- Mowing a 1/4 acre lawn typically costs $33 to $60 a visit. A full acre runs about $105 to $157.
- The season length matters as much as the price per visit: about 24 weeks in the Northeast and 45 or more in the South.
- Aeration, dethatching, fertilizer and weed control are one-off or few-times-a-year services, each a few hundred dollars.
- One cubic yard of mulch covers 108 sq ft at 3 inches deep.
How much does lawn mowing cost per visit
Mowing is priced by the visit, and the visit price follows the size of the lawn. LawnStarter and Jobber both publish prices by lot size. We combined them: the low is the middle of their lows, the high the middle of their highs.
| Lawn size | Square feet | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1/4 acre | up to 10,890 | $33 | $47 | $61 |
| 1/2 acre | 21,780 | $50 | $61 | $72 |
| 1 acre | 43,560 | $105 | $131 | $157 |
Between those sizes the calculator draws a straight line. Above an acre it uses the 1-acre price per acre. Jobber quotes $150 to $200 an acre for large lawns and says the per-acre rate drops on bigger jobs, so treat the top of the range as the likelier price there. Most mowing visits include trimming the edges and blowing off the walks and driveway.
The two sources disagree most at the 1-acre size: LawnStarter's band covers "1/2 to 1 acre" at $59 to $114, Jobber puts a full acre at $150 to $200. The combined range sits between them.
Lawn size is the grass area, not the lot. Take out the house, driveway, patio and planting beds. A 1/4 acre lot (10,890 sq ft) with an average house often has 5,000 to 7,000 sq ft of grass. If you are not sure, measure the lawn on an online map with an area tool, or pace off the main rectangles and add them up.
Other things that move a mowing price: slopes, lots of trees and beds to mow around, gates too narrow for a riding mower, grass that has been let go, and how far the lawn is from the company's other stops. A lawn on a busy route often gets a better price than the same lawn across town.
What lawn care costs for a whole season
Weekly mowing for a season is the biggest part of a lawn care bill. How many weeks depends on where you live. LawnStarter gives these season lengths:
| Region | Weeks of mowing | Weekly, 1/4 acre, for the year |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast | about 24 | $792 to $1,452 |
| Midwest | about 26 | $858 to $1,573 |
| West and Northwest | about 34 | $1,122 to $2,057 |
| Southeast | about 45 | $1,485 to $2,723 |
| Southwest | about 46 | $1,518 to $2,783 |
Mowing every two weeks halves the visits; ask whether the per-visit price changes, since the grass is longer each time. Then add the services that happen once or a few times a year:
| Service | Price, typical lawn | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Core aeration | $100 to $250 | Once a year, spring or fall |
| Dethatching | $145 to $247 | Every year or two |
| Fertilizer | $67 to $343 one-off; $50 to $150 per treatment on a program | 3 to 4 times a year |
| Weed control | $60 to $120 per application | 1 to 4 times a year |
| Overseeding | $510 to $1,641 | When thin or after aeration |
| Leaf removal | $136 to $460 | Once or twice each fall |
| Spring or fall cleanup | $200 to $462 | Once or twice a year |
Those prices come from LawnStarter, Lawn Love, Today's Homeowner, Jobber and Inch Calculator, and are for a typical lawn of about 1/4 acre. For bigger lawns the calculator raises them in the same proportion that mowing prices rise with size.
If a lawn service quotes per 1,000 sq ft, you can compare it to the table: a 10,000 sq ft lawn at $33 to $61 a mow works out to about $3.30 to $6.10 per 1,000 sq ft. Bigger lawns cost less per 1,000 sq ft, because the drive, unloading and trimming take about the same time whatever the size.
If you only want some of these, the calculator lets you turn each one on or off and change how many times a year it happens, so you can see what a basic plan and a full plan cost side by side.
How much mulch do you need, and what it costs
Mulch is sold by the cubic yard in bulk, or in bags of 2 cubic feet. The University of Florida's IFAS extension puts it simply: one cubic yard covers 324 sq ft one inch deep. So:
Cubic yards = bed area in sq ft × depth in inches ÷ 324
| Depth | One cubic yard covers | Bags (2 cu ft) per yard |
|---|---|---|
| 1 inch | 324 sq ft | 13.5 |
| 2 inches | 162 sq ft | 13.5 |
| 3 inches | 108 sq ft | 13.5 |
For price, three guides put bulk mulch at $30 to $135 a cubic yard for the material, two put spreading labor at about $23.50 to $62.50 a yard, and delivery at $60 to $145 a load. A 300 sq ft bed at 3 inches needs about 2.8 yards, and runs about $210 to $690 delivered and spread.
