Determine the hourly rate for your employees or subcontractors. Multiply that rate by the estimated time for each task to arrive at a labor cost estimate. Find out the cost of materials needed for each task. Add those costs to the labor cost estimate to arrive at a total cost estimate for the job.
To calculate the size, measure the length and the width of your project area. Multiply those two numbers to come up with the square footage of your coverage area.
This job requires not only a deep understanding of landscaping techniques and materials but also proficiency in budget management and cost estimation software. Landscape estimators must communicate effectively with clients, architects, and contractors to ensure the accurate and efficient execution of projects.
A regular landscape designer charges $50 to $150 per hour. You will need to pay more for a highly skilled designer or a reputable design firm with many successes. Newer designers just starting out aren't necessarily worse than old pros, but their rates tend to be lower.
You can charge between $25 and $60 per hour for lawn mowing, or $50 to $250 per service. If you're pricing by lawn size, you can charge between $50 to $200 per acre, or $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot. To set your pricing, find out how much competitors in your area are charging.
Measure the length and width (for rectangles) or base and height (for triangles) of each section, calculate their individual areas, and then add all the sections together to determine the total square footage of your lawn.
Add up your weekly overhead costs. Divide that amount by the average number of labor hours per week. Add that amount to the job cost based on the number of hours you think the job will take.
Landscapers charge $50 to $100 per hour for a 2-person crew, or $25 to $50 per person. Landscaping costs $4 to $12 per square foot for basic services. Small landscaping projects cost $300 to $800 while large jobs cost $2,000 to $4,000 on average.
Whether or not you disclose your budget is up to you, but it can help your project in the long run. If your contractor doesn't know your budget, they can't give you the best advice on allocating your time and money.
Put together a comprehensive bid
This includes quantifying services and materials required, estimated labor costs, total project cost, and timeline. Make sure your pricing reflects the value you bring to the job and do not underestimate or overestimate any aspect of the project.
The following steps outline how to calculate the Price Per Yard. First, determine the price ($). Next, determine the total length (yd). Next, gather the formula from above = PPyd = P / L.
Let's say your front lawn measures 100 feet long by 50 feet wide. We know from the formula above that this equals 5,000 square feet in area (100' x 50').
The deed or other documents in your purchasing paperwork should have a description that can help you determine the size if it does not explicitly say what size the lot is.
For an easy pricing guide, try the 10% rule where you price whatever item it is that you're selling for 10% of its original cost. So, if you bought that lamp for $20 at Target five years ago, try to sell it for $2.
As of Jan 29, 2025, the average hourly pay for a Yard Worker in California is $17.16 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $22.06 and as low as $11.39, the majority of Yard Worker salaries currently range between $15.19 (25th percentile) to $18.99 (75th percentile) in California.
Is Tipping a Landscaper Mandatory? Again, tipping your local landscaper is not mandatory—and it's uncommon after one-time jobs or routine lawn services. Most landscapers don't expect tips at all, but the standard tip is an annual or seasonal bonus. At the end of the day, there's no hard and fast rule.
State-by-state average Landscaper salaries
To illustrate, landscapers working in California earn $38,638 on average, whereas landscapers earn $35,132 in New Jersey and $30,461 in Florida.
Experts say a landscape salesperson should be paid about 8% of what they sell. So, if their goal were $700,000 in sales, they would make $56,000 – assuming they met the target. If you went with the salary/commission approach, you would create a base salary and commission that combined to equal 8 percent of the goal.