Landscaping Business Valuation: Landscaping Company Value and What Lawn Care Businesses Sell For
Enter the company's revenue and owner earnings and read a range benchmarked to what landscaping and lawn care companies actually closed at, whether you are setting an asking price or checking a listing before you make an offer.
Estimated business value
Method breakdown
What moves this number
Estimate, not a certified appraisal. Your figures are not stored.
Landscaping, lawn care and yard service businesses sold in the US across the five years 2021 to 2025 went for a median of 2.30x seller discretionary earnings, or 0.63x annual revenue, with a lower quartile of 1.70x and an upper quartile of 3.01x. The median landscaping company sale price was $425,000, on median revenue of $708,412 and median owner earnings of $187,761, after a median 182 days on the market.
The number that explains the rest of this page: financed with an SBA loan at 10 percent down, a buyer who pays themselves $80,000 a year could support about $591,566 for the median company. The market pays $425,000. The difference is the equipment. Set aside about $30,342 a year to replace trucks and mowers and the financeable price falls to exactly the market price. This is a benchmark and an estimator, not a certified appraisal.
Closed transactions
01What landscaping companies actually sold for
These are sale prices, not asking prices, from 945 landscaping, lawn care and yard service businesses sold across the five years 2021 to 2025. Most of them are locally owned companies doing residential and commercial maintenance, with design and installation work on top. Most landscaping valuation guides you will find quote 3x to 5x EBITDA or a revenue rule of thumb and stop. Those figures describe larger companies with managers. The sold distribution for the companies that actually change hands is lower, and it is below.
Median sale price
$425,000
What the middle landscaping company actually closed at, 2021 to 2025
Median asking price
$450,000
What the same sold companies were listed at
Median revenue
$708,412
Annual revenue of the middle landscaping company sold
Median owner earnings (SDE)
$187,761
Seller discretionary earnings of the middle company sold
| Landscaping companies sold, 2021 to 2025 | Lower quartile | Median | Average | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller discretionary earnings multiple | 1.70x | 2.30x | 2.46x | 3.01x |
| Revenue multiple (multiple of annual revenue) | 0.46x | 0.63x | 0.70x | 0.88x |
| Revenue | $344,007 | $708,412 | $1,198,225 | $1,429,968 |
| Owner earnings (SDE) | $100,056 | $187,761 | $285,714 | $354,201 |
Source: BizBuySell landscaping and yard service business valuation benchmarks, 945 businesses sold on the platform 2021 to 2025, read September 2026. Benchmarks, not quotes. The multiple rows and the dollar rows describe the same population but not the same company, so multiplying a median by a median will not exactly reproduce a quartile. The headline box on the source page gives median owner earnings as $187,716 and the tables as $187,761; we use the table figure.
The size effect is the first thing to read. BizBuySell states that a landscaping company consistently generating close to $1.5 million of sales may sell for an earnings multiple over 3, while a yard care business with sales below $400,000 may trade around 1.7 or lower. The upper quartile of sold revenue was $1,429,968 and the lower quartile $344,007, so those two thresholds sit close to the quartile edges: a company in the top quarter by revenue sells near 3x, one in the bottom quarter near 1.7x. If you are working out how to calculate SDE for the company in front of you, do that first, then find its row in section 09.
Our calculation
02Landscaping companies sell below what a lender would finance
In most small-business sectors on this site, the median price sits at or just above what an SBA buyer can borrow. Landscaping is the exception. The table runs a 7(a) loan at 10 years, 10.5 percent, 1.25x debt service coverage and a 10 percent injection against the median $187,761 of owner earnings, at each level of salary the buyer takes out. Everything in it is computed here, not quoted.
| Owner draw the buyer takes | Left for debt service | Supportable purchase price | As a multiple of $187,761 SDE |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 (buyer takes no salary) | $187,761 | $1,030,735 | 5.49x |
| $50,000 | $137,761 | $756,254 | 4.03x |
| $60,000 | $127,761 | $701,358 | 3.74x |
| $80,000 | $107,761 | $591,566 | 3.15x |
| $100,000 | $87,761 | $481,774 | 2.57x |
Computed here. Annual loan constant 0.16192 for a 10 year loan at 10.5 percent, so the supportable price is (SDE minus draw) divided by 1.25, divided by 0.16192, divided by 0.90. Illustrative arithmetic, not a loan offer or a credit decision.
