Calculation is based on:
1 acre = 43,560 sq ft
Select services and enter the area for each one.
sq ft
sq ft
sq ft
sq ft
sq ft
sq ft
sq ft
sq ft
sq ft
Free Tool
Lawn Care Cost Calculator
Pick your services, enter the area in square feet or acres, and get a competitive price range in seconds. Then turn that number into a branded estimate you can send to the customer before you leave the driveway.
Quick Answer
Most lawn care services in the U.S. price by square footage: roughly $0.003–$0.006 per sq ft for mowing, $0.005–$0.012 for core aeration, and $0.003–$0.008 for fertilization, with a typical single-visit residential job landing between $35 and $120. To price a job, multiply each service's area by its per-square-foot rate, add a minimum service charge, then adjust for travel, crew size, and your target margin. The calculator below does that math instantly across nine services — and QuoteIQ’s lawn care software turns the result into a sendable, branded estimate. Plans start at $29.99/mo.
How lawn care pricing is calculated
Almost every profitable lawn care company prices by area, not by guesswork. The formula is simple: area (sq ft) × per-square-foot rate = base price, repeated for each service and added together. The calculator above uses the U.S. market rate ranges below — the same ranges you can sanity-check any bid against. For irregular lots, measure with a tool like MapMeasure Pro instead of pacing it off, so the square footage feeding the formula is accurate.
| Service | Typical rate (per 1,000 sq ft) |
|---|---|
| Lawn mowing | $3 – $6 |
| Core aeration | $5 – $12 |
| Dethatching | $4 – $10 |
| Fertilization | $3 – $8 |
| Mulch clean up | $4 – $10 |
| Overseeding | $10 – $30 |
| Leaf removal | $2 – $6 |
| Yard cleanup | $2 – $6 |
| Weed control | $3 – $8 |
Always set a minimum service charge. A 2,000 sq ft mow at $0.004/sq ft is only $8 — far below the cost of driving out. Most pros floor mowing visits at $35–$50 regardless of size.
Rates shift with region, lot difficulty, and frequency. Weekly recurring accounts usually price 10–20% below one-time jobs because routing is efficient; steep, fenced, or obstacle-heavy yards price higher. For deeper benchmarks on labor and seasonal demand, the National Association of Landscape Professionals tracks industry pricing and wage data across regions.
The price is not your profit
A $60 mow isn't $60 in your pocket. Fuel, equipment wear, labor, insurance, and overhead come out first. A calculator gives you a competitive price; your margin is whatever survives after job costs. The contractors who last are the ones who track both.
If you're quoting jobs and never seeing the money line up at month's end, the problem usually isn't your rate — it's that costs were never tracked against each job. QuoteIQ Job Costing attaches labor, materials, and time to every estimate so you see real margin per job, not just revenue.
From estimate to paid, in one place
The calculator gets you a number. Winning the job takes more: a professional quote the customer can approve on their phone, a scheduled visit, and an invoice that actually gets paid. That's the gap between a free tool and a business system.
Inside QuoteIQ, the number you just calculated becomes a branded estimate you send in seconds, a job on your schedule, and an invoice when the work's done. Need to price an irregular lot on the spot? AI Estimator and MapMeasure Pro handle measurement and pricing from satellite imagery. See everything in the lawn care software overview.
You priced the job. Now send it before the next guy.
Turn this estimate into a branded, sendable quote in about 60 seconds — then schedule the job, message the client, and collect payment without leaving QuoteIQ. Plans start at $29.99/mo.
★★★★★
"Managing customers, sending estimates, and tracking payments is effortless with QuoteIQ's incredible system."
Montague Box · Lawn Care · App StoreLawn care pricing questions, answered
Most lawn care pros charge $0.003–$0.006 per square foot for mowing, which puts a typical quarter-acre residential lawn (about 10,000 sq ft) at roughly $30–$60 per visit, with a $35–$50 minimum on smaller properties. Price climbs for steep grades, heavy obstacles, fenced areas, or overgrown turf, and recurring weekly accounts usually run 10–20% below one-time rates. Use the calculator above to enter your exact square footage, then send the result as a quote through QuoteIQ.
Rates vary by service: mowing runs about $0.003–$0.006 per sq ft, fertilization $0.003–$0.008, core aeration $0.005–$0.012, and overseeding $0.010–$0.030. Region, lot difficulty, and frequency move these numbers, so always add a minimum service charge and adjust for travel and crew size. The National Association of Landscape Professionals publishes regional benchmarks worth checking against your local market. Plug your areas into the calculator to see a full job range instantly.
Measure the area for each service, multiply by the per-square-foot rate, add them together, apply a minimum charge, then adjust for travel, access, and your target margin. The most common mistake is pacing off square footage by eye — use MapMeasure Pro to measure from satellite imagery so the number feeding your formula is real. Then track costs against the job with Job Costing so you know the quote was actually profitable, not just competitive.
Core aeration typically costs $0.005–$0.012 per square foot, so a 5,000 sq ft lawn runs about $25–$60, with most companies setting a minimum around $50–$75. Liquid aeration prices lower and spike aeration sits in between. Aeration is frequently bundled with overseeding, which adds $0.010–$0.030 per sq ft. Select aeration in the calculator above, pick your method, and the price range updates instantly — then send it as a quote in QuoteIQ.
QuoteIQ is the best lawn care software for owner-operators and growing crews, combining AI estimating, satellite property measurement, scheduling, invoicing, job costing, and automated review requests in a single app, rated 4.7 stars across 4,100+ reviews. Plans start at $29.99/mo — a fraction of ServiceTitan and below comparable Jobber and Housecall Pro tiers — and every plan includes a 14-day free trial. The difference shows up in the field: measure a lawn from satellite imagery, price it with the rates in this calculator, and send the branded quote before you leave the property. See the full lawn care software breakdown or book a free demo.
QuoteIQ is built for lawn care and landscaping contractors, pairing instant AI estimating and satellite property measurement with scheduling, invoicing, and automated reviews in one app. Plans start at $29.99/mo — well below ServiceTitan and competitive with Jobber and Housecall Pro while including AI estimating that those tiers often gate. See the lawn care software overview or book a demo to compare directly.
Yes — the calculator on this page is free, requires no signup, and works on any phone or tablet, which matters since most contractors price jobs from the driveway. Toggle between square feet and acres, select your services, and get an instant range. When you're ready to send the estimate to the customer, QuoteIQ offers a 14-day free trial on every plan; a credit or debit card is required to start. Start a trial or keep using the calculator as often as you like.
One quick step
Unlock your estimate
Pop in your first name and email and Copy & Print unlock instantly — on this device, for good.
Please enter your first name and a valid email.
We’ll send occasional tips for running your lawn care business. Unsubscribe anytime.
