Snow Removal Rates
Commercial plowing rates per hour, per push, per inch and per season, so you can check your rate sheet against the market before you bid this winter.
- Lot plowing
- $50-$200 / hr
- Per visit
- $60-$150
- Per event, 50k+ sq ft
- $300-$600+
- Per season
- $2,000-$10,000
Commercial parking lots. HomeGuide and Trillium Facility Solutions; sources at the foot of the page.
Snow Plowing Rates by Billing Model
The rates published for commercial snow work in the US, one line per way it is billed. Use them to check your own number, not to replace it: your machine, crew and overhead set your rate.
| Rate | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Parking lot plowingHomeGuide | $50-$200 an hour | HomeGuide |
| Commercial, per visitHomeGuide | $60-$150 | HomeGuide |
| Per event, lot under 10,000 sq ftTrillium | $75-$150 | Trillium |
| Per event, lot over 50,000 sq ftTrillium | $300-$600+ | Trillium |
| Billed per inch of snowfallTrillium | $3-$10 an inch | Trillium |
| Sidewalks, by hand or blowerHomeGuide | $25-$75 an hour | HomeGuide |
| Hauling snow off siteHomeGuide | $80-$200 an hour | HomeGuide |
| SaltingHomeGuide | $150-$350 an acre | HomeGuide |
| Seasonal commercial contractTrillium | $2,000-$10,000 | Trillium |
| Residential driveway, for comparisonLawn Love | $30-$70 a visit · $300-$1,000 a season | Lawn Love |
What the Rates Come To on One Acre
A one-acre lot is 43,560 sq ft. Priced at $125 an hour with a $75 minimum, inside the published plowing range:
One push, 4 inches
$125
About an hour with an 8 ft plow truck at $125 an hour
Salt, one application
$250
$250 an acre
The visit
$375
Push plus salt
A 10-push season
$3,750
$375 × 10
The $125 push sits inside HomeGuide's $60-$150 per-visit band, and the salt costs more than the plowing. Your lot will not be exactly an acre: the snow removal pricing calculator prices any area, machine and depth at your own rate.
Snow Removal Rates by Depth
One acre, one 8 ft plow truck, $125 an hour. Every 2 inches more adds 15 minutes on the SIMA production chart, so a deep storm on a per-push contract pays for the extra time.
2 in
$94
45 min
4 in
$125
60 min
6 in
$156
75 min
8 in
$188
90 min
10 in
$219
105 min
12 in
$250
120 min
Contractors who bill per inch, $3-$10 an inch in Trillium's guide, hand that depth risk to the customer outright. On a per-event or seasonal price it stays with you.
Snow Removal Rates by Service
A commercial lot is rarely one service. These are billed separately because each runs at its own pace.
Parking lot plowing
$50-$200 an hour
Per machine. A loader with a pusher bills more an hour than a pickup, and clears far more of the lot in that hour.
Sidewalks and walkways
$25-$75 an hour
Hand crews and blowers, priced on their own line: walks go slower than the lot and need clearing first.
Hauling and relocation
$80-$200 an hour
Loading and trucking snow off site when the lot has nowhere left to stack it. Almost always time and materials.
Salting
$150-$350 an acre
Per application, with 500-1,000 lb of salt an acre in HomeGuide's figures. The line that grows fastest with the acres.
Seasonal Rates Are Pushes Times Price
Trillium puts commercial seasonal contracts at $2,000-$10,000, and The Lingo Group's Northeast contracts assume 8-12 snow events. A seasonal price is the visit times the events you expect. On the one-acre lot, a $375 visit is $3,000 over 8 events and $4,500 over 12.
The customer pays the same in a light winter and a heavy one, so a seasonal rate is only safe when it is built from the heavy winter's count. Per push hands that risk back to the customer. The terms for both are in the snow removal contract template.
Why Commercial Rates Run Higher
A residential driveway is $30-$70 a visit and $300-$1,000 a season on Lawn Love's figures. A commercial lot is $60-$150 a visit and $2,000-$10,000 a season, and Lawn Love puts a 50-space lot at about $6,000. The difference is more than the size:
Liability
A slip on a plowed lot is a claim against you. Commercial accounts usually require general liability with the snow plow endorsement and name themselves as additional insured.
Response time
Retail and medical lots need clearing before opening, overnight and on holidays, at a trigger depth written into the contract.
Machines
Lots big enough to need a skid steer or loader carry the cost of those machines, their trailers and the operators to run them.
Salt and walks
A commercial visit usually includes salting and clearing walkways, each its own line on the bill.
The policies a commercial snow account asks for, and what insurers publish about their cost, are on snow plow insurance.
Turn a Rate Into a Price for Your Lot
A rate is only a price once you know how much pavement there is. Measure every lot on your route from the office, before the first storm.
Measure the pavement
Search the address in SurfaceMeasure and trace the plowable lot from satellite, islands cut out, walkways as their own sections.
Apply your rate
Put the square footage into the pricing calculator with your machine and hourly rate for a price per push, salt and a season.
Send the quote
Send a branded PDF with the measured area on it, so the property manager sees what the price is built on.
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Snow Removal Rate Questions
For commercial parking lots, HomeGuide puts plowing at $50-$200 per machine hour and $60-$150 per visit. Trillium prices a lot under 10,000 sq ft at $75-$150 per event and one over 50,000 sq ft at $300-$600 or more, and seasonal commercial contracts at $2,000-$10,000. A residential driveway is $30-$70 a visit on Lawn Love's figures.
Commercial lot plowing runs $50-$200 an hour, sidewalk clearing by hand or blower $25-$75 and hauling snow off site $80-$200, all from HomeGuide. The spread is the machine: a loader with a pusher bills more an hour than a pickup with a blade, and clears several times the acres in that hour.
A push is one clearing of the lot, billed each time. A long storm can be two or three pushes, depending on the trigger depth in the contract, the accumulation at which you plow without being called. The snow removal pricing calculator prices a push for your own lot.
Trillium puts per-inch pricing at $3-$10 an inch. Whatever the rate, deeper snow costs more because it is slower: the SIMA chart has a plow truck clearing an open acre in 45 minutes at 2 inches and 120 at 12. At $125 an hour that acre goes from $94 to $250 a push.
Per visit, $60-$150 (HomeGuide). Per event, $75-$150 for a lot under 10,000 sq ft and $300-$600 or more over 50,000 (Trillium). For the season, $2,000-$10,000 (Trillium), and Lawn Love puts a 50-space lot at about $6,000. Salting is extra, at $150-$350 an acre per application.
Sources
Checked October 2026. Published ranges are references; your equipment, labor and overhead set your rate.
- HomeGuide: snow removal costCommercial plowing, per visit, sidewalks, hauling and salting rates. Dec. 2024.
- Trillium Facility Solutions: commercial snow removal costPer-event prices by lot size, per-inch pricing, seasonal contracts. Sept. 2025.
- The Lingo Group: commercial snow removal costNortheast rates and events per season. Dec. 2025.
- Lawn Love: how much does snow removal costResidential driveway and seasonal prices, and a 50-space commercial lot. Oct. 2026.
- PlowSite: acres per hour for different pieces of equipmentThe SIMA production chart, and minutes per acre by snow depth.
More for Snow Contractors
Bid Every Lot on Your Route Before It Snows
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