At an $80,000 draw the ceiling is $591,566, which is 3.15x earnings, and the median company sold for $425,000. A lender would go 39 percent higher than buyers actually pay. The reason is that SDE counts depreciation as an add-back, and depreciation in a landscaping company is not an accounting abstraction. Mowers wear out in a few seasons and trucks in a few years. A buyer who plans to keep the fleet running has to set money aside every year before paying the bank, and every dollar of that reserve comes out of the price.
| Equipment reserve set aside each year | Price supportable at an $80,000 draw | Against the $425,000 median sale |
|---|---|---|
| No equipment reserve | $591,566 | $166,566 above the $425,000 median sale |
| $25,000 a year | $454,326 | $29,326 above the median sale |
| $30,342 a year (the reserve the market price implies) | $425,000 | Equal to the median sale |
| $50,000 a year | $317,085 | $107,915 below the median sale |
| $75,000 a year | $179,845 | $245,155 below the median sale |
Computed here on the same loan terms. The reserve amounts are illustrative inputs, not a published benchmark. The $30,342 row is solved for: it is the yearly reserve at which the SBA-supportable price equals the observed median sale.
The market's equipment budget
$30,342 a year
That is 4.3 percent of the median company's $708,412 of revenue, roughly one new commercial mower and a share of a truck every year. On the trucking company valuation page the same calculation implies about $112,793 a year for a fleet of tractors. Price the fleet in front of you: a company that has replaced its equipment recently deserves more than the median, and one running ten year old trucks deserves less.
Cash to close on the median company
$51,106
A $425,000 purchase at 10 percent down is a $42,500 injection and a $382,500 loan, with a 3 percent SBA guaranty fee of $8,606 on the $286,875 guaranteed portion. Annual debt service is about $61,935, covered 3.03 times by $187,761 of earnings, leaving about $125,826 before the owner pays themselves or the equipment. Our buyer guide on what it costs to buy a landscaping business runs the full closing budget.
Who does the work
03Owner labor, the contract book and the 5x to 9x figures
The second adjustment a buyer makes is for the seller's own hands. In a small lawn care company the seller often runs a crew, and that labor is inside SDE. A buyer who will manage rather than mow has to hire a replacement. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay of grounds maintenance workers at $40,080 a year (May 2025). Take that out of the median company's earnings, keep the $80,000 draw, and the SBA-supportable price falls from $591,566 to $371,542 before any equipment reserve. The same company is worth materially less to an absentee investor than to an owner-operator.
That is also why the multiples in broker articles look so different from the sold record. The ranges below are reported by CT Acquisitions, an M&A adviser, for larger companies valued on EBITDA after a market salary for management. They are not wrong. They describe a different business from the $708,412 revenue company that makes up the middle of the sold market.
| Company profile | Reported multiple | What the buyer is paying for |
|---|---|---|
| Residential mow-and-blow operator | About 3x SDE | The owner is the business, the customers are month to month, and the crews follow the owner. |
| Founder-led, weak recurring revenue (at $1M EBITDA) | 3.0x EBITDA | Earnings are real but depend on the founder selling and scheduling the work. |
| Adequate systems, some recurring revenue | 5.1x EBITDA | A manager runs the crews and part of the revenue renews each year. |
| Strong recurring revenue, documented operations | 7.2x EBITDA | Multi-year maintenance contracts, written processes and a team that runs without the owner. |
| Commercial grounds maintenance | 6x to 9x EBITDA | Contracted commercial accounts with high renewal rates, the profile private equity roll-ups buy. |
Source: CT Acquisitions landscaping business valuation guide, read September 2026. Adviser-reported ranges for larger companies, mostly quoted on EBITDA; not closed-sale statistics and not comparable one for one with the SDE multiples in section 01. BLS figure from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, grounds maintenance workers; it excludes payroll taxes, insurance and benefits.
