The hard part of snow pricing is that you do not know how much snow will fall. A per push price puts the weather risk on the customer. A seasonal contract puts it on you. Neither is wrong, but each has to be priced on purpose, starting from what an hour of your truck and crew costs.
- Know your cost per truck hour first: driver, fuel, plow wear, insurance and salt.
- Fixr lists residential snow removal at $75 to $150 a visit, about $125 for plowing up to 6 inches off a standard driveway.
- Fixr's pricing table gives per visit at $30 to $125, per event at $50 to $200 and per hour at $25 to $75.
- Seasonal contracts need a snowfall assumption and a cap. Write both down.
Know your cost per truck hour
Everything in snow pricing comes back to one number: what an hour of a plow truck with a driver costs you. Add up the driver's loaded wage, fuel per hour, plow and truck wear, insurance and your salt or ice melt, then divide the season's fixed costs by the hours you expect to run.
Start with the wage. The closest group the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes is landscaping and groundskeeping workers, the closest published group for snow removal crews. In its May 2025 wage survey, that group's national mean wage was $20.33 an hour and the median was $18.82 (BLS OEWS 37-3011). Plow drivers working nights in a storm are usually paid more than that.
Four ways to charge
| Method | Published price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Per visit | $30 to $125 | Fixr |
| Driveway, per visit | $30 to $70 | Fixr |
| Per event | $50 to $200 | Fixr |
| Per hour | $25 to $75 | Fixr |
| Per inch, first six inches | $12.50 to $25 | Fixr |
| Plow up to 6 in off a standard driveway | About $125 | Fixr |
| Annual removal contract, high end | About $600 | Fixr |
- Per push or per visit: you get paid every time you plow. Simple for homeowners. You carry no weather risk.
- Per inch or by snowfall band: more snow, higher price. Fair for both sides, but you need a trusted snowfall number.
- Per hour: common for commercial lots and odd jobs. Track hours carefully.
- Seasonal: one price for the winter. Steady cash for you and a known bill for them, but a heavy winter is your problem.
A worked example: a per push driveway price
Every input is an assumption for the example.
- Truck and driver cost: $95 an hour including fuel, plow wear and insurance
- Time per driveway on a tight route: 20 minutes including the drive between stops
- Truck time: 20 / 60 x $95 = $31.67
- Ice melt on the apron and walk: $6
- Direct cost: $31.67 + $6 = $37.67
- Overhead plus profit: 25% + 20% = 45% of the price
- Price: $37.67 / 0.55 = $68
Fixr's driveway per visit range is $30 to $70, so this lands inside it. The key input is route density: the same driveway priced at 40 minutes because the next stop is across town needs twice the price.
For a seasonal contract, multiply your per push price by the number of plowable events you expect from your area's history, then add a cushion and a cap on included pushes. Charge extra pushes beyond the cap per visit.
Route density is your margin
Snow pays when the stops are close together. Today puts your stops in driving order, and new customers slot in where the drive works. On Front Office, crew routes give each truck its own lane.
Sign up the street before the first storm
Snow customers sign in the fall. On Grow, campaigns reach your lawn and landscape customers when the season turns, and neighbor postcards go to homes around the ones you already serve, so the route gets tighter. On Front Office, a seasonal contract can run as a maintenance plan billed on the card on file.
Common snow pricing mistakes
- Pricing every driveway alone. The drive between stops is part of the cost.
- Seasonal contracts with no cap. A record winter can wipe out the year.
- Salt thrown in free. Ice melt is a material. Price it.
- No written trigger. Say at what depth you plow, so nobody argues at 5 am.
Questions contractors ask
How much should I charge to plow a driveway?
Work it out from your truck hour cost and route time. Fixr lists $75 to $150 a visit, about $125 to plow up to 6 inches off a standard driveway, and $30 to $70 per visit for a typical driveway.
Is per push or seasonal pricing better?
Per push keeps the weather risk with the customer. Seasonal gives steady cash but you carry a heavy winter. Many contractors offer both.
How much is a seasonal snow contract?
It depends on your area's snowfall and the property. Fixr gives $600 as the high end for an annual removal contract on a home.
Should I charge per inch?
Per inch pricing is fair when snowfall is measured the same way by both sides. Fixr lists $12.50 to $25 per inch for the first six inches.
