How much to charge for lawn mowing is the crew's question, not the customer's, and it has an arithmetic answer rather than a going rate. The price of a stop is the lawn's square feet at the crew's rate per thousand, or the mowing minutes the machine needs at the crew's hourly rate, plus the trim and edge time, plus a stop charge that covers the drive and the unloading, with a minimum below which the stop is not worth the trailer. This page walks that calculation for mowing, for mowing and weedeating together, and for the price sheet the crew hands out, and the free lawn care pricing chart on this site does it at the crew's own rates.
How much to charge cutting grass: start from square feet and the machine
A 48 inch mower at a normal pace cuts a known number of square feet a minute, so the lawn's size gives the mowing minutes, and the crew's hourly rate turns the minutes into money. Add the trim and edge minutes, which do not shrink with a bigger mower, and the stop charge for the drive, the unloading and the loading back up. The pricing chart on this site takes lot size and the crew's rate per thousand square feet and returns the per-cut price for each size band.
How much to charge for mowing and weedeating together
Weedeating, edging and blowing are the part of the stop the mower does not do, and they take roughly the same time on a small lawn as a large one, because they follow the edges rather than the area. Price them as minutes at the crew rate rather than as a share of the mowing, or a small lawn with a lot of edge is underpriced. Most crews fold them into the per-cut price for a standard stop and list them separately only when a customer asks for mowing alone.
What is a good price to charge for mowing lawns in a season
The per-cut price times the cuts in the season is the season's revenue from that lawn, and a flat monthly price is that figure spread across the months. Whatever the per-cut price is, it has to clear the stop charge and the minimum: a lawn at the edge of town at a low price is a loss once the drive is counted, and the estimate on this site shows the stop's margin before the crew agrees it.
The lawn service price sheet the crew hands out
A price sheet is the per-cut price by lot size band, the extras with their prices, the minimum stop, and the terms: per cut or per month, when the invoice comes and when it is due. Print it from the crew's own rates rather than copying a competitor's, because the competitor's rates carry the competitor's costs. The pricing chart on this site is the sheet, at the crew's own numbers, free and with no account.
Questions people ask about how much to charge for lawn mowing
How much should I charge to mow a lawn?
Work it out from the lawn's square feet at your rate per thousand, or from the mowing minutes at your hourly rate, plus trim and edge time and a stop charge, with a minimum. The free pricing chart on this site does this at your own rates.
How much extra for weedeating and edging?
Price the minutes at your crew rate. They do not scale with lawn size the way mowing does, so a small lawn with a lot of edge needs its own figure rather than a share of the mowing price.
Should the price sheet show per cut or per month?
Show both if you offer both: the per-cut price by size band, and the flat monthly price for the season's cuts spread evenly. State when the invoice comes and when it is due.
What is a minimum stop charge for?
To make sure a small or distant lawn still pays for the drive, the unloading and the loading. A stop below the minimum is a loss however cheap the mowing is.