A compiled reference of 38 verified statistics on lawn care and landscaping in rental property, spanning what monthly service and each individual job costs, how often each grass type needs mowing, what a landscaper charges by the hour and by city, and the federal figures on outdoor water use, irrigation waste and controller savings. Every figure is drawn from a named public source, Angi for pricing and the US Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense program for water, and independently checked against the original before publishing.
Key statistics
6 highlights from this report
Key statistics
Key takeaways
The yard is the cheapest trade on this site and the one with the largest hidden line. Lawn care is $300 a month and mowing $50 to $205 a visit, predictable and priced by area. But the water that keeps it green is more than 30 percent of a home's total use, up to 60 percent in dry markets, and the EPA says half of it is wasted. For a rental, the landscaping invoice and the water bill are the same budget, and the second one is usually the larger.
Lawn care costs $300 a month on average, in a normal range of $100 to $500
Outdoor use is more than 30% of a home's water, and up to 60% in arid regions
As much as 50% of outdoor water is lost to inefficient irrigation
Lawn mowing costs $50 to $205 a service, or $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot
US homes use nearly 9 billion gallons a day outdoors, mainly for irrigation
A smart irrigation controller cuts irrigation water use by up to 30%, or 15,000 gallons a year
Monthly lawn care cost, by city
According to Angi (angi.com), average monthly lawn care cost across twelve US metros runs from $100 to $400 at the low end to $135 to $550 at the high end. Highlighted cells are the three most expensive markets.
Source: Angi lawn care cost guide, average cost per month by location (2026). Highlighted: Boston, New York, Honolulu and Houston, the four markets with a top-of-range figure of $500 or more.
How we built this report
Every figure below was compiled in August 2026 from named public sources and checked against the original document before publishing.
- Compiled from primary sources
A published contractor pricing guide, and the federal water-efficiency program's published statistics on outdoor water use.
- Only explicitly stated figures
We include only numbers a named source states directly, and attribute each one inline where it appears. Where we do arithmetic on top of a cited figure it is labelled as a worked example with the inputs shown.
- Vintage stated
The pricing guide was updated July 2026 and is human-authored. The EPA figures are from the program's current statistics page; where the EPA has revised a figure since an earlier publication, the current figure is used.
- Independent review
Written by one co-founder, reviewed by the other before publishing.
Scope caveat: contractor cost figures are guide-level national ranges, not an audited survey, and vary by market, lot size and season. The EPA figures describe US households broadly; rentals are not separately identified. Pool and hot tub upkeep is covered in our pool and hot tub maintenance research and is not repeated here.
Rental lawn care and landscaping, by the numbers
All 38 figures, grouped by theme, each from a named public source and independently verified against the original.
What lawn care costs
According to Angi (angi.com), whose lawn care guide was updated in July 2026, lawn care costs $300 a month on average, in a normal range of $100 to $500, with a low of $50 and a high of $6,020 for a full landscaping project. Basic maintenance on a standard residential property runs $100 to $500 a month, and simple tasks such as mowing, fertilization and leaf removal fall in that band. Mowing itself is $50 to $205 a service, priced at $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot or $50 to $200 per acre, and moved by lawn shape, grass type, condition and access.
Statistic 1
Lawn care costs $300 on average, with a low of $50 and a high of $6,020.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 2
Basic lawn maintenance costs $100 to $500 per month on a standard residential property.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 3
Lawn mowing costs $50 to $205 per service.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 4
Most lawn care companies charge $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot, or $50 to $200 per acre, for mowing.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 5
Lawn shape, grass type, condition and accessibility all move the mowing price.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 6
Lawn care labor runs $35 to $190 per hour depending on the service, with the average $35 to $70 per hour.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 7
Most professionals charge a monthly fee for ongoing service and an hourly or per-service rate for one-time visits; monthly or weekly plans cost less than one-off calls.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 8
Tree stump removal, a common prep item, costs $175 to $500; a lawn in poor condition needs paid pre-maintenance before a plan starts.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 9
Monthly lawn care runs $100 to $400 in Miami and Phoenix, $135 to $550 in Boston and $130 to $525 in New York.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 10
Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and Seattle all run $110 to $115 at the low end and $450 at the high end per month; Honolulu and Houston $120 to $125 up to $500.
Angi (2026)
Worked example
A quarter-acre lot is about 10,890 square feet. At Angi's $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot, one mow is $109 to $653, or $50 to $200 on the per-acre basis, per RapidEye Research. On a weekly warm-season schedule over a 30-week season, that is 30 mows, so the per-square-foot method and the flat $50 to $205 per-service figure diverge widely on a big lot; which one a quote uses is the first thing to establish.
What this means: lawn care is the one trade here where the recurring plan is cheaper than the call, and by a lot; Angi's own line is that monthly or weekly costs less than one-time service. For a rental portfolio the operating rule follows directly: put every lot on a plan, batch the visits, and treat a one-off cleanup call as the expensive exception it is.
