To bid a lawn care job, walk the property and measure the turf, time the whole stop including the drive, multiply by your labor and truck cost per hour, then divide by (1 minus your target margin). Quote a flat price per visit and multiply it by the visits in the season. Below are the production math, a complete half-acre bid that comes to $79 a visit, and what to put in writing.
Quick Answer
Price per visit = (labor-hours × burdened labor rate + truck-hours × equipment and overhead rate) ÷ (1 − target margin). On the half-acre lawn below, that’s ($34.47 + $24.50) ÷ 0.75 = $78.63, rounded up to $79. Then check it against the market. Housecall Pro (2026) puts weekly mowing on a half acre at $50 to $100 a visit, and Jobber’s 2026 average is $50 to $75. Prices vary by region, so get local quotes from your suppliers and look at what contractors near you charge.
Try EstimationPro on one real job ($9, 30-day money-back guarantee) if you want the line items and markup controls built for you, plus automatic follow-up on estimates you send from it.
Where this comes from: I’ve spent 20+ years bidding residential remodels, not running a mowing crew. The time and price figures here come from mower manufacturers and lawn-business guides, labeled that way. The bidding math works the same on any job.
Which Way to Quote It
Housecall Pro’s guide lays out three core methods, or a combination, and the right one depends on how predictable the job is.
| Method | Published rate | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Flat per visit | $43 to $70 for weekly mow, trim and edge | Routine residential lawns, the most common model |
| Hourly | $32 to $68 an hour | Overgrown lawns, cleanups, steep or unfamiliar yards |
| Per acre | $50 to $200 per acre per visit | An acre or more, HOAs, commercial lawns |
| Flat plus line items | Base rate plus overgrowth, bagging, leaves, travel | Most season quotes |
Whichever you quote, build it from hours and cost.
What to Measure on the Property Walk
Turf area. Start with the lot, then subtract the house, driveway, walks, beds and patio. A half-acre lot is 21,780 sq ft, and the mowable turf might be 15,000 of it.
Gate widths. Measure every gate. A 32-inch gate means your 48-inch machine stays out front and that back yard gets a walk-behind, which about doubles that part’s mowing time on the lawn below.
Trim work. Count fence runs, beds, trees and play sets. These are string trimmer minutes on every visit, all season.
Slope. A bank you can’t ride on is walk-behind or trimmer time.
Grass height today. Housecall Pro says many companies start a long-grass fee once grass passes about 6 to 12 inches.
The drive. Find the stop on your route map before you price it.
The customer. Bidding a job isn’t just materials and labor. I look at the client’s personality, how busy I am and whether the job is a good fit, and all of it goes into the number.
How Long the Stop Takes: Production Rates
Start with what the machine can do. A mower covers deck width in inches × mph ÷ 99 = acres per hour at 100% efficiency. Multiply by 0.8, the 80% efficiency column on Ferris’s mowing productivity chart, to allow for overlap and turns (my reasoning, not Ferris’s). The math matches Ferris’s 80% figures for the 48 and 61-inch rows, and its 100% figure of 1.45 for a 36-inch deck at 4 mph.
| Deck and speed | Acres per hour at 80% | Sq ft per hour |
|---|---|---|
| 21” walk-behind, 3 mph (my math) | 0.51 | About 22,000 |
| 36” at 4 mph (my math) | 1.16 | About 50,700 |
| 48” at 5 mph | 1.94 | About 84,500 |
| 61” at 6 mph | 2.96 | About 128,800 |
Treat those as a ceiling. They assume long, open passes, and a residential lawn is mostly short passes and turns. They also leave out trimming, edging and blow-off.
Published times are all over the place. GorillaDesk’s rule is one hour per quarter acre to mow, trim and blow, which is 4 hours an acre. Housecall Pro’s price book example has 1.25 hours for a one-acre weekly mow.
A spread that wide tells you to time your own crew. Log turf size, machine and clock minutes on your next ten stops, split into drive, unload, mow, trim and blow, and load. GorillaDesk says tracking your time is what separates the more profitable businesses. A bid built on your last ten stops is one you can trust.
