Price a parking lot or driveway per push, or quote the whole season – and see whether the number covers your storms.
Snow removal businesses on Tofu bill a median of $724 per invoice, with half of all businesses between $329 and $1,338. One invoice usually covers a month of pushes or a seasonal instalment, not a single storm – the median snow removal line item is $150.
| Service | Businesses | Invoices | Typical low (p25) | Median invoice | Typical high (p75) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snow removal | 193 | 27,400 | $329 | $724 | $1,338 |
| Lawn care (mowing) | 700 | 61,392 | $218 | $433 | $962 |
| Lawn maintenance | 1,096 | 68,744 | $333 | $766 | $1,885 |
| Landscaping | 1,479 | 132,919 | $500 | $1,241 | $3,125 |
Source: Tofu invoice data, 2024–2026, USD only. Median of each business's average invoice.
Per-visit prices for lots run from $150 for a small lot to $700 and more for a large one; monthly contracts from $300 to $1,500 and up (HomeGuide, December 2025). Plowing only the main lanes and entrances cuts the price by 30% to 50%.
| Lot size | Per plow visit | Hourly rate | Monthly contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small, under 20,000 sq ft | $150 – $250 | $50 – $150 | $300 – $500 |
| Medium, 20,000 – 60,000 sq ft | $200 – $400 | $100 – $200 | $600 – $800 |
| Large, over 60,000 sq ft | $400 – $700+ | $125 – $500 | $800 – $1,500+ |
Source: HomeGuide, How Much to Charge for Snow Removal, December 2025.
The calculator turns area into hours with the production rates the Snow & Ice Management Association (SIMA) publishes for its members. A pickup with a 7.5–8' blade clears one open acre in 45 minutes at 2" of snow and in 2 hours at 12"; islands, curbs and parked cars add 30% to 70%.
| Equipment | Open lot | Tight lot |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup, 8' blade, 2" of snow | 1.3 acres/h | 0.8 acres/h |
| Pickup, 8' blade, 6" of snow | 0.8 acres/h | 0.5 acres/h |
| Skid steer, 10' pusher | 1.9 acres/h | 0.6 acres/h |
| Backhoe, 12' pusher | 2.5 acres/h | 1.2 acres/h |
| Loader, 16' pusher | 3.7 acres/h | 1.8 acres/h |
Source: SIMA production rates (open "A lot" to tight "C lot"), as published by contractors on PlowSite.
Price per square foot is an output, not a rate: the default $154 push on 40,000 sq ft is $0.004 per square foot, and a $400 push on the same lot would be $0.01. Published per-square-foot ranges disagree by a factor of ten because they mix per-push and per-season prices, so the calculator shows your own number and does not use a published one.
A seasonal contract is your per-push price multiplied by the storms you expect, plus salting visits, billed as a flat monthly retainer. The default season – 12 plows at $154 and 8 salting visits at $56 – is $2,296, or $459 a month for five months. The contract breaks even at 17 plows; three storms over the plan cut the margin from 25% to 10%, which is why most seasonal contracts cap the number of pushes and bill extra storms per push.
Count the storms over your trigger depth in your last three seasons, not the snow days: a city with 38 snow days sees far fewer 2" storms.
| City | Snow days per year | Inches per year |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo, NY | 60 | 95 |
| Cleveland, OH | 46 | 64 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 38 | 51 |
| Detroit, MI | 38 | 45 |
| Denver, CO | 31 | 49 |
| Chicago, IL | 28 | 39 |
| Boston, MA | 23 | 49 |
| New York, NY | 11 | 30 |
Source: NOAA 1991–2020 normals via Current Results; a snow day is any day with at least 0.1" of snow.
In Tofu a seasonal contract is one recurring job: the visits go on the schedule, every push is logged with time-stamped photos, and the retainer is invoiced monthly without rebuilding the invoice each time.
Salt is priced by the pound and applied by the 1,000 square feet. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's rates for parking lots run from 0.75 lb of dry salt per 1,000 sq ft above 30°F to 3 lb at 15–20°F; below 15°F salt is not recommended and blends or sand take over (MPCA Smart Salting Manual, 2022). Rock salt cost $54 a ton at the mine in 2025 (USGS); delivered bulk runs $125 to $185 a ton, bagged $5 to $10 per 50 lb.
| Pavement temperature | Dry salt, lb per 1,000 sq ft | 40,000 sq ft lot |
|---|---|---|
| Above 30°F, snow | 0.75 | 30 lb |
| 25–30°F, snow | 1.5 | 60 lb |
| 20–25°F, snow | 2.25 – 2.75 | 90 – 110 lb |
| 15–20°F, snow | 2.75 – 3.0 | 110 – 120 lb |
| Below 15°F | not recommended – blends or sand | – |
Source: MPCA, Smart Salting for Parking Lots & Sidewalks Manual, Table 16 (rates for dry salt on cleared surfaces).
On the default lot salt is $5 of a $154 push. The spreading time and the trip cost more than the material, which is why a salting-only visit still prices at $56.
Five things to settle before you send the bid:
The receipt above is the estimate. Here is the default season as the client sees it:
| Line item | Price |
|---|---|
| Snow plowing, 2" trigger – per push, up to 12 per season | $154 |
| Salting – per visit, up to 8 per season | $56 |
| Seasonal retainer – 5 monthly payments | $459 |
Build it in the free estimate generator, or send it from Tofu as an estimate the client approves on their phone; the recurring job and the monthly invoices copy the same lines.
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