Lawn mowing price calculator: what to charge per lawn
Price each lawn by the time it really takes you, mowing, trimming and driving, at an hourly rate that pays for your mower and truck. Then check it against your minimum.
Pricing for lawn care ·
Short answer: with a 48-inch zero-turn, a 5,000 sq ft lawn takes about 5 minutes to mow and 25 minutes with trimming and driving. At $60 an hour that's $24.70, so a $40 minimum sets the price: $40 a visit. A half-acre comes to $41 and a full acre $61. Your mower, your rate and how close your lawns are change the answer, so set them below.
Lawn mowing price calculator
How do you price a lawn mowing job?
- Work out the mowing time. Lawn size divided by how fast your mower covers ground (the formula is below).
- Add the rest of the visit. Trimming, edging, blowing off the drive, and the drive to get there.
- Multiply by your hourly rate. Not what you'd pay a helper: your rate has to cover the mower, trailer, truck, fuel, insurance and the hours you spend selling and billing.
- Check your minimum. Small lawns finish fast, so the time alone can come in under what a stop is worth. A minimum charge keeps them worth the trip.
How long does it take to mow a lawn?
The standard formula for how much ground a machine covers (the farm-equipment field capacity formula from ASABE, the engineering society for farm and turf machines) is:
Acres per hour = speed (mph) × cut width (feet) × efficiency ÷ 8.25
The 8.25 turns miles and feet into acres. "Efficiency" is the share of time the deck is cutting new grass rather than turning, overlapping or backing around trees. Open fields run high; a front yard with beds and trees runs much lower, which is why the calculator asks about the yard's layout. A half-acre that takes 16 minutes to mow when it's open can take 28 minutes when it's full of trees and beds.
The speeds and efficiencies in the calculator are starting guesses. Time a few of your own lawns and you'll know your real numbers.
Should I charge by the square foot or by the hour?
Customers like a flat price per visit, and you should quote one. Build it from time, though, not square feet alone: two 5,000 sq ft lawns can take very different time if one is open and the other is full of trees, slopes and beds. The calculator shows the price per 1,000 sq ft too, so you can compare lawns on your route.
Questions lawn care owners ask
What hourly rate should I use?
One that pays you a real wage plus your costs and the hours nobody pays for (estimates, driving, repairs, billing). Our hourly rate calculator works the same way for any trade: put in your own pay, costs and billable hours. $60 is only a starting guess.
Should I charge for drive time?
Yes, build it into the price. The best way to cut it is a tight route: lawns on the same street or next to each other cost you almost no drive time, so you can price them lower and still earn more per hour.
Do I charge more for every-other-week mowing?
Many owners do, because the grass is longer and the cut takes more time and bagging. Time a few of those lawns and raise the trim or layout settings to match.
How much is a season of mowing?
Price per visit times the number of visits. Weekly mowing over a 30-week season at $40 a visit is $1,200. The calculator does the math for your season length.
What about the markup on fertilizer or mulch?
Price materials with a markup that keeps the margin you need. See markup vs margin.