How to price lawn mowing per acre (and per square foot)
7 min read · updated October 2026
The short answer
Price mowing from time, not guesswork: find what one crew hour costs you, divide by how many acres the crew mows in an hour to get a cost per acre, add your margin, and set a minimum charge per visit so small lawns still pay for the stop. Then apply that per-acre price to each lawn’s measured size.
Step 1: what does one crew hour cost you?
Add up everything it takes to keep a crew in the field for an hour: wages with taxes and workers’ comp, the truck, trailer and mowers (payments, fuel, maintenance, insurance), and your share of overhead such as the office, phones, software and marketing.
| Cost | Per crew hour |
|---|---|
| Two people at $20/h plus 20% burden | $48.00 |
| Truck, trailer and fuel | $14.00 |
| Mowers and trimmers (payments, repairs, blades) | $8.00 |
| Overhead (insurance, office, software, marketing) | $15.00 |
| Total cost of a crew hour | $85.00 |
Tip: Count driving time too. A crew that spends a quarter of its day driving needs every on-site hour to cover the drive.
Step 2: how fast does the crew mow?
Time a few typical lawns from arrival to leaving, including trimming, edging and blowing. Divide the lawn area by the time on site to get your production rate in square feet per hour. Bigger, open lawns go faster per square foot than small lawns with beds and fences.
| Lawn | Size | Time on site | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small, many beds | 5,000 sq ft | 25 min | 12,000 sq ft/h |
| Typical suburban | 10,000 sq ft | 35 min | 17,100 sq ft/h |
| Large, open | 43,560 sq ft (1 acre) | 75 min | 34,800 sq ft/h |
Step 3: turn it into a price per acre
- Cost per acre = cost per crew hour × hours per acre. At $85/h and 75 minutes per acre: $85 × 1.25 = $106.25.
- Add your margin. For a 35% margin on price: $106.25 ÷ (1 − 0.35) = $163.46, so about $160–165 per acre.
- Divide by 43,560 for a price per square foot if you prefer: $163.46 ÷ 43,560 ≈ $0.00375 per sq ft.
Because small lawns take longer per square foot, a flat per-acre price undercharges them. That is what the minimum charge is for.
Step 4: set a minimum charge per visit
Your minimum is what any stop must pay: the drive in, unloading, the shortest possible job and loading up. A common approach is the cost of 30 to 40 minutes of a crew hour plus margin. In the example, 35 minutes of an $85 hour is $49.58; with a 35% margin that is about $76, so a minimum around $45–75 depending on your market and route density.
Tip: A dense route can afford a lower minimum, because the drive between stops is short. Price outliers (one-off lawns far from your route) with a trip charge instead of raising everyone’s minimum.
Step 5: a sliding scale for big lawns
Large lawns mow faster per square foot, so a straight per-acre price can overcharge them and lose the job. A sliding scale charges each additional block of lawn a little less than the one before. GroundsQuote’s formula does this: a base, a price for the first 10,000 sq ft, a discount for each further block, and a floor so no block goes below a minimum.
| Lawn size | Straight per acre | Sliding scale |
|---|---|---|
| 5,000 sq ft | $45.00 (minimum) | $45.00 (minimum) |
| 10,000 sq ft | $45.00 (minimum) | $55.00 |
| 21,780 sq ft (½ acre) | $80.00 | $75.88 |
| 43,560 sq ft (1 acre) | $160.00 | $108.45 |
| 87,120 sq ft (2 acres) | $320.00 | $156.46 |
Step 6: check it against the real world
- Compare your prices with two or three local competitors’ published or quoted prices.
- Track time on site against plan: jobs that keep running long are underpriced.
- Review once a season and adjust for fuel, wages and insurance.
Do the math for your own lawns
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Start freeQuestions
Should I charge per visit or per month for mowing?
Price per visit and choose how you bill. Billing monthly for the visits done smooths your cash flow without hiding the per-visit price.
How do I price mowing every two weeks?
Biweekly grass is longer and slower to cut, so many companies charge 10–25% more per visit for every-other-week service. Time it on a few lawns to set your own figure.