The average lawn mowing cost is $123, but runs between $49 and $204, depending on yard size.
The national average price for mowing lawns is $123 per visit, though it ranges between $49 and $204. A carefully maintained yard can give your home that picture-perfect look, but caring for it is no small task. Whether you choose to mow it yourself, enlist a kid from down the street, or hire lawn mowing pros near you to handle the job, your lawn maintenance will add to the curb appeal of your home and make you glad to return home each day.
Prevent lawn mower accidents by removing yard obstacles before mowing, wearing long pants and closed-toe shoes, and avoiding contact with the machine’s hot engine. Don't forget to tune up your mower by changing the filters and replacing the blade annually.
| Lawn Size | Average Time to Cut | Average Cost |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ acre | 15–30 minutes | $15–$50 |
| ½ acre | 30–45 minutes | $25–$100 |
| ¾ acre | 45 minutes–1 hour | $40–$150 |
| 1 acre | 1–2 hours | $50–$200 |
| 2 acres | 2–4 hours | $100–$400 |
| 3 acres | 3–6 hours | $150–$600 |
| 4 acres | 4–8 hours | $200–$800 |
| 5 acres | 5–10 hours | $250–$1,000 |
| 10 acres | 10–12 hours | $500–$2,000 |
| 15 acres | 15–30 hours | $750–$3,000 |
Most lawn companies charge $50 to $200 per acre or $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot to mow a lawn. It’s fairly uncommon for lawn companies to charge by square footage for mowing and other basic lawn maintenance unless you are dealing with a very small space. In most cases, the payment structure will be based on the time it takes to mow the lawn.
Calculations based on the average time it takes to mow a medium-sized lawn of two acres, which is 2 hours. Calculations rounded to the nearest whole number.
| Quantity | Cost Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Mowing Labor Cost | 2 hours | $50–$120 |
| Total | $50–$120 | |
| Total per Acre | $25–$60 |
A common add-on service to lawn mowing is lawn edging, which involves shaping the lawn lines around features like gardens, driveways, and patios. The average cost of lawn edging is $2.50 to $11 per linear foot. Check out the estimated cost of lawn edging:
| Lawn Size in Linear Feet | Cost Range |
|---|---|
| 12 linear feet | $24–$138 |
| 32 linear feet | $64–$368 |
| 50 linear feet | $100–$575 |
| 80 linear feet | $160–$920 |
| 100 linear feet | $200–$1,150 |
| 180 linear feet | $360–$2,070 |
In addition to size, a yard’s shape, accessibility, grass type, and more will affect the mowing price. Here are several factors that can impact your average lawn mowing cost.
The shape of your yard will affect the price you can expect to pay to have a pro trim your grass. If your yard is uniquely shaped with lots of tight corners and hard-to-reach-areas, you’ll likely pay toward the higher end of the spectrum. However, if you have a straightforward yard shape, like a simple rectangular area of grass, you’ll likely pay on the lower side (depending, of course, on your yard’s size and other factors).
If your landscaper has to maneuver around obstacles, this will likely increase your total mowing costs. Slopes, awkward shapes, gardens, playground equipment, or bodies of water that should be avoided will take longer to mow and will drive up your hourly cost.
Healthier grass grows quicker, and thicker patches of grass mean more time spent mowing. The better the health and condition of your lawn, the more you’ll likely end up paying to keep it neat and trimmed.
Lawn grass type is an important (but often overlooked) factor in lawn mowing and lawn maintenance costs. Cool-season and warm-season grasses grow at different rates throughout different periods of the year, and you may need to have certain types of lawns mowed more frequently during the growing season.
If you like to keep your grass short, this will increase the frequency of visits and thus increase your average lawn mowing cost. To keep your grass healthy, only one-third of its height should be mowed at once, so you’ll want to book more frequent visits to prevent it from getting too long in between.
Every lawn is different, and the mowing schedule should be tailored accordingly. Many landscapers will offer discounts for repeat visits, or they may offer specific pricing plans to choose from.
Landscapers typically charge an average of $25 to $60 per hour for lawn care services or roughly $30 to $80 per lawn mowing service visit. Routine jobs such as weekly lawn mowing and watering are less expensive, but higher rates apply for speedy or complex jobs requiring multiple crew members. Many companies offer hourly rates in their quotes, but flat rates for labor, materials, and overhead are also common. These include transportation costs to your home, equipment maintenance, and maintenance of your lawn's unique features.
