Lawn Aeration Cost

Aeration typically runs $107–$202 (LawnStarter). Enter the lawn's size for its row, then check your own price against it.

Measure a Lawn

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Lawn area

Measured area (sq ft)

Enter the turf only, from a satellite trace or a plot plan, with the house, drive and beds already taken out. One acre is 43,560 sq ft.

The job

Service

Enter the lawn's area above, in square feet or acres, to see what a visit sells for.

The parcel is not the lawn: the house, drive and beds come out of it. Trace just the turf on satellite imagery and quote the grass you will actually cut.

US national prices, checked 29 October 2026. They are the market's range, not your rate.

Aeration Prices by Lawn Size

Per visit, as LawnStarter publishes it. LawnStarter prices sizes, not bands; we price a lawn between two rows at the larger one. The table stops at one acre; past that, price from your machine's production rate.

Aeration
Lawn size	Price, per visit
Up to 500 sq ft	$35–$63
500 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft	$53–$175
1,000 sq ft to ⅛ acre	$75–$118
⅛ acre to ¼ acre	$116–$191
¼ acre to ½ acre	$162–$250
½ acre to 1 acre	$392–$550

Core, Spike or Liquid, and the Overseed

Lawn Love puts the national average visit at $104 to $195. Add overseeding and LawnStarter's customers paid $315 on average for a quarter acre.

Core: $94–$230 a visit
Pulls plugs of soil; the one extensions recommend.
Spike: $62–$225 a visit
Punches holes without removing soil; Iowa State says to avoid it, as it compacts the soil.
Liquid: $90–$145 a visit
A spray, no machine on the lawn.

How Much to Charge for Aeration

The machine sets the time. Makers print a maximum rate: full speed, no turns, no overlap. Real lawns with beds, trees and a gate run well under it, so time a few of your own before you trust any figure.

Two machines, at the maker's maximum
Aerator	¼ acre	List price
Bobcat AE19walk-behind, 19 in	23 min	$3,999
Bobcat AE30Sstand-on, 30 in	7 min	$13,209

Then the visit is unloading, marking the sprinkler heads, the passes, cleanup and the drive, at your crew's hourly cost with your margin on top. Put those in the calculator above under “Your price for one visit”.

When to Sell It, and How Often

Aerate while the grass grows fast: spring or fall for cool-season lawns (Iowa State names September and April for bluegrass), late spring to early summer for warm-season lawns. Nebraska Extension recommends 20 to 40 holes per square foot; Iowa State calls for cores about ¾ inch across and 3 inches long.

Your mowing list is the easiest place to sell it: you already know the lawn's size, so the quote is ready before you ask.

The Row Comes From the Size, So Measure the Turf

The jump from the ¼-acre row to the ½-acre row is a different price. A lot size from the county puts the house and the drive in the lawn and can quote the wrong row.

In SurfaceMeasure's Lawn mode you search the address, trace the lawn, cut out the house, drive and beds, and pick Aeration on the result card for this range before you price the job. Or work it by hand with the lawn square footage calculator.

Aeration Price Questions

Pricing by size, overseeding, new sod and how often.

Usually not. LawnStarter says companies usually charge by the square foot only for a really small yard, and Lawn Love notes many have set rates for different sized yards. Price by size, then check the per-visit number covers the drive and setup on the smallest lawns.

Nebraska Extension overseeds Kentucky bluegrass at around 2 lb per 1,000 sq ft and tall fescue at 3 to 4 lb; Illinois Extension suggests 3 to 5 lb for fescue and ryegrass. Price the seed from the lawn's measured area, not the lot.

Not right away. Purdue says to wait until the sod is securely rooted, typically at least 2 months after it is laid. After that it helps: Purdue calls core aeration a good idea on new sod, especially on new construction where the topsoil was not replaced.

Once a year on well-drained soil with little traffic. Iowa State calls for twice a year on heavy clay and under heavy foot or pet traffic, and Nebraska 2 to 3 times a year for turf that drains poorly, but only once every 2 to 3 years on silt loam and maybe never on sand. The heavy-use lawns are a recurring line on the account.