How much to charge to mow a lawn
Charge for the time a yard takes, at a rate that covers your whole day, with a minimum for the small ones. Here is how to set each part, and what it comes to for common yard sizes.
- $75 an hourA rate for the whole day
- $35Minimum per visit
- $55Typical ½ acre, 36" deck
Open 32 min · $40
Typical 38 min · $50
Busy 47 min · $60
Start with an hourly rate for the whole day
You get paid for the time in the yard, but you work the whole day: driving between stops, loading and unloading, fuel, sharpening, the mower wearing out, insurance, taxes and the days it rains. If six of your eight hours are spent in yards, every hour in a yard has to pay for an hour and twenty minutes of your day, and all the costs on top.
So work it backwards: add up what a month costs to run and what you want to take home, divide by the hours you will actually spend mowing, and that is your rate.
Your hourly rate=What a month costs to run+What you want to take home divided by Hours a month spent mowing
The calculators here start at $75 an hour, but the right number is yours, and it is usually higher than it first looks.
Set a minimum
A 5,000 sq ft yard takes about 10 min with a 48-inch zero-turn. At $75 an hour that is $13, which does not pay for stopping the truck. A minimum per visit covers the stop itself, however small the yard: the drive there, unloading and loading back up. Below it, every small yard is a loss.
What that comes to by yard size
| Typical yard | 21" push | 36" walk-behind | 48" zero-turn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 sq ft | $40 · 32 min | $35 · 14 min | $35 · 10 min |
| 10,890 sq ft | $80 · 1 hr | $35 · 25 min | $35 · 17 min |
| 21,780 sq ft | $140 · 1 hr 50 min | $55 · 40 min | $35 · 25 min |
| 43,560 sq ft | $265 · 3 hr 29 min | $90 · 1 hr 11 min | $55 · 42 min |
Price per mow at $75 an hour with a $35 minimum, rounded up to the next $5, and the time on site, mowing and trimming. Times from planned mowing routes.
Two things stand out. The same yard is worth more to a crew with a small mower, because it takes longer; and bigger yards come out cheaper per square foot. A typical quarter acre with a zero-turn works out to $3.21 per 1,000 sq ft, and a full acre to $1.26, because the minimum and the trimming do not grow with the lawn.
Free toolMowing price calculatorYour lawn size, mower, yard and hourly rate in; a price per mow and per month out, priced from the time the yard really takes.Price a yardBy the hour, by the square foot, or flat?
By the time on site follows the work: a busy yard takes longer and costs more. By the square foot is quick to quote but prices an open lawn and a busy one the same. A flat price by size is simplest for the customer, and the yards at the top of each bracket are the ones you lose money on. Whichever you quote, work it out from the time; that is what you are spending.
Charge extra for
- The first cut of an overgrown yard, which can take twice as long.
- Bagging the clippings.
- Steep banks, and anything you need a different mower for. The slopes and obstacles guide has what they actually add.
- Edging, leaves and anything else beyond mow, trim and blow.
Raise prices once a year
Fuel, parts and insurance go up every year, so your prices have to as well. The easy time to say so is over the winter, with the new price starting in spring. Customers expect it far more than you think.