For an additional cost, most local lawn care services also offer feeding, weeding, aeration, and other upgrades if you want a next-level lawn. Remember, when you hire a local lawn mowing pro, you’re also paying for their expertise.
Your geographic location is an important factor in the final cost, as it determines the type of services you’ll need to keep your lawn healthy and beautiful. For example, areas of the country that experience all four seasons will need leaf cleanup, while southern locations with a longer growing season require more frequent visits that carry on for a longer period of time. Along with that, labor costs tend to be higher in densely-populated urban areas than in more rural parts of the country.
Here’s a look at the price of lawn mowing in 10 cities:
| City | Cost |
|---|---|
| Seattle | $130–$530 |
| Minneapolis | $40–$400 |
| Los Angeles | $50–$800 |
| New York | $80–$400 |
| Houston | $30–$400 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $30–$380 |
| Cincinnati | $30–$470 |
| Phoenix | $50–$450 |
| Milwaukee | $30–$450 |
| Baltimore | $40–$700 |
Lawn maintenance tasks like edging, weed abatement, fertilization, lawn aeration, and leaf removal will also bump up your mowing cost, if you opt for those extras. Here is a look at typical maintenance tasks that your mowing pro may offer and their costs.
| Maintenance Task | Cost |
|---|---|
| Edging | $700–$1,700 |
| Weed abatement | $35–$120 |
| Fertilization | $80–$380 |
| Aeration | $70–$190 |
| Leaf removal | $190–$540 |
Some homeowners love getting up early to mow the lawn and enjoy that fresh-cut smell all weekend. If that’s you, DIY lawn maintenance is a relatively inexpensive task—after the initial purchase of the mower.
If you have a small-ish yard, a push mower will work just fine. You can find one you power yourself or an electric or battery-operated model for under $200. Gas mowers start around $300, while ride-on mowers cost closer to $1,500 to $5,000. You also need to factor in the cost of a weed eater and leaf blower, both of which are typically between $80 and $200.
You’ll also need to factor in the cost of gas and maintaining and repairing your lawn mower.
If you decide to mow your lawn yourself, you’ll save an average of $123. But mowing a lawn can be tiring, tedious work, and it’s easy to lose track of time in between your sessions. Lawns benefit the most from consistent care, and bringing in a pro means one less thing on your to-do list to keep your outdoor space thriving and beautiful. Get in touch with a local lawn mowing company to learn more about the benefits offered by professional-grade lawn care services.
Home is the most important place on earth, which is why Angi has helped more than 150 million homeowners transform their houses into homes they adore. To help homeowners with their next project, Angi provides readers with the most accurate cost data and upholds strict editorial standards. We’ve surveyed over 30,000 real Angi customers about their project costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We pair this data with research from reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects.
Want to help us improve our cost data? Send us a recent project quote to costquotes@angi.com. Quotes and personal information will not be shared publicly.
Candace Nelson contributed to this piece.
Every lawn is different, but mowing at least once a week is a good goal to stick to. If you’re seeing a lot of rain, or if you’re fertilizing your grass, you may need to mow as often as every four days. Either way, always follow the one-third rule: Never mow more than one-third of your grass height at once, as this can weaken it and prevent it from taking in all the proper nutrients from the soil.
Lawns can be high maintenance, and therefore require regular spending if you’re not up for doing certain lawn care tasks yourself. But you can save time and money on lawn maintenance by mulching, composting, and planting species native to your area, so they keep alive with less ongoing TLC from you.
If you want to enjoy your lawn ASAP, choose sod. Laying sod costs about $1 per square foot more than the cost of seeding a lawn. Seeded lawns can take up to two years to grow in completely, while sod can immediately increase your home's curb appeal.
Lawn care is tough work—even when you hire pros, there’s no guarantee your grass won’t die (unless, of course, your company offers a guarantee). But lawn care companies don’t control the rain or watering restrictions. Your type of grass also impacts the type of care required to keep a lush lawn—and how much that care costs. Talk to a lawn care pro to determine the best times to treat your lawn based on type of grass and your climate.