Your Cost per Hour
You need two rates, because labor runs by the person and the truck runs by the clock.
Labor per labor-hour. Use the burdened rate, not the wage. Jobber’s example takes a $16-an-hour employee to about $22 an hour once taxes and other costs are added. Run your own through the burdened labor rate calculator.
Equipment and overhead per truck-hour. Add up the year and divide by the hours the truck is on the route. Housecall Pro cites full insurance coverage at about $6,750 to $8,000+ a year for a small crew of 1 to 3 employees. The rest of this example is made up to show the math, so use your own:
| Yearly cost (example) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Insurance | $7,500 |
| Truck and trailer | $9,000 |
| Mowers, trimmers, repairs and replacement | $8,000 |
| Fuel and trimmer line | $5,000 |
| Phone, software, marketing, office | $6,500 |
| Total | $36,000 |
Run one truck 40 hours a week for 30 weeks and that’s 1,200 truck-hours. $36,000 ÷ 1,200 = $30 per truck-hour. The overhead rate calculator gives you overhead as a percentage of direct costs instead, if you’d rather price that way.
Markup vs Margin
Margin is the share of the price you keep. Markup is a percentage added to your cost. Mark a $100 cost up 25% and you charge $125, but your margin is only $25 ÷ $125 = 20%.
| Target margin | Divide cost by | Same as a markup of |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | 0.80 | 25% |
| 25% | 0.75 | 33.3% |
| 30% | 0.70 | 42.9% |
Jobber’s half-acre example shows it: a 20% profit goal on $501 of cost takes a $125 markup, 25% of cost, for a $626 price. More in markup vs margin for contractors.
Worked Bid: Half-Acre Lawn, Weekly
Every input here is an example. Swap in your own.
The property. Half-acre lot, 21,780 sq ft. House and garage 2,800 sq ft, drive and walks 1,200, beds and patio 2,780. That leaves 15,000 sq ft of turf: 8,000 out front and 7,000 behind a 32-inch gate. Two-person crew, 48-inch mower out front, 21-inch walk-behind in back, with a stop 10 minutes from the last one on the route.
Mowing time
- Front: 8,000 sq ft at the 84,500 sq ft/hr ceiling is about 6 minutes. Double it for short passes and turns: 12 minutes
- Back: 7,000 sq ft at the 22,000 sq ft/hr ceiling is about 19 minutes. Add 3 for the trees: 22 minutes
- One person mowing: 34 labor-minutes
Everything else
- Trim, edge and blow, second person: 30 labor-minutes
- Unload and load: 5 minutes × 2 people = 10 labor-minutes
- Drive: 10 minutes × 2 people = 20 labor-minutes
- Total: 94 labor-minutes, or 1.57 labor-hours
- Truck clock: 10 drive + 5 unload and load + 34 on the lawn = 49 minutes, or 0.82 truck-hours
Price per visit
| Line | Math | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | 94 ÷ 60 × $22 | $34.47 |
| Equipment and overhead | 49 ÷ 60 × $30 | $24.50 |
| Cost per visit | $58.97 | |
| Price at a 25% margin | $58.97 ÷ 0.75 = $78.63, rounded up | $79 |
Check the margin: $79 − $58.97 = $20.03 profit. $20.03 ÷ $79 = 25.4% margin, a 34% markup on cost.
The season. April 1 to October 31 is about 30 weeks. Leave out two for rain or drought and quote 28 visits.
| Line on the quote | Your cost | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly mow, trim, edge and blow, 28 visits at $79 | $1,651.16 | $2,212 |
| Spring cleanup: 8 labor-hours ($176), 4.5 truck-hours ($135), $40 dump fee | $351.00 | $468 |
| Core aeration: 1.5 labor-hours ($33), 1.25 truck-hours ($37.50), $35 share of a day’s rental | $105.50 | $141 |
| Season total | $2,107.66 | $2,821 |
That’s 7 monthly payments of $403, and it keeps $713.34 for the season, a 25.3% margin. Offer it three ways: mowing only at $2,212, mowing and cleanup at $2,680, or the full season at $2,821.