What individual services cost
According to Angi (angi.com), the seasonal and one-off jobs range widely: aeration $75 to $200, fertilizing $71 to $380, weed removal $35 to $400, dethatching $160 to $225, seeding $440 to $1,750, hydroseeding $500 to $1,910, sod installation $1,070 to $3,000, flower bed installation $800 to $3,000, leaf removal $300 to $600, yard cleanup $190 to $1,000, lawn winterization $100 to $400, tree trimming $270 to $1,800, shrub and hedge trimming $450 to $1,420, mulching $30 to $150 a cubic yard, and a full landscaping project $1,260 to $6,020. Irrigation sits at the top: a sprinkler system is $1,665 to $3,550 to install and drip irrigation $200 to $850.
Statistic 11
Aeration costs $75 to $200; fertilizing $71 to $380; dethatching $160 to $225.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 12
Weed removal costs $35 to $400.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 13
Seeding costs $440 to $1,750; hydroseeding $500 to $1,910; sod installation $1,070 to $3,000.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 14
Flower bed installation costs $800 to $3,000; mulching $30 to $150 per cubic yard.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 15
Leaf removal costs $300 to $600; yard cleanup $190 to $1,000; lawn winterization $100 to $400.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 16
Tree trimming costs $270 to $1,800; shrub, bush and hedge trimming $450 to $1,420.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 17
A full landscaping project costs $1,260 to $6,020, from flower beds to lighting to a fountain.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 18
A sprinkler system costs $1,665 to $3,550 to install; a drip irrigation system $200 to $850.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 19
Hydroseeding sprays seed, fertilizer, water and mulch through a pressurised hose and can grow a lawn in under a month.
Angi (2026)
Worked example
A rental's annual seasonal stack at Angi's ranges, one aeration, one fertilizing, one leaf removal and one winterization, is $546 to $1,580 a year on top of mowing, per RapidEye Research. Add a spring cleanup at $190 to $1,000 and the seasonal work alone can match a full year of $100 to $500 monthly mowing.
What this means: mowing is the visible cost and the seasonal stack is the real one. The items that most affect how a listing photographs, cleanup, mulch, hedge trimming, are also the ones priced as one-offs, which is exactly the pricing structure Angi says to avoid. Folding them into the plan is the saving.
How often a lawn needs mowing
According to Angi (angi.com), mowing frequency is set by grass type, and grass type is set by climate: warm-season grasses need weekly mowing, Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia and Centipede, while Bahia is weekly or twice a month; cool-season grasses, Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, Ryegrass and Carpet, need it roughly twice a month. Faster-growing grass means more visits and higher total cost.
Statistic 20
Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia and Centipede grasses need weekly mowing.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 21
Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, Ryegrass and Carpet grasses need mowing about twice a month; Bahia weekly or twice a month.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 22
Grass that grows faster needs more frequent mowing and raises total cost; slower grasses need less.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 23
Plans can be weekly, biweekly, seasonal or yearly, and ongoing plans cost less per visit than one-time service.
Angi (2026)
Worked example
A weekly warm-season lawn over a 30-week season is 30 mows; a twice-monthly cool-season lawn over the same season is about 15. At Angi's $50 to $205 a mow, that is $1,500 to $6,150 against $750 to $3,075, per RapidEye Research. The grass type in a Sunbelt rental roughly doubles the mowing bill of a northern one on the same lot.
What this means: the same markets where short-term rentals cluster, Florida, Texas, Arizona, the Carolinas, are warm-season grass markets, so the rental yard is on the weekly schedule by default. That is also where outdoor water use runs highest, which is the next section.
How much water the yard uses
This is the line the landscaping invoice does not show. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense program (epa.gov), outdoor water use accounts for more than 30 percent of total household water use on average, and as much as 60 percent in arid regions. Residential outdoor use across the country is nearly 9 billion gallons a day, mainly for landscape irrigation, and as much as 50 percent of it is lost to wind, evaporation and runoff caused by inefficient irrigation methods and systems.
Statistic 24
Outdoor water use accounts for more than 30 percent of total household water use on average.
US EPA WaterSense
Statistic 25
In arid regions outdoor use can be as much as 60 percent of total household water use.
US EPA WaterSense
Statistic 26
Residential outdoor water use across the US is nearly 9 billion gallons a day, mainly for landscape irrigation.
US EPA WaterSense
Statistic 27
As much as 50 percent of the water used outdoors is lost to wind, evaporation and runoff caused by inefficient irrigation.
US EPA WaterSense
Statistic 28
Replacing a clock-based controller with a WaterSense labeled irrigation controller can reduce an average home's irrigation water use by up to 30 percent.
