Lawn Care & Landscaping Job Pricing Calculator
Calculate the right price to charge for a mowing, edging, or full maintenance lawn care job using a cost-plus formula based on labor, equipment, overhead, and profit margin.
Lawn Care Job Pricing Formula (Cost-Plus)
Professional lawn care and landscaping businesses price jobs using a cost-plus formula: total labor cost (including burden for taxes/insurance), plus equipment and material costs, plus an overhead allocation, plus a target profit margin. The result is divided by the lawn's square footage to get a per-square-foot and per-acre rate for comparison.
Labor burden (typically 20-35%) accounts for payroll taxes, insurance, and benefits on top of base wages. Overhead covers indirect costs like fuel, vehicle maintenance, and insurance, usually calculated as a percentage of direct job costs. Most lawn care companies target a 20-35% gross profit margin on standard mowing, and 25-40% on specialty landscaping work.
How to Use the Lawn Care & Landscaping Job Pricing Calculator
Enter the lawn size in square feet
Used to calculate your price per square foot and per acre for comparison against market rates.
Select the service type
Mowing only, mowing + edging, or full maintenance — each applies a different material/equipment cost multiplier.
Enter labor hours, number of workers, and hourly wage
Total time the crew spends on-site multiplied by your base hourly pay rate per worker.
Enter your labor burden % and equipment/material cost
Labor burden covers payroll taxes and insurance; the material cost covers gas, fertilizer, bags, etc. for this job.
Enter your overhead % and target profit margin %
Overhead covers indirect costs like vehicle maintenance and insurance; profit margin is the percentage of the final price that is profit.
Click Calculate
View your recommended job price, price per square foot, price per acre, and projected revenue based on frequency.
Real-World Scenario Example
"A solo operator mows an 8,000 sq ft (~0.18-acre) residential lawn, taking 1 hour, paying themselves $20/hr with a 25% labor burden, $10 in gas/materials, 15% overhead, and a 25% target profit margin, booked weekly."
Inputs
Result
Total labor cost $25. Effective material cost $10. Cost before profit ≈ $40.25. Recommended job price ≈ $53.67 (about $292/acre), or roughly $232/month and $2,791/year for this weekly client.
Important Disclaimer
Pricing formulas and rate ranges reflect publicly reported 2026 industry averages and are intended as a starting point. Actual prices depend on your local market, lawn condition, equipment, and competition — always adjust to your specific business costs and region.
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