Lawn care prices: mowing, cleanup, mulch and treatments priced from your costs
Price a mow, a leaf cleanup, a mulch install, aeration or a fertilizer round from your labor cost, your real production rate, drive time and margin — then see where you sit against typical lawn care prices.
Every other lawn care pricing calculator gives you a national average and calls it a price. This one works from your numbers: what your labor actually costs you per hour, how fast you really work, your drive time, your materials and the margin you need. The typical range is shown for context, not as the answer.
What it prices
- Mow, trim and edge — priced per 1,000 sq ft; typical customer price $4–$8 per 1,000 sq ft
- Leaf cleanup — priced per hour on site; typical customer price $45–$80 per hour
- Mulch install — priced per cubic yard; typical customer price $70–$130 per yard installed
- Aeration — priced per 1,000 sq ft; typical customer price $8–$15 per 1,000 sq ft
- Fertilizer application — priced per 1,000 sq ft; typical customer price $6–$12 per 1,000 sq ft
How to use it
1. Pick the job type and enter the quantity. Square feet, linear feet, panes, loads — whatever that job is sold by.
2. Put in your loaded labor cost. This is what one person costs you per hour including payroll taxes, workers' comp and any benefits — or what you need to pay yourself. It is not the rate you charge. If you have never worked this out, start with the wage and add 25%.
3. Check the production rate. The default is a typical figure per person per hour. Your real number, from your last few jobs, is better.
4. Drive time, setup and minimum charge. Small jobs die on the trip. The calculator pays every crew member for drive time and setup, and applies your minimum if the job comes in under it.
5. Materials, overhead and margin. Materials at cost plus your markup; overhead per billable hour (monthly overhead ÷ hours you actually bill); the net margin you want on the job.
Lawn care pricing: what actually moves the number
Route density beats everything. A $45 lawn next door to another $45 lawn is a good job; the same lawn 20 minutes away is a loss. The calculator charges drive time to every job, which is why you should enter the real drive between stops, not the drive from home.
Mowing is priced per visit, not per hour. Customers expect a flat number. Work it out per 1,000 sq ft from your production rate, then quote the visit. A quarter-acre lot (about 10,000 sq ft) at 18,000 sq ft per hour is 35 minutes of mowing plus trimming and blowing.
Mulch is a materials job. The yard of mulch costs you $30–$45 delivered and installs in about an hour. Price the material with markup and the labor separately; customers compare your mulch price to the garden centre's, not your labor.
Seasonality. Spring cleanups and fall leaves compress into a few weeks. Price those weeks higher — see the trade demand calendar for how sharp the landscaping curve really is.
Worked example
A 10,000 sq ft lawn (about a quarter acre) at 18,000 sq ft per hour: 33 minutes of mowing, plus 15 minutes of setup and blowing and a 15-minute drive from the previous stop. At $22 loaded labor, $15 per billable hour of overhead, $1.50 of fuel and line, and a 20% margin, the calculator prices the visit at about $48, right in the middle of the typical $40–$80 quarter-acre range. Put the same lawn 30 minutes away and it becomes $60 — that is the route-density penalty in dollars.
How the math works
- Hours = quantity ÷ production rate, plus setup and drive time for every person on the crew.
- Labor = person-hours × your loaded cost. Overhead = clock hours the job occupies × your overhead per billable hour.
- Price = (labor + materials + fees + overhead) ÷ (1 − margin), plus the material markup. Dividing by (1 − margin) gives a true margin on the sale; multiplying by (1 + margin) does not, and it is the most common pricing mistake in the trades.
- If the result is under your minimum charge, the minimum applies.
Turn it into an estimate
Hit Turn this into an estimate and the price lands in the estimate generator as line items, ready to send. When the customer says yes, the same numbers become the invoice in BIG INVOICE, which works offline with no account. Send it on the landscaping estimate template, and see landscaper salary by state.
FAQ
How much should I charge for lawn mowing?
$40 to $80 per visit for a quarter-acre lot is typical, or $4 to $8 per 1,000 sq ft. The right number depends on your loaded labor cost, your mower's production rate and how far the lawn is from your previous stop.
How much to charge for lawn care per hour?
Solo operators effectively earn $45 to $80 per hour on the mower once equipment is paid for, but quote per visit. Use the hourly figure only to check that a stop is worth adding to the route.
How much to charge for mulch installation?
$70 to $130 per cubic yard installed, of which $30 to $45 is the mulch itself. Edging and bed prep are extra. Use the mulch calculator to get the yardage first.
How much to charge for leaf removal?
$45 to $80 per person-hour, or $150 to $400 for a typical suburban lot, depending on tree cover and whether you haul. Leaf work is hard to quote by area, so most operators quote a range and bill the hours.
Does this pricing calculator use my numbers or averages?
Yours. The typical range is shown as context, but the price comes entirely from the labor cost, production rate, materials, overhead and margin you enter. Change any of them and the price changes.
Is this calculator free?
Yes, completely. No account, no email, no download. It runs in your browser and we never see your numbers.