Lawn care is an essential part of your lawn maintenance to ensure it is always in the best shape.
However, most people lack the basic knowledge about taking care of their lawns or are just unable to mow their lawns and prefer using professional lawn care services.
Setting the right pricing for your lawn care services is critical to attracting paying customers, especially when you run a small business that has to maintain a balance between profitability and competitive pricing.
In fact, according to Insurance Bee, there are 632,895 landscaping businesses in the US so the competition in this industry is clearly tough.
Hence, in this guide, we’ll discuss how much you should charge for lawn care services and factors that may affect your lawn care pricing. Let’s get started!
Read: What Is Lawn Care?
Also Read: How Much Is Lawn Care Per Month?
Ways To Charge For Lawn Care Services
There are so many ways to price your Lawn care services, but the two most common and popular pricing options are to charge by the size and area of the lawn or charge per hour. Let’s take a look:
- By Size of the lawn
To price your services by the size of the lawn, you first need to measure the premises and then set your price b square feet of lawn. This option is great, if you are dealing with a property spanning several acres.
However, if you are dealing with a smaller or medium lawn, charging a flat fee per acreage would be time-saving.
- Per Hour
Many professional lawn care providers believe that setting the price per hour is a better option as it gives a more accurate estimate of the costs.
Depending on the type and scope of the services, travel time, and equipment, you can charge anywhere from $25 to $60 per hour.
You can calculate your hourly rate by considering the following factors:
- The average rate of lawn care services in your locality
- The per-hour pay of your employees
- Your profit margins
Factors That Affect The Lawn Care Pricing
Here are the key factors that affect the lawn care pricing:
- Lawn’s area
- Condition
- Cost of Labor
- Material costs
- Overhead equipment costs
- Time spent
- Profit margin
How To Price Lawn Care Services?
Coming up with a complete pricing structure need a lot of market research about your business and target customers.
The average cost for in-depth lawn care ranges from about $650 to $1,250 including lawn mowing and maintenance.
However, charges may vary based on the size and type of services demanded by the customers.
If you are offering similar services as your competitors, try not to charge more than 15% of their price, or your chances of getting the job will be highly reduced, and customers will choose the cheaper option.
Similarly, your prices should not be too cheap compared to other lawn care service providers as it will hurt your reputation as a reliable business.
Lawn Care Pricing Formula
Here is a simple formula you can use to price every lawn care service on your own:
(Labor hours x labor cost per hour) + overhead + taxes + equipment + profit margin
Also Read: How To Start A Lawn Care Business Legally?
Average Cost Of Lawn Care Services
Here are the average prices for typical lawn care services:
| Lawn Care Services | Average Pricing |
| Mowing | $120-140 |
| Aeration | $130-150 |
| Debris removal | $75-150 |
| Dethatching | $130-215 |
| Weed Control | $65-150 |
| Leaf removal | $200-400 |
| Garden cleanup | $70-150 |
How Much Should I Charge For Lawn Mowing?
In the U.S. lawn mowing jobs cost $50–100 per acre, $0.01–0.05 per square foot, or $25–65 per hour on average.
The factors that can influence your pricing includes:
- Grass conditions
- Climate
- Overhead
- Taxes
- Local weather conditions
- Size of the yard
To finalize your lawn mowing price consider how much your compeitior is charging for the same service and do not keep your charges high more than 15%.
You also do not want to keep your prices too low as customer might not trust your services then.
Pricing formula for Lawn mowing
Here’s a lawn mowing pricing formula that you can use to set a good price:
(Labor hours x hourly labor cost) + equipment + overhead + taxes + profit margin
Lawn Mowing Pricing Chart
You can prepare a pricing chart for lawn mowing services using which the customer can check how much they have to pay for your services.
Here is an example of how you might want to break the pricing table for your customers:
| Lawn Size | Estimated Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 acre | 15 min. – 30 min. | $25 – $60 |
| 1/2 acre | 30 min. – 1 hr. | $50 – $75 |
| 1 acre | 1 – 2 hrs. | $150 – $200 |
| 2 acre | 2 – 4 hrs. | $250 – $350 |
| 3 acre | 3 – 6 hrs. | $350 – $500 |
| 5 acre | 5 – 10 hrs. | $450 – $650 |
| 1 acre | 10 – 100 hrs. | $500 – $750 |
How Much Should I Charge for Lawn Aeration?
In the U.S. the cost of lawn aeration service ranges from $0.02–0.10 per square foot or $120–140 for a 8,500-square-foot yard on average.
The cost can vary depending on these factors:
- Size of the Lawn
- Grass conditions
- Location
- Climate
- Aeration type (core vs. liquid aeration)
The cost for lawn aeration also varies based on the type of Aeration you are offering.
Here’s is the breakdown of cost based on Aeration type:
- Liquid aeration: You can charge $20 to $40 an hour or $4–13 per 1,000 square feet. You can also charge less than this as you will only need liquid solution to aerate the soil.
- Core aeration: You can charge $40 to $80 an hour or $7–25 per 1,000 sq. ft. You can charge more or less depending on the price of your machine or if you are using a rented machine.
How Much Should I Charge for Lawn Fertilization?
The national average cost for lawn fertilization in the U.S. is $91.
To determine how much you should charge calculate the cost of the fertilizer you will use for the job along with the square footage of the lawn.
For example: Ideally a 40 to 45-pound pack of lawn fertilizer costs $40 and it generally covers around 15,000 sq. ft. This brings your fertilizer costs at $23 for 8,500 sq. ft. lawn on average.
How Much Should I Charge for Power Raking?
Lawn detaching and power raking, on average, costs $215 for one to two hours of work or $15 for every 1,000 square feet.
To make sure you are making a decent profit, start by charging a flat fee and then charge additional per square footage or for each additional hour.
Wrapping Up
Learning how to price your lawn care service is probably the most challenging part of opening a lawn care business.
However, with the right knowledge and research, you can successfully set your lawn care business price.
FAQ
What are the advantages of hiring a Lawn care service?
Hiring a Lawn care service offers the following benefits:
- Maintaining lawn health
- Professional results
- Saves time
- Convinient for home owners
How much do Lawn care business owners earn?
If you calculate the business costs correctly and price your services right, then this business can make you good money.
On average, lawn care business owners make $40,000 to over $100,000 a year.
What additional Mowing services can I offer?
In order to differntiate yourself from the competition you can:
- Offer weeding, waste removal, and fertilizing services.
- Upsell with disease, insect and pest control.
- Install landscape lighting.
- Use eco-friendly materials.
- Offer snow and ice removal in the winter season.
Amit Gupta is the founder of National Planning Cycles, a company that helps startups, individuals, and small businesses with their financial planning. He has a vast amount of experience in the finance sector, having managed Google Play accounts for some of the world’s most successful unicorns. Amit is an expert in his field, and he uses his knowledge to help others achieve their individual goals.
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