Industry knowledge base · Home & building
A tight mowing route can give a landscape business a dependable base. Bigger jobs work differently: each one has to earn back its labor, materials and equipment time on its own.
The market
2022 revenue for residential landscaping services reported by businesses with paid employees, across industries the Census covers. This is not total landscaping revenue or mowing-only spend. 2022 Economic Census product revenue download
Share of U.S. consumer units that reported spending on gardening and lawn-care services in a typical quarterly interview period in 2025. Not the annual share. 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics expenditure tables
LawnStarter’s average across more than 2 million jobs in its 2025 report. This is a platform benchmark, not the going rate in every neighborhood or a crew’s pay. LawnStarter 2025 platform mowing data
The customer
Recurring mowing and edging can put stops on a predictable schedule. Yard size, gates and obstacles change the work even if homes look similar from the street.
A seasonal cleanup, mulch installation or bed renovation needs a defined scope. Disposal and materials can turn a healthy-looking ticket into a thin job.
One account can mean several sites and a regular schedule. These jobs can also require insurance documentation, inspections and backup coverage.
| Older survey finding | Measured result |
|---|---|
| Purchasers nationwide | $190 median annual spending |
| Purchasers, Midwest | $148 median annual spending |
| Purchasers, Northeast | $229 median annual spending |
Not current contract prices or per-visit prices. The study estimated 2021 second-half figures. Cui et al., HortTechnology (2023)
Local market comparison
These figures show where qualifying landscaping businesses without paid employees reported receipts and how much they brought in as a group. They include residential and commercial landscaping. They are not household budgets, market-share estimates or operator profits.
| State | Establishments | Gross receipts |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 13,588 | $394.5M |
| Alaska | 662 | $21.7M |
| Arizona | 9,614 | $517.6M |
| Arkansas | 7,160 | $212.4M |
| California | 50,994 | $2,017.1M |
| Colorado | 7,324 | $389.8M |
| Connecticut | 5,457 | $317.9M |
| Delaware | 1,385 | $63.5M |
| District of Columbia | 223 | $6.7M |
| Florida | 52,323 | $2,136.1M |
| Georgia | 32,209 | $1,127.0M |
| Hawaii | 2,658 | $110.6M |
| Idaho | 2,420 | $107.4M |
| Illinois | 14,586 | $478.7M |
| Indiana | 10,493 | $347.9M |
| Iowa | 4,495 | $136.7M |
| Kansas | 4,515 | $140.5M |
| Kentucky | 7,696 | $236.2M |
| Louisiana | 14,635 | $320.4M |
| Maine | 3,033 | $123.7M |
| Maryland | 7,961 | $344.6M |
| Massachusetts | 7,393 | $432.8M |
| Michigan | 17,300 | $556.6M |
| Minnesota | 5,879 | $232.8M |
| Mississippi | 10,133 | $229.1M |
| Missouri | 10,482 | $340.1M |
| Montana | 1,410 | $55.3M |
| Nebraska | 2,900 | $98.1M |
| Nevada | 2,831 | $118.2M |
| New Hampshire | 1,997 | $107.3M |
| New Jersey | 7,190 | $385.4M |
| New Mexico | 1,922 | $61.7M |
| New York | 15,009 | $630.7M |
| North Carolina | 24,341 | $918.2M |
| North Dakota | 939 | $25.7M |
| Ohio | 16,999 | $590.8M |
| Oklahoma | 8,209 | $289.3M |
| Oregon | 4,413 | $191.2M |
| Pennsylvania | 13,911 | $598.4M |
| Rhode Island | 1,152 | $48.4M |
| South Carolina | 13,784 | $505.6M |
| South Dakota | 1,157 | $31.8M |
| Tennessee | 17,799 | $594.9M |
| Texas | 62,230 | $2,086.7M |
| Utah | 3,323 | $155.1M |
| Vermont | 1,695 | $68.0M |
| Virginia | 13,619 | $491.5M |
| Washington | 6,595 | $269.3M |
| West Virginia | 2,184 | $56.7M |
| Wisconsin | 7,054 | $281.7M |
| Wyoming | 689 | $24.7M |
NAICS 56173 includes landscaping beyond mowing. State-level residential-only revenue was unavailable in the product table used here. 2024 Census Nonemployer Statistics
The owner math
This is the 45-cuts-a-week example at $54 per paid cut. But a route works only if enough jobs are close together and the crew can keep up when it rains.
| Setup | Paid cuts / four weeks | Gross sales | After modeled direct cost | What it takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neighborhood route | 60 | $3,240 | $1,440 | 15 cuts/week · 11¼ crew-clock hrs/week |
| One full route | 180 | $9,720 | $4,320 | 45 cuts/week · 33¾ crew-clock hrs/week |
| Two full routes | 360 | $19,440 | $8,640 | 90 cuts/week · 67½ combined crew-clock hrs/week |
Assumes 30 minutes on-site and 15 minutes in transit per cut. Direct cost assumes $24 labor allowance (including the owner’s time where applicable) plus $6 fuel and equipment wear. These are inputs, not cost benchmarks. A crew clock-hour becomes two paid labor-hours with two people; if costs rise, the amount left falls. Excludes fixed overhead, insurance, taxes, breakdowns and weather downtime. This is not profit or take-home pay.
Sources reviewed November 2026. The owner scenario is a model, not a record of actual earnings.