Power Washing Cost: What It Actually Runs in Tacoma

Worker in workwear with exterior cleaning equipment beside a van outside a building

I went looking for what power washing costs so I could point people at a straight answer. What I found was six cost guides that can't agree within a factor of three. So here's the honest version: the national numbers, why they're so far apart, and what the job actually runs around here.

The National Guides Disagree By More Than 3x

Same job, same country, same year:

HomeGuide — $211 average, typical range $173-311
HomeAdvisor and Angi — $312 average, $100-720
Bob Vila — $296 average, $100-650
Thumbtack — $241-418
Fixr — $700 average, $500-900

HomeGuide says $211. Fixr says $700. That's 3.3 times the price for the same service, and neither is lying — they're averaging different jobs in different markets and printing the result as if it were a quote.

Two things before you trust any of them. Angi and HomeAdvisor publish identical numbers because Angi Inc. owns HomeAdvisor — when those two "agree," that's one dataset printed twice, not independent confirmation. And HomeGuide contradicts itself: the page written for homeowners says the average is $211, while its page written for contractors tells pros to charge $200-600 or more per story. A contractor following HomeGuide's own advice cannot hit HomeGuide's own average.

Real Tacoma-Area Pricing

Better documented locally than I expected. HomeBlue's Tacoma figures, published October 2024:

House, 1,500-2,000 sq ft — $400-700, averaging around $600
House, 2,000-3,000 sq ft — $600-1,100
Driveway, 800 sq ft (a standard 40x20) — $170-300, averaging $230
Deck or patio, 200 sq ft — $70-120; 600 sq ft — $220-350

ProMatcher, which collects contractor-reported pricing by ZIP, puts the Tacoma average for a 1,500-2,000 sq ft home exterior at $322, range $259-385 — though the contractor reports behind it date from 2015 to 2020, so treat that as a floor. TaskRabbit lists Seattle at $55 an hour, average task $187.

Notice the gap. HomeBlue puts a 1,500-2,000 sq ft Tacoma house at $400-700; HomeGuide puts the national average at $211. Budget off the national number for a house this size in this market and you'll be surprised.

Worth knowing what neighbors report, too. Across Puget Sound homeowners discussing exterior cleaning, a fairly consistent band shows up — roughly $300 to $750 for roof moss and gutters on a single-story to modest two-story house, with bundled jobs including windows or a whole-house wash landing nearer $1,100 to $1,500. Those are self-reported and nobody's verifying the scope, so treat them as neighbor figures rather than rates. But they tell you where the reaction threshold sits: people expect $400 to $700, and quotes much past $800 read as excessive unless somebody explains why.

Why Local Prices Run Above the National Number

This isn't contractors here deciding to charge more because they can. The labor costs more, and there's federal wage data showing how much.

Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for May 2024 put the mean hourly wage for building and grounds cleaning work in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro at $23.37 against a national mean of $19.01 — about 23% higher. Construction trades run $41.17 here against $30.73 nationally, roughly 34% higher. The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts overall prices in this metro about 11% above the national average, and Washington's minimum wage goes to $17.13 an hour on January 1, 2026.

So when a national guide quotes $211 and a local contractor quotes $450, the guide isn't catching anyone out. It averaged in markets where the crew earns a third less.

One more thing that lands on your invoice and almost never in a cost guide: Washington charges retail sales tax on exterior building cleaning. The Department of Revenue classifies specialized, non-repetitive cleaning as a retail sale. That's long-standing, not a recent change. And the rate follows the job address — Roy is 8.3%, Tacoma 10.2%. On a $600 job that's about $11 purely from the address. Rates shift quarterly.

What Moves the Price

Stories — the biggest factor. One to two roughly doubles the range
Access and water — landscaping and grading that block equipment; no usable spigot means water comes with the truck
How dirty it is — heavy moss and mildew is slower work than road dust
Hot water — true power washing uses heated water, locally 10-15% more than a cold wash
Surface — concrete is cheapest and most forgiving; wood needs lower pressure, vinyl damages easily, asphalt shingles need soft washing
Stains — oil and rust are separate line items, commonly $25-100 on top

Also expect a minimum. Most companies won't roll a truck for less than $100-350, which is why a small job costs more per square foot than a big one — and why the per-foot rate drops as the job grows.

And the part nobody mentions: some contractors price off the square footage of the surface they're cleaning, others off your home's square footage looked up online. Those produce very different numbers for the same job. Ask which you're getting.

DIY, Honestly Compared

Renting runs $45-100 a day for a residential machine, plus $20-40 for a surface cleaner and $10-25 for detergent. Buying instead, a decent electric unit is $100-380, gas $250-600.

So a single DIY driveway wash lands around $75-165 all in. Against a $170-300 local driveway job, that's a real saving if you already own a ladder you trust and a Saturday you don't mind losing.

Where I'd tell you not to hire me: a single small concrete patio, a short walkway, or a fence you can reach from the ground. Rent the machine, take your time, keep your money. Call somebody when it's two stories, when it's a roof, when the surface damages easily, or when what's growing on it keeps coming back.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does power washing cost on average? Nationally $211 to $700 depending on which guide you believe. For a 1,500-2,000 sq ft house in the Tacoma area, real local data puts it at $400-700.

How much to pressure wash a driveway? $100-350 nationally, most people around $200. Locally $170-300 for a standard 800 sq ft two-car.

Is power washing the same as pressure washing? No. Power washing uses heated water, which removes grease and oil cold water won't. It costs 10-15% more locally.

Why are the online estimates so different? They average different jobs in different markets, several haven't been updated in years, and Angi and HomeAdvisor are the same company publishing one dataset twice.

Is pressure washing taxable in Washington? Yes. The Department of Revenue treats specialized exterior building cleaning as a retail sale. The rate follows the job address — 8.3% in Roy, 10.2% in Tacoma at the time of writing.

Want a real number for your actual house instead of a national average? See the pressure washing service or reach out for a free estimate — I'll walk the property and give you an honest price. A free estimate shouldn't be a lead-capture form, which is why the figures above are on this page. If you're pricing other exterior work too, here's what gutter cleaning costs and what gutter installation runs here. Bundling usually beats booking each separately.

Sources: HomeGuide, HomeAdvisor, Angi, Fixr, Thumbtack, Bob Vila, TaskRabbit, HomeBlue (Tacoma), ProMatcher (Tacoma), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024), Bureau of Economic Analysis (Regional Price Parities), Washington State Department of Revenue, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.