The practical reading for an owner planning a sale: the distance between 2.30x and 7x is not closed by growing revenue. It is closed by moving the work into signed maintenance agreements, putting a crew leader or manager between you and the customers, and documenting the equipment. Each step takes a year or two to show up in the numbers a buyer will accept, so it has to start well before the listing.
Our calculation
04Where the money goes between the listing and the closing
Landscaping companies currently listed ask a median 2.77x owner earnings. Companies that sold went for 2.30x. The 17.0 percent gap is made of two things. Some is selection: listings that ask too much never close and drop out of the sold set. The rest is negotiation: the discount a company takes off its own asking price. Dividing the sold multiple by the sale-to-ask ratio recovers what the sellers who actually closed had been asking, which splits the gap.
| Reading of the sale-to-ask ratio | All listings ask | Closers asked | Selection | Sold at | Negotiation | Total gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published average sale to ask, 0.93 | 2.77x | 2.47x | -10.7% | 2.30x | -7.0% | -17.0% |
| Ratio of five-year medians, 0.94 | 2.77x | 2.44x | -12.1% | 2.30x | -5.6% | -17.0% |
| Average of the five yearly ratios, 0.93 | 2.77x | 2.46x | -11.1% | 2.30x | -6.6% | -17.0% |
Computed here from the published listing multiples, sold multiples and sale-to-ask ratios. The ratio of medians ($425,000 over $450,000) reads 0.94; the average of the five yearly ratios reads 0.93, the same as the published figure. All three readings put about two thirds of the gap in selection.
Against the other sectors measured on this site, landscaping sits in the middle on total gap and on negotiation. The larger share is selection: a landscaping listing that asks well above the sold range tends not to close at all rather than close at a discount. For a seller that means the asking price does most of its damage before a single offer arrives.
| Sector | All listings ask | Closers asked | Selection | Sold at | Negotiation | Total gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landscaping and yard service | 2.77x | 2.47x | -10.7% | 2.30x | -7.0% | -17.0% |
| Liquor stores | 3.18x | 2.94x | -7.6% | 2.85x | -3.0% | -10.4% |
| Pharmacies | 3.02x | 2.75x | -8.8% | 2.45x | -11.0% | -18.9% |
| Laundromats | 4.80x | 3.80x | -20.7% | 3.50x | -8.0% | -27.1% |
| Restaurants | 2.50x | 2.06x | -17.8% | 1.85x | -10.0% | -26.0% |
| Accounting and tax practices | 2.32x | 2.10x | -9.3% | 2.04x | -3.0% | -12.1% |
| Gas stations | 2.89x | 3.00x | +3.8% | 3.00x | 0.0% | +3.8% |
Same calculation applied to each sector's published figures on the corresponding benchmark pages, using the published average sale-to-ask ratio in each case.
Listings against reality
05What landscaping businesses for sale are asking
If you are browsing landscaping businesses for sale, the listings ask more per dollar of earnings than the companies that sold, at every quartile. The listed companies are about the same size as the sold ones, with a slightly higher reported margin, so almost all of the premium is price.
| Quartile | Listed SDE multiple | Sold SDE multiple | Difference | Listed revenue multiple | Sold revenue multiple | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile | 1.86x | 1.70x | -8.6% | 0.55x | 0.46x | -16.4% |
| Median | 2.77x | 2.30x | -17.0% | 0.80x | 0.63x | -21.3% |
| Average | 3.02x | 2.46x | -18.5% | 0.91x | 0.70x | -23.1% |
| Upper quartile | 3.60x | 3.01x | -16.4% | 1.10x | 0.88x | -20.0% |
| Financials | Landscaping companies listed now | Landscaping companies that sold | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile owner earnings | $116,998 | $100,056 | +16.9% |
| Median owner earnings (SDE) | $196,797 | $187,761 | +4.8% |
| Average owner earnings | $281,453 | $285,714 | -1.5% |
| Upper quartile owner earnings | $357,350 | $354,201 | +0.9% |
| Median revenue | $680,900 | $708,412 | -3.9% |
| Upper quartile revenue | $1,449,747 | $1,429,968 | +1.4% |
| Implied owner margin (computed here) | 28.9% | 26.5% | +2.4 points |
Listed and sold figures are published. Difference columns and the margin row are computed here.