US EPA WaterSense
Statistic 29
A WaterSense labeled irrigation controller can save an average home up to 15,000 gallons of water annually.
US EPA WaterSense
Statistic 30
The average family can waste 180 gallons a week, or 9,400 gallons a year, from household leaks.
US EPA WaterSense
Statistic 31
Household leaks waste nearly 900 billion gallons of water annually nationwide.
US EPA WaterSense
Worked example
If more than 30 percent of a home's water goes outdoors and as much as half of that is wasted, then up to 15 percent of the whole household water bill is irrigation loss, per RapidEye Research (30 percent times 50 percent), and up to 30 percent in an arid market at the 60 percent outdoor share. A WaterSense controller's 15,000 gallons a year saved is the EPA's own measure of how much of that is recoverable.
What this means: the water bill is a landscaping cost. In the arid markets where the outdoor share reaches 60 percent, a rental's yard can be the largest single use of water on the property, and half of it may be running down the driveway. Angi prices a smart controller as part of a $1,665 to $3,550 sprinkler install; the EPA prices what it saves.
The yard and the listing
According to Angi (angi.com), professional lawn care boosts curb appeal and property value, and the guide's own framing is that the yard is what a visitor sees first. For a rental that is literally true: the exterior is the first photo in the listing and the first thing a guest walks past. The cost figures on this page are small; the seasonal stack and the water are where the money is; and the operational fact is that a yard, unlike a roof or a water heater, is inspected by every guest on arrival.
Statistic 32
Hiring a lawn care professional boosts curb appeal and property value.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 33
Lawn size and grass type determine how often mowing is needed and which services suit the yard.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 34
Prep work such as stump removal and add-ons such as sprinkler repairs belong in the project budget.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 35
Aeration lets water and air reach roots by punching hundreds of small holes; the price depends on lawn size and treatment type.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 36
Weed removal cost depends on yard size, method, labor, access and lawn condition.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 37
Fertilizing cost depends on yard size, fertilizer type and any bundled services.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 38
Landscaping cost depends on project scope, yard size, materials, prep, permits and whether a landscape designer or architect is hired.
Angi (2026)
What this means: for a rental, landscaping is a photography budget with a water bill attached. Every figure on this page is small next to a roof or a water heater, which is why it is the trade most often left off a maintenance plan and the one a guest judges first. Our guest complaint research covers what that first impression turns into.
Cite this study
Academic or press use: copy a ready-made reference. RapidEye is the publisher.
Quick FAQ
How much does lawn care cost per month?
Lawn care costs $300 a month on average, in a normal range of $100 to $500, with a low of $50 and a high of $6,020 for full landscaping, according to Angi's 2026 cost guide. Basic maintenance runs $100 to $500 a month on a standard residential property. By city, monthly cost runs from $100 to $400 in Miami and Phoenix up to $135 to $550 in Boston.
How much does lawn mowing cost?
Lawn mowing costs $50 to $205 per service, according to Angi, with most companies charging $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot or $50 to $200 per acre. Warm-season grasses such as Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia and Centipede need weekly mowing; cool-season grasses such as Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass and Ryegrass need it roughly twice a month.
What do individual landscaping services cost?
Aeration $75 to $200, fertilizing $71 to $380, weed removal $35 to $400, dethatching $160 to $225, seeding $440 to $1,750, sod $1,070 to $3,000, leaf removal $300 to $600, yard cleanup $190 to $1,000, tree trimming $270 to $1,800, hedge trimming $450 to $1,420, mulching $30 to $150 per cubic yard, and lawn winterization $100 to $400, according to Angi. Full landscaping projects run $1,260 to $6,020.
How much of a home's water goes to the yard?
Outdoor water use accounts for more than 30 percent of total household water use on average, and as much as 60 percent in arid regions, according to the US EPA's WaterSense program. Residential outdoor use nationally is nearly 9 billion gallons a day, mainly for landscape irrigation, and as much as 50 percent of it is lost to wind, evaporation and runoff from inefficient irrigation.
What does an irrigation system cost and save?
A sprinkler system costs $1,665 to $3,550 to install and a drip irrigation system $200 to $850, according to Angi. Replacing a clock-based controller with a WaterSense labeled irrigation controller can cut an average home's irrigation water use by up to 30 percent and save up to 15,000 gallons a year, according to the US EPA.
What does a landscaper charge per hour?
Lawn care labor runs $35 to $190 per hour depending on the service, with the average $35 to $70 per hour, according to Angi. Most professionals charge a monthly fee for ongoing service and an hourly or per-service rate for one-time visits, and monthly or weekly plans cost less than one-off calls.
Data sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these named public sources, each checked against the original document before publishing.
AngiLawn care cost guide, by service, grass type, labor and city (2026)angi.com
US Environmental Protection AgencyWaterSense program statistics on outdoor water use, irrigation efficiency and household leaksepa.gov