True Cost Guide Lawn & Garden Mow and Maintain a Lawn

How Much Does Lawn Care and Mowing Cost?

Q: Is it cheaper to pay someone to mow your lawn?

The cost of a lawnmower ranges between $80 and $500 and goes all the way up to $2,500 if you opt for a large riding mower. Since each mowing visit costs between $30 and $80 , you will save money doing this yourself over the years.

Typical Range:

$49 - $204

Cost data is based on actual project costs as reported by 51,151 HomeAdvisor members. Embed this data

How We Get This Data

Homeowners use HomeAdvisor to find pros for home projects.

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When their projects are done, they fill out a short cost survey.

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We compile the data and report costs back to you.

Updated May 17, 2022

Written by HomeAdvisor.

Lawn Care Cost

Maintaining a vibrant, lush, and healthy lawn is much easier with the help of a professional landscaper, but how much can you expect to pay? The typical cost range of lawn care and mowing services is between $49 and $204, with an average of $123 per visit.

Grass-cutting services—without the bells and whistles—will cost between $30 and $80 a visit. Your final bill will widely vary based on specialty lawn care services, the size of your property, and any tricky barriers like rocks, trees, playsets, and steep hills.

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National Average	$123
Typical Range	$49 - $204
Low End - High End	$30 - $500

Cost data is based on actual project costs as reported by 51,151 HomeAdvisor members.

Lawn mowing costs average $30 to $80 per visit

Lawn Mowing & Maintenance Cost Factors

Lawn care professionals offer a range of packages and services, from one-time mowing jobs to four-season lawn maintenance plans. The larger cost contributors are labor and the size of your lawn, but details such as lawn terrain, your local climate, and maintenance packages will affect your final bill.

Labor

Landscapers charge an average of $25 to $60 an hour for a range of lawn care services. Common jobs like mowing and watering your lawn each week will land on the lower end, while higher rates apply to complex or expedited jobs that take more than one team member.

While many companies offer an hourly rate in their estimates, flat fees to cover labor, materials, and overhead are also common. These will incorporate the cost to travel to your home, equipment upkeep, and caring for unique features in your lawn.

If your pro offers a flat-fee per visit, you can expect an average of:

$30–$80 a visit for grass-cutting services
$120–$430 for larger lawn-maintenance services

Lawn Size

Lawn size plays more of a role in determining price when your property is larger than an acre. Many lawn care pros charge a per-acre price of $150 to $200. Lawn care companies may offer discounts for expansive lawns over a set number of acres, charging as little as $50 an acre for 10 acres or more.

Lawn companies rarely charge by the square foot for simple lawn care unless they're treating a very small space. You'll likely see prices broken down this way for services such as the cost to reseed a lawn or the cost to install sod. In most cases, the size of your lawn will simply dictate the number of hours it takes to mow it.

Layout

If you live on a flat, rectangular property with few trees, boulders, or sprinkler heads, expect to pay the lower end of the price range.

A lawn care team will assess the layout and features of your lawn to determine your estimate, considering things like:

Gardens and flower beds
Walkways and patios
Slopes and ditches
Water elements like ponds and fountains
Trees and shrubs
Sprinkler systems
Fences
Children's playsets

Lawn care pros will have to spend more time trimming around the edges or avoiding these areas when mowing. Overall, the trickier the landscape, the longer it takes.

Grass and Climate

The type of grass in your lawn is an often-overlooked factor in lawn mowing and maintenance prices. Cool-season and warm-season grasses grow at different rates during different times of the year. And since you should only remove the top third of a blade of grass to keep it healthy, you may require more frequent visits from a lawn care team in high-growth periods.

Packages and Discounts

Coupons, packages, and promotions for ongoing services are very common in lawn care. While a company may break down the initial cost by the hour or the size of your lawn, they may list a flat discounted fee for services to attract long-term customers.

Many lawn care companies will offer year-round or seasonal rates that include weekly or monthly mowing as well as occasional aeration and pest of weed treatments.

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Average Lawn Care Costs

You'll find services offered as one-time visits or within year-long packages for between $100 to $400 or as high as $500 for large leaf-removal jobs.

Seasonal lawn care goes a bit further than basic mowing and watering services without getting into complex jobs like leveling the slope of your lawn, tree trimming, and new landscape design.

Typically lawn care services include:

Fertilization
Reseeding
Pesticide application
Herbicide application
Grass disease treatment
Aeration
Edging
Weeding
Spring and fall cleanup
Winterization

As we noted above, you can purchase packages of weekly or monthly visits that include basics like mowing and watering. Lawn care teams will determine which additional services your grass needs during each visit, depending on your contract.

Between basic and more complex lawn care treatments, you'll pay:

$50–$200 for weekly visits
$100–$300 for monthly visits

Lawn Care Pricing Chart

Let's break down the mowing and lawn maintenance costs individually. Keep in mind that many lawn care companies will package items together—such as mowing and watering or fall cleanup and leaf removal.

Service	Average Cost Per Visit
Mowing costs	$30 – $80
Watering costs	$50 – $400
Aeration costs	$80 – $200
Dethatching costs	$100 – $700
Fertilization costs	$80 – $400
Lawn pest control	$200 – $300
Weed control	$40 – $120
Spring and fall cleanup	$100 – $250
Leaf removal	$200 – $500
Lawn winterization	$100 – $400

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it worth paying for lawn care?

Hiring a professional lawn care company in your area saves more time than money, but it can be financially beneficial in the long run as well. If you don't have the time to keep up with mowing, watering, and treating lawn issues throughout the year, you could end up with costly issues like overgrown thatch, disease, or pests.

Is it cheaper to pay someone to mow your lawn?

The cost of a lawnmower ranges between $80 and $500 and goes all the way up to $2,500 if you opt for a large riding mower. Since each mowing visit costs between $30 and $80, you will save money doing this yourself over the years.

What's included in lawn maintenance vs. lawn care service?

While the wording may vary from company to company, lawn maintenance typically includes all the services that keep your current healthy lawn looking sharp. Think mowing, watering, weeding, and a spring or fall cleanup.

Lawn care digs a bit deeper. These packages may include services that elevate your lawn's health or address an issue throughout the year. Fertilization, pest and weed control, and dethatching all fall into this category.

How often should you mow a lawn?

There is no set-in-stone schedule for mowing your lawn, as each grass variety grows at a different rate depending on the season. Once you determine the type of grass in your lawn and its ideal height, aim to remove no more than the top third of the blade at a time to retain its healthy structure.

In the high growing season, this will likely break down to about once a week, which is why lawn care specialists often offer weekly plans.

When should you not cut your grass?

Don’t mow your grass if it hasn’t grown more than ⅓ of its height since you last cut it. For example, if you want grass no more than 2 inches, don’t mow it until it’s 3 inches. Don’t cut your grass when wet, as it clumps together and places more stress on your mower’s blades and makes it harder for the sun to reach the turf. This can lead to mold or disease. Conversely, don’t mow when it’s too dry. But, if you do, be sure to raise your mower’s deck height by about half an inch to encourage slower growth.