Landscaping business guide
How to price weekly lawn maintenance
Price weekly mowing by time, not by square feet alone. Work out what your crew and equipment cost per hour on the route, count on-site minutes plus the drive to the next stop, then add your margin. Many residential weekly cuts land somewhere around $30 to $70 per visit, but your own cost per crew-hour is the number that matters.
Most new lawn care owners price the way they heard the last guy did: a flat number per yard and a vague sense that bigger lawns cost more. That works until spring, when you realize the crew worked 11 hours and the day still feels thin. The fix is to price from minutes, because minutes are what you actually sell.
Start with your cost per crew-hour
Every lawn on the route shares the same hourly cost, whether the crew is mowing, trimming or sitting at a light. Add up what one crew costs you for an hour on the road:
- Loaded labor for everyone on the truck: wages plus payroll taxes and workers' comp.
- Fuel for the truck and the mowers.
- Equipment: mower, trimmers, blower and trailer, spread over the hours they'll run before you replace them.
- Your share of overhead: insurance, phone, software, dump fees, the shop and your own office time.
Divide the yearly overhead by the crew-hours you'll really run in the season, not by 40 hours times 52 weeks. Mowing seasons in much of the country run somewhere around 28 to 34 weeks, and rain takes some of those.
Worked example: pricing one lawn
Example numbers
A two-person crew costs about $50 an hour in loaded labor. Truck, trailer, mowers, fuel and overhead add about $40 per crew-hour. So the crew costs $90 for every hour it's out.
A typical quarter-acre lawn takes 20 minutes on site with both people working: one mowing, one trimming and blowing. The drive to the next stop is 8 minutes. That's 28 minutes, or about 0.47 hours.
Cost for that stop: 0.47 x $90 = about $42.
If the owner wants roughly a 20 percent margin, the price has to be about $42 divided by 0.8, or about $53 a cut.
Now move the same lawn to the far side of town, 20 minutes from the next stop. It's 40 minutes total, costs about $60, and needs about $75 to earn the same margin.
Same grass, same crew, and a $22 difference per cut. That gap is why route density matters more than almost any other number in lawn care. Plug in your own crew cost and your own stopwatch times; don't borrow these.
What moves one lawn's price up or down
Two lawns with the same turf area can take very different times. Time the ones you already mow and you'll see the pattern.
| Factor | Why it costs time | How owners handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Gate width | A narrow gate means a push mower or a smaller deck for the backyard | Price the backyard as its own time block |
| Obstacles and beds | Every tree ring, bed edge and swing set adds trimming | Count them on the estimate, not just square feet |
| Slopes and ditches | Slower passes, walk-behind or string trimmer only | Add a slope charge, or decline steep banks |
| Frequency | Biweekly grass is taller and slower | Higher per-cut price for biweekly |
| Clippings | Bagging, dumping and disposal fees | Separate bagging charge |
These are general patterns, not a price list. Time your own properties.
How to check a price you've already set
Take last week's route sheet. For each crew, divide the day's mowing revenue by the hours from leaving the shop to getting back. That's your revenue per crew-hour, and it tells you more than any per-lawn number. If one day comes in far below the others, look at where those stops are, not just what they pay.
Rule of thumb: judge each lawn by what it earns per minute of crew time, including the drive to get there. A $40 lawn next door to three others can beat a $70 lawn that eats half an hour of windshield time.
Quoting new lawns without driving to every one
Most owners now measure turf from satellite imagery and quote over the phone or by email. Ask the caller three things the image won't show you: how wide the gates are, whether pets are out in the yard, and whether there are steep spots or a ditch. Then quote a weekly price, a first-cut price, and say plainly that you'll adjust after the first visit if the property takes much longer than it looked.
Keep the offer simple. One weekly price, clearly stated extras for bagging or leaf season, and a note about how you bill. If you're still deciding between billing per cut or on a season agreement, contracts vs per-visit billing walks through both.
This week: time five lawns
Pick five properties you think you know. Time the crew from the truck door opening to the trailer latching, then note the drive to the next stop. Put the numbers next to what each one pays. Most owners find one or two lawns that are quietly losing money, and they're usually the ones that are either far away or have a backyard nobody wants to do. Those are the first candidates for a new price in the spring, and you can find more pricing guides on the Booked for landscapers page.
Questions owners ask
Should I charge more for biweekly mowing than weekly?
Most shops do, and for good reason. Grass that grows for two weeks takes longer to cut, clumps more, and often needs a second pass or bagging in spring. A common approach is a per-cut premium for biweekly service, or only offering biweekly after the spring flush slows down.
Do I price bagging clippings separately?
Usually, yes. Bagging adds dumping time, disposal cost and extra passes. Some owners add a flat amount per visit when the customer wants clippings removed, others quote a higher per-cut price for those lawns. Mulching mowers let you skip it on most weeks.
How do I price the first cut of the season?
Price it as its own visit. The first cut often comes after months of growth, leaf debris and winter damage, so it runs long. Many owners charge it at a cleanup rate or quote it separately from the weekly price so the regular number stays honest.
What minimum should I charge per stop?
Set a floor that covers unloading, a small yard and the drive to the next stop. Tiny lots still need the trailer opened, the mower dropped and the gate latched. Plenty of owners set a minimum in the $30 to $45 range, but figure yours from your cost per crew-minute.
Can I just measure lawns from satellite images to price them?
It works well for the turf area, and it saves a lot of driving to estimates. It won't show you slope, gates too narrow for your deck, a dog that stays out, or a backyard full of toys. Many owners quote from the image, then confirm on the first visit.