully legal.

Note: FUTA and SUTA cap at the wage base ($7,000 for FUTA, varies by state), so the percentage actually drops as wages increase.

The Penalty Math: Legal vs. Under the Table

This is where people convince themselves the savings are worth the risk. They're not.

The "savings" from paying under the table

On $5,200/year, you'd save about $570 in employer taxes plus $100 for a payroll service. That's $670/year.

Over five years, you've "saved" $3,350.

What happens when it unravels

Your cleaner files for unemployment. Or they file their own taxes and report the income. Or you have a bad parting and they report you. Any of these triggers an investigation.

Your $3,350 in "savings" just became a $3,400 loss, plus the stress of dealing with the IRS. And that's a conservative estimate. Read our full breakdown of what happens when you pay under the table.

How Much Does a Payroll Service Cost?

A household payroll service costs $100 to $840 a year for one worker, and on a once-a-week cleaner that fee can be the biggest cost after the wages. You can also run housekeeper payroll yourself for free if you don't mind a few hours of paperwork each quarter.

Every company below says on its own website that it covers household workers beyond nannies (four of them name housekeepers or house cleaners outright), so the choice comes down to price and how much of the paperwork you want to hand off. Here's what each one costs against the $5,200 a year from the example above:

Each company's published price for one employee, read on its own website on October 5, 2026, before any introductory offer.

The higher prices buy one thing NannyKeeper doesn't do: filing. The other five services file your quarterly tax returns and pay the taxes for you, and four of them also do the year-end W-2 and Schedule H in the base price. GTM's year-end forms are a separate optional service, and its pricing page doesn't list a price for it. NannyKeeper works out every paycheck, prepares the W-2 and Schedule H, and reminds you before each deadline, but you send the returns and payments yourself. For one cleaner that usually means your state's quarterly wage report, the W-2 and W-3 by January 31, and Schedule H with your own tax return. If you never want to see a tax form, paying more for a service that files is a reasonable choice.

How you pay your cleaner differs too. HomePay, Poppins, SurePayroll and GTM include direct deposit. Nest sends pay through Venmo or Cash App, or you pay by Zelle, bank transfer or check. NannyKeeper charges $6 to $8 per direct deposit, and nothing if you pay your cleaner yourself.

The same companies, with features side by side, are in our nanny payroll services comparison and the best nanny payroll services roundup.

Tax Credits That Offset the Cost

This is the part most families don't know about. Paying legally actually unlocks tax benefits you can't claim when you pay under the table.

Child and Dependent Care Credit

If your housekeeper does cleaning while you're at work, and you have a child under 13 or a disabled dependent at home, you may qualify for the Child and Dependent Care Credit.

• One qualifying person: Credit on up to $3,000 of expenses → up to $1,500 back
• Two or more: Credit on up to $6,000 → up to $3,000 back

The credit is 20–50% of qualifying expenses, depending on your income. You'll file Form 2441 with your tax return.

If you qualify, the tax credit alone can be worth more than your entire employer tax bill.

Dependent Care FSA

If your employer offers a Dependent Care FSA, you can set aside up to $7,500 pre-tax for care expenses (increased for 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act). For a family in the 24% tax bracket, that saves roughly $2,750 in taxes.

You can't double-dip. You use either the credit or the FSA on the same dollars, not both. But either one can dramatically reduce your net cost.

Net cost after credits

Here's the math for a family paying a $100/week housekeeper and claiming the Child and Dependent Care Credit:

After the credit, you're paying just $70 more per year than you would under the table, and you have complete peace of mind. For some families, the credit can actually make legal payroll cheaper than paying cash.

What About States With No Income Tax?

If you're in Florida, Texas, Washington, Tennessee, or another no-income-tax state, your employer costs are slightly lower because there's no state income tax withholding. But you still owe FICA (Social Security + Medicare) and SUTA.

States like California and New York add more layers: state income tax, disability insurance, paid family leave. For a state-by-state breakdown, see our housekeeper taxes by state guide.

Your total employer cost typically ranges from about 8% in low-tax states to 11% in high-tax states like New Jersey.

Is It Worth It?

How the cost comparison actually shakes out:

After tax credits, the net cost of paying legally can be as low as $70/year more than under the table. Some families actually come out ahead.

The risk of paying under the table is small in any given year, but over time, it compounds. And when it catches up to you, it costs far more than doing it right from the start.

Ready to see your exact numbers? Try the free calculator →

For a complete walkthrough of setting up payroll, head to our housekeeper payroll guide. And for more on whether your cleaner is an employee in the first place, read House Cleaner: Employee or Contractor?

FAQ

Do I owe taxes if my cleaner only comes once a month?

Social Security and Medicare generally apply once you pay one cleaner $3,000 or more in a calendar year. At $100/visit once a month, that's $1,200/year and stays below that per-worker test. FUTA is separate and can apply if combined household-employee wages reached $1,000 in any calendar quarter of this year or last year; state unemployment rules may trigger sooner.

Can I deduct housekeeper wages on my taxes?

Not as a direct deduction for most families. Household cleaning isn't a business expense unless you're self-employed and use part of your home exclusively for work. However, you can claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit if your cleaner works while you're at work and you have qualifying dependents.

What's the cheapest way to handle this?

Track payments yourself and handle the quarterly filings manually. It's free but takes a few hours per quarter. The next cheapest option is NannyKeeper at $10/month, which automates all the tax math, generates pay stubs, and reminds you about quarterly deadlines. Either way, the payroll cost is tiny compared to your cleaner's wages.

My cleaner doesn't want me to withhold taxes. Can I just pay the employer share?

Federal income tax withholding is technically optional. Your cleaner can choose not to have it withheld by filling out their W-4 accordingly. But FICA withholding (Social Security and Medicare) is not optional. You must withhold the employee's 7.65% share and pay your own 7.65% share, regardless of what your cleaner prefers. The alternative (paying both halves yourself) is technically extra compensation and gets taxed too.