Lawn mowing price calculator
Price a mowing job from the size of the lawn, the mower you'll run and the hourly rate your business needs. Every number is yours to change.
The job
Your business
Don't know the lawn's size? Measure it from the address.
Yardclaw measures the mowable lawn, driveway and walkways of any property from satellite imagery and prices the job from your own rates. Five measurements are free, with no card.
How this calculator prices a cut
It builds the price the way a production-based estimate works: time first, then money.
- Mowing time is the lawn area divided by how much your mower covers in an hour. With more than one person, the calculator assumes they work in parallel, so time on site drops while worker-hours stay about the same.
- Trimming, edging and blowing is added as a share of mowing time. Small, fenced or heavily landscaped yards run higher; open lots run lower.
- Unload, load and drive time are billed for every crew member, because you pay them for it.
- Price is total worker-hours times your hourly rate, or your minimum charge if that is higher.
Starting mowing rates by mower size
These are the defaults in the menu above. They are working rates on open residential turf with turns and overlap already taken out, so they are well below what a spec sheet says. Time your own crews on a few lawns and overwrite them.
| Mower | Starting rate | About |
|---|---|---|
| 21" push | 12,000 sq ft/hr | 0.28 acre/hr |
| 30–36" walk-behind | 30,000 sq ft/hr | 0.69 acre/hr |
| 48–52" stand-on or zero-turn | 60,000 sq ft/hr | 1.4 acre/hr |
| 60" zero-turn | 85,000 sq ft/hr | 2 acre/hr |
What hourly rate should you use?
Not the wage. The rate has to cover wages and payroll costs, fuel, equipment, insurance, the unbilled hours in a week, and profit. Add up a year of all costs, add the profit you want, and divide by the hours you can actually bill. That number is your rate per worker-hour.
Why the lawn area matters more than the lot size
Two quarter-acre lots can differ by half in mowable turf once the house, driveway, beds and patio come out. Pricing from lot size overcharges one client and loses money on the other. Measure the turf itself, either by walking it with a wheel or from an aerial image.
Should small lawns just get the minimum?
Yes. Below a certain size the job is mostly unloading, trimming and driving, which is why a minimum charge exists. The calculator shows a note when the minimum is what set the price.
Does this include bagging or hauling clippings?
No. Bagging slows mowing noticeably; lower the mowing rate or add it as a separate line.