Two details matter to a buyer. First, listed median revenue is 3.9 percent below sold, yet listed median earnings are 4.8 percent above, which lifts the listed owner margin to 28.9 percent against 26.5 percent for companies that sold. Ask how the listing got its margin: an owner's unpaid crew work and deferred equipment spending both raise SDE on paper. Second, the lower quartile of listed earnings is 16.9 percent above the sold one, so the smallest companies on the market look better in their listings than the smallest companies that actually closed.
Five-year record
06Landscaping company sale prices year by year
Landscaping values rose through a period when interest rates squeezed most buyers. The average earnings multiple increased in every year of the record, from 2.30x in 2021 to 2.55x in 2025, and the average revenue multiple from 0.65x to 0.76x. The median sale price dipped to $372,250 in 2022 and reached $480,000 in 2025, a 20 percent rise on 2024.
| Year | Median revenue | Median SDE | Owner margin | Avg SDE multiple | Avg revenue multiple | Median sale | Median ask | Sale/ask | Effective SDE multiple | Effective revenue multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $687,266 | $182,937 | 26.6% | 2.30x | 0.65x | $449,500 | $448,000 | 0.95 | 2.46x | 0.65x |
| 2022 | $655,141 | $169,866 | 25.9% | 2.42x | 0.67x | $372,250 | $405,000 | 0.93 | 2.19x | 0.57x |
| 2023 | $737,854 | $195,282 | 26.5% | 2.50x | 0.68x | $425,000 | $450,000 | 0.93 | 2.18x | 0.58x |
| 2024 | $602,400 | $186,977 | 31.0% | 2.52x | 0.73x | $400,000 | $475,000 | 0.92 | 2.14x | 0.66x |
| 2025 | $755,359 | $201,392 | 26.7% | 2.55x | 0.76x | $480,000 | $499,450 | 0.94 | 2.38x | 0.64x |
Revenue, SDE, margin, the two average multiples, sale price, asking price and the ratio are published. The effective multiple columns are computed here as that year's median sale price divided by that year's median SDE and median revenue. They are ratios of medians and usually sit below the published averages of per-deal ratios.
The effective multiple, median price over median earnings, tells a flatter story than the averages: between 2.14x and 2.46x in every year. 2024 stands out, with the highest owner margin in the record at 31.0 percent on the lowest revenue, $602,400, and the widest gap between asking and sale prices, $475,000 against $400,000. 2025 corrected it: revenue back to $755,359, a 26.7 percent margin, and median owner earnings above $200,000 for the first time. A seller pricing now should use the 2025 row, not the averages.
Cross-check
07Every published multiple lands above the median sale
An owner handed a multiple usually multiplies. For landscaping companies all four ways of doing that land above the price the market actually paid, but the median earnings multiple lands within 2 percent of it, which is unusually close.
| Method | Arithmetic | Implied value | Against the observed median sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median earnings x median earnings multiple | $187,761 x 2.30 | $431,850 | +1.6% |
| Median earnings x average earnings multiple | $187,761 x 2.46 | $461,892 | +8.7% |
| Median revenue x median revenue multiple | $708,412 x 0.63 | $446,300 | +5.0% |
| Median revenue x average revenue multiple | $708,412 x 0.70 | $495,888 | +16.7% |
| Observed median sale price | reported directly | $425,000 | n/a |
Computed here from the published medians and multiples.
The median identity holds too: 2.30x earnings times a 26.5 percent owner margin gives 0.61x revenue, against the published median of 0.63x. Earnings and revenue point to the same place in this trade, so a landscaping valuation that disagrees sharply between the two methods is usually telling you the company's margin is unusual, and that the margin is what needs checking.
