This is our October 2026 report, kept for reference. See the latest free report.
Illinois custodial bid price report, October 2026
Nine public custodial and cleaning bids from Illinois school districts, park districts, cities and colleges: how many companies bid, how far apart their prices were, and how each was decided. Updated October 21, 2026.
Recent results
| Agency | Bids opened | Bidders | Highest vs. lowest | How it was decided | Every bidder, winner and price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Land College (Effingham center) | Aug 18, 2026 | 2 | 2.4× | Not stated | Subscribers |
| Arlington Heights Park District (10 facilities) | Apr 15, 2026 | 7 | 2.5× | Award not posted | Subscribers |
| City of Highland Park (joint bid with Glenview and Kenilworth) | Dec 4, 2025 | 5 | 3.9× | Awarded by city council | Subscribers |
| Downers Grove Park District (3 buildings) | Nov 20, 2025 | 11 | 7.2× | Went to the park board | Subscribers |
| Palatine Park District | May 2024 | 7 | 1.4× | Award not stated on tab | Subscribers |
| North Shore School District 112 | Apr 15, 2024 | 9 | 1.4× | Lowest bid withdrawn; next bid won | Subscribers |
| Lincolnwood School District 74 | Apr 2, 2024 | 6 | 1.3× | Two lowest bids disqualified | Subscribers |
| City of St. Charles | Early 2022 | 9 | 1.9× | Three bids excluded for too few staff hours | Subscribers |
| Community Consolidated SD 46 | Jun 30, 2021 | 6 | 1.4× | Lowest bid won | Subscribers |
In this free report
- Agency and bid date
- How many companies bid
- How far apart the prices were
- How each bid was decided
With a subscription or free trial
- Every bidder's name and price (top 5 bids and the winner in the free trial; every bidder with a subscription)
- The winner and the winning price
- Price per square foot where the documents show it
- What the current contract pays and when it comes up for rebid
- The agency's source documents
- New results every Monday and new bids twice a week
Won by a hair
North Shore School District 112: the winning bid and the next one were less than 1% apart on a roughly $2 million contract.
Palatine Park District: the two lowest three-year prices were 2.2% apart.
Highland Park, Glenview and Kenilworth joint bid: the two lowest combined totals were less than one-tenth of 1% apart on more than $900,000.
On public cleaning bids, the winning margin is often a rounding error. Knowing where the last prices landed is the edge.
Subscribers see both prices, both companies and the agency's tabulation for each of these.
Eleven bids on one job
At the Downers Grove Park District, 11 companies priced the same three buildings. Leaving out the top outlier, the rest still ranged 2.3 times apart.
In Highland Park's portion of the joint bid, five companies' prices ran almost four times apart for the same buildings.
The lowest price doesn't always win
St. Charles excluded three proposals for not allocating enough staff hours to show they understood the scope, then awarded the lowest responsive bid, 17% below what the city paid before.
Lincolnwood District 74 disqualified two of the lowest bidders for lack of responsibility. At North Shore District 112, the lowest bid was withdrawn after the bidder said it had misread the specs.
Knowing how far below the field an agency will tolerate is as useful as knowing the field.
Subscribers see which bids were thrown out, by how much they were under, and what the winner charged.
You keep meeting the same competitors
Across the bids we track, seven companies show up on three or more contracts, and two of them bid on five. Subscribers see every bidder by name, with their price on each job.
What's coming up
Our rebid calendar tracks Illinois cleaning contracts coming up for bid, with what each one pays now and when it ends. Subscribers get the full calendar, agency by agency.
This free report shows how many companies bid and how far apart their prices were. Subscribers get every bidder's name and price, the winner, and the agency's source documents. Prices use different bases, so the spread compares bids within one opening only.