Fall Leaf Cleanup Pricing: Hourly vs Per-Yard vs Per-Bag (2026)

Fall cleanup is the most unpredictable job on the calendar. Two lots of the same size can take 45 minutes or four hours depending on how many oaks overhang them and whether you get there before or after the big drop. That is why pricing it the same way you price weekly mowing usually loses money.

This guide lays out the three common ways to price leaf cleanups, what the published numbers are for each, and how to combine them into one quote a homeowner will approve.

What the market is paying

Start with the totals homeowners see when they search. These are national consumer ranges, so treat them as a reality check, not your price sheet.

Source	Typical price	Range
LawnStarter, leaf removal	about $170 LawnStarter	$115–$925 by yard size LawnStarter
Fixr, leaf clean-up	$300 national average Fixr	$150–$550 Fixr
Lawn Love, leaf removal	$172 per visit Lawn Love	$79–$326 Lawn Love
Housecall Pro, fall cleanup (leaf vacuuming, pruning, disposal)	—	$125–$570 Housecall Pro
Fixr, full fall clean-up	—	$200–$500 Fixr

Notice the gap between "leaf removal" and "fall cleanup." A fall cleanup usually also includes cutting back perennials, clearing beds, and a final mow. Jobber's list of what goes into a fall cleanup includes leaf and debris removal, removing dead plants, garden bed cleanup, and pruning Jobber. Decide which one you are selling and name it on the estimate.

Option 1: Hourly pricing

Consumer guides publish hourly rates by method:

Method	Hourly rate
Blowing	$15–$45 LawnStarter
Raking	$25–$50 LawnStarter
Vacuuming	$37–$60 LawnStarter; $30–$60 Fixr

Those are the numbers a homeowner sees, and they look like per-person rates. For a business with a truck, insurance, and a backpack blower on every worker, they are a floor, not a target.

Pros. You never lose money on a lot that turns out to be buried. It is the safest way to price a first-time customer you have not seen.

Cons. Homeowners hate open-ended bills, especially on a job where they cannot see the work in advance. Hourly also punishes you for being fast. If you buy a bigger blower or a leaf loader, the customer gets a cheaper bill and you get nothing.

How to set your hourly number. Work backward from cost. Add up your monthly truck, fuel, insurance, equipment, and labor, divide by the billable crew-hours you expect in the month, then add your margin. If that number lands well above the published range, your customers will compare you with solo operators, so lean on flat pricing instead.

Option 2: Flat price by yard size ("per-yard")

This is the model most consumer guides report, and the one homeowners expect.

Lot size	LawnStarter	Fixr
1/6 acre	$115–$185	$50–$150
1/4 acre	$160–$290	$95–$250
1/2 acre	$230–$475	$225–$400
3/4 acre	$305–$710	$270–$600
1 acre	$410–$925	$400–$700

Sources: LawnStarter, Fixr. Fixr also lists $400–$700 per acre for large properties Fixr.

Lot size alone is not enough. The real driver is leaf volume, which depends on tree cover. A simple fix is to quote from lot size and then apply a tree-cover multiplier you set yourself:

• Light (a few young trees, leaves mostly on the lawn): base price
• Moderate (several mature trees, leaves in beds and on the lawn): base × 1.3
• Heavy (canopy over most of the lot, leaves piled against fences and in beds): base × 1.6 or more

Those multipliers are a starting point, not a published standard. Track your actual hours per job this season and adjust them for next year.

Measure the lawn, not the lot. A 1/4-acre parcel with a big house and driveway may have less than half that in turf and beds. AboveYard's free Lawn Size Calculator traces the yard from satellite imagery, and the satellite view also shows you how much canopy covers it, which is the number that actually predicts leaf volume. For more on measuring remotely, see how to measure a lawn from satellite.

Option 3: Per-bag pricing

Per-bag pricing shows up two ways.

As a disposal fee. Published disposal charges run $5–$10 per bag on top of labor LawnStarter, and Fixr lists the same $5–$10 per bag across blowing, raking, and vacuuming Fixr. This is the honest use of per-bag pricing. It covers bags, loading time, and dump or yard-waste fees, and it scales with volume.

As the whole price. Some operators quote only by bag. It sounds simple, but you cannot count bags before you start, so the customer cannot approve a number in advance. It also rewards stuffing bags loosely. Use it for curbside pickup jobs, where Fixr lists a leaf pickup service at $30–$50 Fixr, and for overage beyond the quote.

Which model to use

Situation	Best model
Recurring mowing customer, you know the lot	Flat price by yard size + tree-cover multiplier
New customer, no photos	Flat price from satellite measurement, with a stated cap on bags or hours
Overgrown or neglected property	Hourly with a not-to-exceed number
Leaves already piled at the curb	Per bag
Large or commercial property	Per acre

Most crews end up with a hybrid: a flat price for the visit, a disposal line, and a written note that heavy cover beyond the quote is billed per bag. That keeps the estimate predictable and protects you from the 40-bag surprise.

Minimums and multiple visits

Set a minimum. LawnStarter reports a typical $80 minimum per visit LawnStarter, and Fixr lists minimum flat rates of $75–$200 Fixr. Your minimum should cover drive time, unloading, and blowing out beds on the smallest lot you serve.

Leaves rarely drop all at once. Jobber notes that clearing leaves "often requires multiple visits" and recommends selling leaf removal inside a lawn care contract Jobber. Consumer guides show what homeowners pay over a season:

Package	Annual price
One-time visit	$200–$850 LawnStarter
Quarterly	$250–$750 LawnStarter
Monthly	$300–$900 LawnStarter
Biweekly	$1,000–$1,500 LawnStarter

A clean way to sell this is a two- or three-visit fall package priced as one number. It locks in your route density for the busiest weeks of the year.

Offer a cheaper mulching tier

Not every lot needs a haul-away. Virginia Tech Extension notes that "a depth of up to 6 inches of leaves can be successfully mulched at a time," and cites Purdue research finding mulched leaves had no undesirable effects on turf quality, thatch, or weeds Virginia Tech Extension. Fixr lists leaf mulching at $50–$150 Fixr.

That makes a natural good-better-best quote: mulch-mow only, cleanup with disposal, and full fall cleanup with beds and cutbacks. See good-better-best pricing for lawn care for how to lay that out.

A worked quote

A customer sends an address. The satellite view shows about 7,000 sq ft of lawn and beds, with three mature maples over the back half (moderate cover).

• Base price: you price a lot this size at $200
• Tree-cover multiplier: $200 × 1.3 = $260
• Disposal: estimate 15 bags × $6 = $90, priced inside the $5–$10 range
• Quote: $350, with a note that bags beyond 20 are $6 each

Check it: $350 sits inside Fixr's $150–$550 range and inside Housecall Pro's $125–$570 fall cleanup range. Add a second visit in three weeks at a lower price, since most of the heavy drop is already gone, and you have a two-visit package.

For more on building rates from your costs, see how to price lawn care jobs, and for chasing quotes that go quiet, lawn care estimate follow-up scripts.

Sources

• LawnStarter – How Much Does Leaf Removal Cost in 2026?
• Fixr – Leaf Clean-Up Cost
• Lawn Love – Leaf Removal Cost
• Housecall Pro – Lawn Mowing Cost & Prices 2026
• Jobber – Fall & Winter Landscaping Services
• Virginia Tech Extension – "Leave" Them Alone: Lawn Leaf Management