Cleaning Business Valuation 2025: Commercial vs. Residential
Cleaning businesses sell for 2.0x–4.0x SDE. Commercial cleaning with recurring contracts commands the highest multiples. Here's how buyers value cleaning companies.
Read Article →Valuation BenchmarksMay 2025 · 5 min read
Cleaning Business Valuation in Ohio: Columbus, Cleveland & Cincinnati Market Data 2025
Ohio cleaning businesses benefit from Columbus's Intel semiconductor campus construction wave, Cleveland's large healthcare system janitorial market, and Ohio's 3.99% flat income tax — strong exit economics for Midwest sellers.
JT
Jason Taken
HedgeStone Business Advisors
Ohio's cleaning market spans three major metros: Columbus (state capital and fast-growing tech and Intel semiconductor corridor), Cleveland (large Rust Belt industrial and healthcare economy), and Cincinnati (P&G headquarters and strong corporate campus market). Ohio's flat 3.99% income tax rate — one of the lowest in the Midwest — creates strong exit economics for cleaning business owners preparing for sale.
Ohio Cleaning Multiples
Ohio cleaning businesses sell for 2.5x–4.5x SDE with strong commercial recurring contracts. Columbus (Franklin County and growing surrounding counties — Delaware, Licking, Fairfield) commands the strongest multiples — extraordinary growth from Intel's $20 billion New Albany chip fabrication campus, Ohio State University's massive campus cleaning market, Columbus's growing tech and financial services commercial office market (JPMorgan Chase, Nationwide Insurance, AEP corporate headquarters), and suburban residential cleaning in Upper Arlington, Dublin, and Worthington. Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) adds Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and MetroHealth hospital system janitorial demand — the world's largest medical district outside Houston.
Intel New Albany Semiconductor Campus
Intel's $20 billion chip fabrication campus in New Albany (northeast Columbus metro) represents the largest foreign direct investment in Ohio history — and creates the largest new industrial cleaning demand the state has seen in decades. Intel's Ohio One campus (two initial fabrication buildings with plans for up to eight) requires precision industrial cleaning: cleanroom cleaning to ISO Class 5 and 6 standards (fewer than 3,520 particles per cubic meter of air), chemical-resistant surface cleaning protocols, and staff with semiconductor facility clearance. Cleaning companies with semiconductor cleanroom cleaning certifications — an extremely specialized credential — will capture the most premium Intel facility cleaning contracts. The New Albany Intel campus will generate years of construction-phase cleaning followed by permanent operational cleaning contracts.
Cleveland Healthcare Janitorial Market
Cleveland's world-famous medical corridor — Cleveland Clinic's main campus, University Hospitals Rainbow Babies, MetroHealth, and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center — represents one of the largest per-capita healthcare cleaning markets in the country. Cleveland Clinic alone employs 75,000+ caregivers across a campus of 7 million+ square feet, generating janitorial contract opportunities at every scale. Healthcare cleaning companies in Cleveland with Joint Commission-ready infection control protocols, documented terminal cleaning procedures, and EPA-registered high-level disinfection programs have the most defensible and highest-margin commercial cleaning revenue in Ohio. Buyers assign the premium multiples in Ohio specifically to healthcare-credentialed cleaning companies because of the contract stability and switching cost barriers.
Ohio at 3.99% — Midwest Exit Advantage
Ohio's flat 3.99% income tax rate creates strong exit economics — better than Minnesota (9.85%), Wisconsin (7.65%), Michigan (4.25% — similar), and dramatically better than Oregon (9.9%). On a $1.5M cleaning exit, Ohio sellers pay $59,850 in state income taxes — versus $107,850 in Minnesota, $107,850 in Illinois... actually $74,250 in Illinois (4.95%), or $0 in Nevada. Total effective rate in Ohio is approximately 26–27%. Ohio cleaning owners should engage a business broker with Ohio commercial cleaning transaction experience — Intel New Albany campus proximity, Cleveland Clinic healthcare credentials, or Columbus Fortune 500 account documentation all represent specific value drivers that an experienced broker can position for maximum buyer competition.
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