When each lawn service happens in the year
A lawn care plan is a calendar as much as a price. The timing depends on whether your grass is a cool-season type (bluegrass, fescue, ryegrass, common in the North) or a warm-season type (Bermuda, zoysia, St. Augustine, common in the South).
| Service | Cool-season grass | Warm-season grass |
|---|---|---|
| Spring cleanup | Early spring | Late winter to early spring |
| Pre-emergent weed control | Early spring, before crabgrass sprouts | Late winter |
| Fertilizer | Spring and fall, lighter in summer | Late spring through summer |
| Aeration | Early fall, or spring | Late spring to early summer |
| Dethatching | Early fall | Late spring |
| Overseeding | Early fall, right after aeration | Late spring, if at all |
| Leaf removal and fall cleanup | Mid to late fall | Late fall |
Pairing services saves money and works better. Aerating and overseeding on the same visit gets the seed into the holes, and one trip costs the company less than two. Ask for a price on the pair.
Mowing height matters as much as how often. Cutting no more than a third of the blade at a time keeps the grass healthy, which is why weekly mowing in the spring flush and every two weeks in a dry summer is common.
A worked example: a full season on a 1/4 acre lot
A Midwest homeowner with about 10,000 sq ft of grass wants weekly mowing, four fertilizer treatments, two weed control applications, aeration, one cleanup and fresh mulch on 300 sq ft of beds.
- Mowing. 26 visits × $33 / $46.75 / $60.50 = $858 / $1,216 / $1,573.
- Fertilizer. First at $67 / $223 / $343, then three more at $50 / $100 / $150 = $217 / $523 / $793.
- Weed control. Two at $60 / $92.50 / $120 = $120 / $185 / $240.
- Aeration. $100 / $167 / $250. Cleanup. $200 / $339 / $462.
- Mulch. 2.8 yards, delivered and spread: $209 / $451 / $694.
- Year. $1,704 to $4,012, with about $2,880 as the typical price at the US average.
The same yard, mowing only. Drop the fertilizer, weed control, aeration, cleanup and mulch, and the year is just the 26 mowing visits: $858 to $1,573. Most of the gap between a basic plan and a full one is the treatments and the one-off services, so price those as separate options on a quote.
DIY lawn care or hire a lawn service
Mowing a small, flat lawn yourself is the easiest way to save on lawn care: the season's mowing is most of the bill in the calculator. What you pay instead is the mower, fuel, upkeep and an hour or more a week.
The services worth hiring out even if you mow yourself:
- Aeration. A core aerator is heavy and awkward to rent and haul for one afternoon. A pro does it in under an hour.
- Fertilizer and weed control. The right product at the right time matters more than the amount. Many states require a license to apply weed control for pay, and pros buy in bulk.
- Big cleanups and leaves. A crew with backpack blowers and a trailer finishes in an hour what takes a homeowner a weekend.
- Mulch by the yard. For bigger beds, bulk delivery and spreading usually beats a car full of bags on price, and it is a lot easier on your back.
When you compare lawn services, ask what a mowing visit includes (edging, trimming, blowing), whether clippings are left or bagged, what happens on rain days, and whether the price is per visit or a flat monthly plan. Monthly plans spread the cost evenly but you pay in the slow weeks too.
How to price lawn care (for lawn care companies)
The ranges above are what homeowners compare you against. To set your own prices:
- Time per lawn. Time a few mows at each lot size, including trimming, blowing and the walk to the trailer.
- Cost per hour on the job. Crew wages with payroll taxes, plus the mower, trimmer, truck, fuel, insurance and your own pay, divided by the hours you actually bill.
- Drive time. Tight routes are where lawn care makes money. Price lawns far from your route higher, or skip them.
- A minimum. Even a tiny lawn takes the unloading and loading. Set a per-visit minimum so small lawns still pay for the stop.
- Sell the season. A yearly plan with mowing, fertilizer, aeration and cleanups is worth more than one-off visits. Monthly plans of $100 to $410 are common in three guides.
Run the numbers through the profit margin calculator, then save the season as an estimate. With Koira's tools for landscapers, the customer signs the plan from their phone and the visits go on your schedule.
Last checked October 8, 2026. More for your trade: how lawn and landscape crews run on Koira.