Check it against the market
- $79 a visit is inside Housecall Pro’s $50 to $100 for a half acre and a little over Jobber’s $50 to $75. GorillaDesk’s 2 hours at $40 is $80
- $79 ÷ 1.57 labor-hours is about $50 per labor-hour, a rough match for Housecall Pro’s $32 to $68 an hour and Jobber’s $30 to $65
- The $468 cleanup sits inside Jobber’s $430 to $700 for a half acre and Housecall Pro’s $225 to $765 for spring cleanup
- The $141 aeration sits inside Housecall Pro’s $70 to $190.
Jobber says to avoid pricing more than 15% above a competitor offering the same services. If your number lands way over that, look at your hours and overhead first.
Published Prices by Lot Size
The guides disagree, especially at an acre and up, so use them to check a price, not to set it.
| Lot size | Housecall Pro weekly chart | Jobber average | GorillaDesk at $40/hr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 acre | $45 to $85 | $25 to $60 | $40 |
| 1/2 acre | $50 to $100 | $50 to $75 | $80 |
| 1 acre | $60 to $150 | $150 to $200 | $160 |
| 5 acres | $200 to $590 | $450 to $650 | Not listed |
Housecall Pro’s regional table puts a medium lawn of 1,000 to 3,000 sq ft at $45 to $60 in the Southwest and $100 to $160 in the West.
How the Route Changes the Bid
Same lawn, same crew, different drive:
- 25 minutes from your route instead of 10. That’s 30 more labor-minutes ($11.00) and 15 more truck-minutes ($7.50), or $18.50 more cost a visit. To hold 25% you need $24.67 more, about $691 over 28 visits
- 2 minutes from your last stop instead of 10. You save $9.87 a visit. At $66 instead of $79 you still clear a 25.6% margin
So sharpen your pencil for a current customer’s neighbor, and charge for the lawn across town or pass on it. Tofu’s guide says to set a service area and charge more outside it.
The Lines That Change the Price
Every two weeks. Taller grass means slower mowing and more clippings, so time it on its own. On this lawn, say 45 minutes to mow and 40 to trim and blow. That’s 115 labor-minutes ($42.17) and 60 truck-minutes ($30.00), which is $72.17 ÷ 0.75 = $96.23, or $97 a visit. Housecall Pro lists biweekly service at $50 to $129.
First cut on an overgrown lawn. Add 40 labor-minutes and 20 truck-minutes: $24.67 ÷ 0.75 = $32.89, so a $35 surcharge and a $114 first visit. Housecall Pro lists a $20 to $60 surcharge for grass over 10 inches and $70 to $150+ for the visit.
Your minimum. Take your shortest realistic stop. With 60 labor-minutes and 30 truck-minutes, cost is $37.00, and $37.00 ÷ 0.75 = $49.33, so $50. Jobber recommends a minimum stop rate without naming a figure.
Materials, with waste. Mowing has almost none, since fuel and trimmer line are in the truck rate. Add-ons do:
- Mulch. A cubic yard covers 162 sq ft at 2 inches deep. A 600 sq ft bed takes 3.7 yards, or 4.07 with 10% waste. Order 4.5 at the $35 a yard we use as a typical bulk price ($20 to $60), and that’s $157.50 before delivery and labor.
- Fertilizer. Jobber lists a 50-lb bag at $110 to $350+, covering up to 15,000 sq ft, and $72 to $231 of product for 10,000 sq ft. Price from your supplier and the label rate
- Seed and sod. Start with the grass seed calculator or sod calculator
Weed control. EPA says federal law requires certification to apply or supervise restricted use pesticides, and that many state agencies require certification to use any pesticide commercially. Check your state before this goes on a quote.
Sales tax. It depends on the state. Texas lists planting, mowing, trimming and edging grass as taxable. Check with your state’s revenue department.
