Free tool · snow removal
Snow plowing price calculator
Price a driveway from the driveway itself: its size, your equipment, the walks and steps, and how deep the snow is. You'll see a price per push for each snow depth, an hourly rate, salting prices and a seasonal contract price, with your break-even and what each hour really earns.
Recommended price per push
$45
For 2–4 in of snow · 37 person-minutes
| Visit | On site | Your cost | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Push 2–4 in | 37 min | $30.52 | $45 |
| Hourly rate (whole crew, on site) | $50/hr |
|---|---|
| + Trip charge per visit | $15 |
Seasonal contract
For 20 pushes and 25 salt applications; pushes over 25 are billed at the per-push price for the depth
| Seasonal price | $1,200 |
|---|---|
| Payments | 4 × $300.00 |
| Prepaid (5% off) | $1,140 |
| Pushes included | 25 |
| Salting | Included |
| Per included push | $60.00 |
One push at 2–4 in
| Person-minutes (driveway + walks) | 37.0 min |
|---|---|
| Time on site with 1 worker(s) | 37 min |
| Labor cost (wage + burden) | $17.27 |
| Equipment (machine + walk tools) | $2.97 |
| Travel | $2.28 |
| Overhead | $8.00 |
| Break-even per push | $30.52 |
| Profit per push | $14.48 |
| Profit margin | 32.2% |
| Effective hourly rate | $51.49/hr |
Default speeds and costs are starting points, not local market rates. Time a few of your own driveways and replace them.
How to price snow removal
Most snow removal businesses sell three ways: per push (each time you clear), per hour, or a seasonal contract paid in instalments. The easy mistake is one price for every driveway, or "what the last guy charged". Driveways differ in size, slope, obstacles and the bank the city plow leaves at the end, and your equipment changes everything. This calculator builds the price from the minutes the job really takes.
The formula
Driveway minutes = driveway area ÷ 1,000 × your machine's minutes × complexity × slope + windrow
Walk minutes = (walk area ÷ 100 × 4 + steps × 1) × complexity (hand or small-blower work)
Deeper snow: each tier's time factor (by default 1.0, 1.5 and 2.2) multiplies the driveway and walk minutes; machine setup is added once
Cost = person-hours × wage × (1 + burden) + machine hours × machine $/hr + walk hours × walk tools $/hr + travel + overhead
Price per push = cost ÷ (1 − margin), rounded up, never below your minimum
The cost is your break-even. The defaults are 10 person-minutes per 1,000 sq ft for a walk-behind snowblower, 3 for a plow truck, 5 for a tractor or UTV and 30 for shoveling by hand, plus 4 minutes per 100 sq ft of walkway, 1 minute per step and 5 minutes for the windrow. Complexity multiplies the driveway and walk clearing time: open 0.85×, average 1.0×, tight with many obstacles 1.3×; a sloped driveway adds 20% to the driveway clearing time.
Worked example
The defaults are the sample driveway from our Snow Removal kit: 60 × 24 ft (1,440 sq ft), a 60 ft walkway 4 ft wide, 5 steps, a walk-behind snowblower, average complexity, windrow cleared, 3 miles round trip. That's 37 person-minutes. Labor, equipment, travel and overhead come to $30.52. At a 30% margin that's $43.60, rounded up to $45 a push. Deeper snow is $60 (4–8 in) and $80 (8 in and up). Salt on the walks and steps adds $15, or $20 as its own visit. By the hour it's $50 plus a $15 trip charge.
For a normal winter of 20 pushes and 25 salt applications, the seasonal contract comes to $1,200: 4 payments of $300, or $1,140 paid up front. The calculator gives the same numbers as the kit.
Per push or seasonal?
Per push is fair to both sides but your income follows the weather. A seasonal contract gives steady income and steady bills for the client, but a heavy winter can turn it into a loss. Two things protect you:
- A push cap. "Up to 25 pushes, then the per-push price." Set it in the calculator and see the price per included push.
- Price for a snowy winter, not an average one. Count how many times you went out in a mild and a snowy winter, from your own records or the climate normals for the nearest weather station (Environment and Climate Change Canada in Canada, NOAA in the US).
Salting and ice melt
Salting is priced from the area you treat, the product's label rate and its cost, either with a push or as its own trip. The salt numbers here are examples. Use the rate on your product's label. Many plowers also log every visit and every salt application, with times and photos, because those records matter if someone slips and makes a claim.
Canada, kilometres and the mileage rate
The vehicle cost is per mile, prefilled with the IRS business rate from July 1, 2026 (76 cents; irs.gov). It's used only to estimate trip cost. A plow truck costs more per mile than a car, so change it. In Canada, use your own cost per km × 1.609. The calculator has no currency of its own: type every cost, wage and minimum in the currency you charge in (the 76-cent default is in US dollars). Snow depth works in inches or centimetres: switch the unit under "Your numbers" and type your tier depths in it.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Check your local rules on contracts, insurance and salt use. The defaults aren't market research for your area, so check local rates and your own costs before you quote.
What the kit adds
The free calculator prices one driveway for one winter. The Snow Removal Pricing Calculator & Business Kit (Excel & Google Sheets) also:
- tests your seasonal price against a light, normal and heavy winter, and gives a heavy-winter safe price
- builds Good / Better / Best packages and a price list for five driveway sizes
- prints a client quote, and keeps a client list, a service log and a season summary
- comes with 13 editable forms: seasonal agreement, site map, service verification and salt logs, invoice, receipts, incident report and more
CA$32 one-time · On Etsy: instant download · Priced in Canadian dollars; the US$ figure is an estimate, and checkout shows the exact amount and currency you pay