# Landscaping Contractor Pricing Guide

Canonical URL: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/landscaping-contractor-pricing-guide/
Plain text: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/landscaping-contractor-pricing-guide/llms.txt
Publisher: SimplyWise, Inc. (https://www.simplywise.com)
Published: September 1, 2026
Updated: October 5, 2026
Category: Project Cost Guides
Summary: Landscaping contractor pricing, start to finish: the wage floor, the loaded crew hour, paid drive time, and the certification gate on spray work.

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## Landscaping Contractor Pricing: Set a Rate That Holds All Season

Landscaping contractor pricing starts at the wage floor and the loaded crew hour, not at the number the shop down the road quoted.

At a glance

1. Start at the wage floor: $19.27 an hour, the May 2025 median for grounds maintenance workers.
2. Your crew hour is not that wage. Taxes, insurance, the truck, and the mowers ride on it.
3. You pay for drive time between stops during the workday, so the route has to carry it.
4. Certification gates restricted use spray work, so it never prices like mowing.
5. Season sets the shape. Crews run hardest spring through fall.
6. Price a maintenance agreement on annual crew hours, never on a per visit guess.

## Landscaping contractor pricing starts at the wage floor

Landscaping contractor pricing has a floor, and the floor is what the work pays. The median hourly wage for grounds maintenance workers was $19.27 in May 2025, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $15.01 an hour, the highest 10 percent more than $28.10.

That pool is deep, at 1,299,200 jobs in 2025. But it is not one rate, because BLS breaks the median hourly wage out by the work itself:

| Type of grounds maintenance work | Median hourly wage, May 2025 |
| --- | --- |
| Tree trimmers and pruners | $24.50 |
| Grounds maintenance workers, all other | $22.53 |
| Pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation | $22.28 |
| Landscaping and groundskeeping workers | $18.82 |

Read that spread as a map. Spraying pays more than three dollars an hour above mowing and bed work, and tree work nearly six, because both carry a credential and real risk. So price them separately.

## The crew hour is what you actually sell

Your billing rate is never the wage. Payroll taxes, workers comp, liability, the truck, the trailer, and the mowers all ride on the same hour. In short, that gap is labor burden (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/what-is-labor-burden-in-construction/).

Then there is the drive. The Fair Labor Standards Act counts travel from job site to job site during the workday as work time, per the Department of Labor. Ordinary home to work travel does not count. So a route with eight stops does not sell eight hours of mowing. It sells a crew day, and you pay for the windshield time inside it.

## Season is a pricing input, not an excuse

BLS is blunt about the calendar. Crews may be busier or work longer hours in the spring, summer, and fall. That is when planting, mowing, and trimming activities are most frequent. Some jobs are seasonal, too. Meanwhile you carry crews, insurance, and equipment payments across twelve months. So either the in season rate funds the quiet months, or your agreements spread the revenue across them.

## Spray work carries a license, so it never prices like mowing

The moment a crew applies chemicals, the job changes. Federal law requires certification for any person who applies or supervises the use of restricted use pesticides, in accordance with EPA regulations and state, territorial, and tribal laws. States do the certifying, and you need a certification in each state where you apply.

The rule sets hard terms. The minimum age is 18 for certification and for anyone using those products under direct supervision. Recertification runs on a maximum interval of five years, and noncertified applicators have to complete training first. In addition, many states require certification for every commercial applicator. So that credential is a moat, and moats belong in the price.

## Get the rate onto the page fast

Once you settle your landscaping contractor pricing, typing the estimate by hand is the slowest hour of the week. SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized, branded estimate in about 6 seconds, every line carrying a unit, quantity, and price per unit. Pricing is $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr, about $20/mo on annual, with a 7-day free trial.

## Shape the maintenance agreement before you price it

A maintenance agreement is not a discount on visits. It is a year of crew capacity sold in advance, so price it on annual crew hours.

Count the visits by service, not by month. Mowing and edging run a weekly cycle in season. Bed work and cleanups land a few times a year. Fertilizer and weed control follow their own schedule, and states may require licensing for the workers who apply them. Add those hours up, load them, add materials, then divide by twelve. Hardscape sits outside this, and our hardscape pricing guide (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/hardscape-pricing-guide/) covers patios, walls, and pavers.

## Build your landscaping contractor pricing in this order

1. Start at the loaded crew hour Take the wages you pay, add taxes, insurance, vehicles, trailers, and equipment, then divide by the hours the crew can truly bill.
2. Price the route, not the stop Build the whole crew day, paid drive time included, then spread it across the stops it serves.
3. Split out the gated services Spraying and tree work carry credentials and higher wages. Give each its own rate, not a line buried in a mow price.
4. Apply margin last Margin goes on after labor, materials, and fees are on the page. Applied earlier, it hides a cost you forgot.

## Keep reading

- How to Estimate Landscaping Jobs (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/how-to-estimate-landscaping-jobs/)
- Free Landscaping Estimate Template (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/landscaping-estimate-template/)
- What Is Overhead in Construction? (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/what-is-overhead-in-construction/)

## Sources

- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.htm) (grounds maintenance and detailed occupation medians in table 1; released May 15, 2026, verified 2026-09-01).
- BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Grounds Maintenance Workers (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/building-and-grounds-cleaning/grounds-maintenance-workers.htm) (wage percentiles, employment, and work schedules; verified 2026-09-01).
- EPA, How to Get Certified as a Pesticide Applicator (https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/how-get-certified-pesticide-applicator) (who must be certified; verified 2026-08-21).
- EPA, Certification Standards for Pesticide Applicators (https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/certification-standards-pesticide-applicators) (minimum age and recertification; verified 2026-08-21).
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 22: Hours Worked Under the FLSA (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/22-flsa-hours-worked) (travel between job sites; verified 2026-08-21).
- SimplyWise Cost Estimator, App Store (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simplywise-cost-estimator/id6670619664) (4.8 rating; verified 2026-08-21).

## Landscaping contractor pricing: common questions

**What should landscaping contractor pricing start from?**

Your loaded cost per billable crew hour, not the wage. The median hourly wage for grounds maintenance workers was $19.27 in May 2025 per BLS, and burden rides on top.

**Do I have to pay for drive time between stops?**

Yes. The FLSA counts travel from job site to job site during the workday as work time, so it goes on the clock.

**Does my crew need a license to spray?**

For restricted use pesticides, yes. Federal law requires certification for anyone who applies or supervises their use, and states do the certifying.

**How often does a certified applicator recertify?**

The federal rule sets a maximum recertification interval of five years for commercial and private applicators, and the minimum age for certification is 18.

**How should I price a maintenance agreement?**

Count the visits by service across a full year, convert them to crew hours, load those hours, add materials, then divide by twelve.

**Can SimplyWise price a landscaping job from a photo?**

Yes. SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized, branded estimate in about 6 seconds. Free to try, at $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr.

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## About SimplyWise

SimplyWise, Inc. (New York, NY) builds mobile apps for contractors, tradespeople, and small business owners. The SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a job site photo into an itemized estimate with labor and material costs in about 6 seconds, and the client signs the branded quote to approve it. It is rated 4.8 on the App Store. It is free to try with a 7-day free trial, then $29.99 per month or $239.99 per year (about $20 per month on the annual plan), and one subscription includes every app in the SimplyWise suite.

- Download: https://www.simplywise.com/download
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