Commercial and HOA Bids
Quote these by the acre and by the year. Housecall Pro lists $50 to $200 per acre per visit, and Jobber says the per-acre rate falls on larger jobs, especially with a riding mower. Tofu’s guide adds that commercial accounts often come with longer payment terms.
GorillaDesk’s yearly math is hours per cut × hourly rate × cuts per month × months. An acre at 4 hours, $40, 4 cuts a month for 5 months is $3,200. It also says a written commercial bid should list the hourly rate, each service and each material.
Common Bidding Mistakes
- Pricing the mowing and forgetting the stop. Drive, gates and blow-off happen every visit, all season.
- Flat-rating a yard you’ve never cut. Bid the first visit hourly, then lock the price once you know the time.
- Biweekly at the weekly price. Same lawn, more grass.
- No skip policy. If the quote says “weekly, April to October” and nothing about drought weeks, expect an argument over the bill.
- Never raising rates. Jobber says to review pricing at least once a year, and Housecall Pro says to give at least 30 days’ notice.
- Dropping the price when they push. GorillaDesk’s advice is to set your prices and hold firm. I tell clients the same thing: good, fast or cheap, pick two.
Homeowners see two people in the yard for 39 minutes and a $79 bill, and they do the math. I hear the same thing on remodels: “Why am I paying you $100+ an hour when I make $30 an hour?” The answer is the truck, the insurance and the time they never see.
Presenting the Quote and Following Up
Put it in writing the same day if you can. List what one visit includes, the frequency, the season dates, the visit count, the price per visit and the season total. Add the skip policy, the first-cut charge, how rate changes work and any optional lines. The lawn care estimate template has all of that, and you can print it or save it as a PDF. It takes one cost per crew-hour, so for this lawn enter 49 minutes at about $72 ($58.97 of cost over 49 minutes).
Then follow up. A lot of my jobs are won on the second or third follow-up, not on the first estimate. Most contractors send a bid and never chase it, so the one who follows up stands out. Short texts work:
- Day 1: “Hi Sarah, it’s Mike with ABC Lawn. I sent the season quote for your place. Any questions I can answer?”
- Day 3: “Checking in on your lawn quote. I’ve got a spot on my Tuesday route near you if you want it.”
- Day 7: “Last check on the quote I sent. I can hold that Tuesday spot through Friday. Want it?”
How to follow up on a quote has more scripts. The hard part is remembering to send them.
FAQ
How much should I charge to mow a lawn?
Build it from your cost, then check the market. Housecall Pro’s chart has weekly mowing at $45 to $85 on a quarter acre. The worked bid above lands a half acre at $79.
What margin should a lawn care business aim for?
Tofu’s guide says often around 20%, and Jobber’s example uses 20%. The example here uses 25%. Whatever you pick, divide cost by (1 minus the margin) rather than adding the same percentage to cost.
Bid the Stop, Then Chase the Quote
EstimationPro builds a line-item estimate from your photos, a voice walkthrough or notes, with markup controls and pricing adjusted for your region that you review line by line. Contractors save 2+ hours per estimate. Send it from EstimationPro and the client gets a reminder at 24 hours if they haven’t opened it, another 48 hours after they open it with no reply, and a final one at 7 days, so the proposal gets chased without you. Pro adds invoices and deposit collection. It fits jobs you quote one at a time, like cleanups, sod and bed work. It’s not a dispatch or crew-routing system, so a route of weekly mows needs route software. Plans are $79 or $149 a month. Try EstimationPro on one real job ($9, 30-day money-back guarantee).
Sources
Checked November 2, 2026. Confirm current numbers before you rely on them.
- Housecall Pro, updated October 21, 2026: housecallpro.com
- Jobber Academy, updated March 11, 2026: getjobber.com
- GorillaDesk: gorilladesk.com
- Tofu: tofu.com
- Ferris productivity chart (lists km/h, converted to mph): ferrismowers.com
- EPA, applicator certification: epa.gov
- Texas Comptroller, lawn care: comptroller.texas.gov
- Mulch price: EstimationPro pricing reference, June 2026.
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