Trying to figure out how much to charge for lawn mowing? With this simple guide, pricing sheet, and calculator you can figure out the exact cost to mow a lawn.
It can be difficult to determine what to charge customers for your lawn mowing service, so I have broken it all down for you. Let’s start with an easy to use calculator first.
Lawn Mowing Cost Calculator
If you are looking for more than just pricing or a calculator, check out my guide on how to start your own lawn mowing business.
Lawn Mowing Pricing Formula
So what’s the formula that I use to calculate the cost to mow a lawn?
If it’s easy I assume it will take 45 minutes per acre, if it’s hard I assume 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then I multiply the acreage by the amount of time it will take and multiply that by the hourly rate.
C = Cost, A = Acreage, LoE = Level of Effort, HR = Hourly Rate
C = HR * (A * LoE)
I set a minimum cost to the hourly rate, so for yards that take less than an hour or are less than an acre, the minimum you will charge is your rate for one hour.
With this Formula, What is the Cost to Mow 5 Acres?
At $45/hour you should charge $168.75 to mow an EASY 5 acres and it should take you around 3 hours and 45 minutes. If the 5 acres is hard to do, then you should charge $281.25 and it should take you a little over 6 hours to finish.
However if your lawns are a little harder to mow, I would recommend charging more than you would for a normal lawn.

Lawn Care Price Sheet
To make it even simpler, I compiled a lawn care price sheet with this formula to calculate the prices per acre.
Lawn Mowing Prices Per Acre
How Much to Charge for Lawn Mowing?
Our answer is, it depends. The average is $30 to $80 per hour, but I say that you should start somewhere around $45/hour and use the calculator at the top of this page to estimate how much to charge per acre and how long it will take.
If you are just starting out, I know it can be a little daunting to charge so much, but how much you make per hour goes down when you factor in loading/unloading, travel time, and the time it takes to refill gas and change equipment out. Make sure you are not under charging for what you are worth!
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