Sector comparison
08Landscaping against the rest of the service sector
Sorted by average earnings multiple, landscaping ranks tenth of seventeen service categories, just below the all-service average of 2.62x. The comparison worth quoting is waste management and recycling: a median company earns $176,635, 6.3 percent less than the median landscaping company, and sells for $525,000, 23.5 percent more. Both are route businesses with trucks. The difference is how much of the revenue is under contract.
| Service category | Median revenue | Avg revenue multiple | Median SDE | Avg SDE multiple | Owner margin | Median sale | Median ask | Sale/ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funeral homes | $750,000 | 1.67x | $318,000 | 4.28x | 42.4% | $1,500,000 | $1,800,000 | 0.85 |
| Laundromats and coin laundries | $219,878 | 1.33x | $76,560 | 3.65x | 34.8% | $250,000 | $275,000 | 0.92 |
| Medical billing businesses | $614,000 | 1.24x | $180,000 | 3.63x | 29.3% | $500,000 | $599,000 | 1.01 |
| Waste management and recycling | $710,000 | 0.95x | $176,635 | 3.31x | 24.9% | $525,000 | $625,000 | 0.91 |
| Commercial laundry businesses | $198,000 | 1.25x | $112,000 | 2.83x | 56.6% | $250,000 | $269,000 | 0.92 |
| Staffing agencies | $1,306,129 | 0.65x | $301,147 | 2.74x | 23.1% | $670,000 | $725,000 | 0.90 |
| Security businesses | $862,943 | 0.85x | $241,687 | 2.73x | 28.0% | $750,000 | $750,000 | 0.89 |
| Property management businesses | $565,658 | 0.93x | $167,000 | 2.70x | 29.5% | $397,500 | $425,000 | 0.94 |
| All service businesses | $455,000 | 0.86x | $146,927 | 2.62x | 32.3% | $325,000 | $350,000 | 0.92 |
| Architecture and engineering firms | $1,090,000 | 0.74x | $332,171 | 2.59x | 30.5% | $742,000 | $800,000 | 0.90 |
| Landscaping and yard service | $708,412 | 0.70x | $187,761 | 2.46x | 26.5% | $425,000 | $450,000 | 0.93 |
| Pest control businesses | $263,597 | 0.99x | $124,184 | 2.40x | 47.1% | $249,000 | $277,000 | 0.91 |
| Locksmith businesses | $550,776 | 0.70x | $166,567 | 2.36x | 30.2% | $300,000 | $300,000 | 0.94 |
| Cleaning and janitorial businesses | $433,327 | 0.70x | $136,326 | 2.19x | 31.5% | $260,000 | $295,000 | 0.92 |
| Dry cleaners | $360,000 | 0.76x | $132,513 | 2.09x | 36.8% | $250,000 | $275,000 | 0.93 |
| Catering companies | $931,891 | 0.44x | $212,204 | 2.00x | 22.8% | $332,500 | $442,500 | 0.87 |
| Legal services and law firms | $921,000 | 0.72x | $281,411 | 1.96x | 30.6% | $500,000 | $575,000 | 0.90 |
| Routes | $322,910 | 0.62x | $102,050 | 1.78x | 31.6% | $120,000 | $125,000 | 0.98 |
Source: BizBuySell service business valuation benchmarks, businesses sold 2021 to 2025, read September 2026. Every column except owner margin is published. Owner margin is computed here as median SDE divided by median revenue.
BizBuySell puts the landscaping discount down to a low barrier to entry and, as a result, high competition. That fits the table. Most of the categories above landscaping either hold a license or a hard-to-copy asset (funeral homes, laundromats) or sell a contracted, recurring service (medical billing, waste, security). Most of the categories below it are owner-operated trades and practices where the customer relationship sits with one person. A landscaping company can move itself up this table by looking more like the second group: contracts instead of call-ins.
Find your row
09What a landscaping company is worth at each level of owner earnings
The first three columns apply the sold lower quartile, median and upper quartile multiples to each earnings level. The last two are the SBA-supportable price at an $80,000 owner draw, without and with a $30,000 a year equipment reserve, which tells you whether a financed buyer can reach the market price for a company that size once the fleet is paid for.
| Seller discretionary earnings | At 1.70x (lower quartile) | At 2.30x (median) | At 3.01x (upper quartile) | SBA capacity, $80,000 draw | Same, with $30,000 equipment reserve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100,056 (lower quartile sold) | $170,095 | $230,129 | $301,169 | $110,100 | Not financeable |
| $187,761 (median sold) | $319,194 | $431,850 | $565,161 | $591,566 | $426,878 |
| $201,392 (2025 median sold) | $342,366 | $463,202 | $606,190 | $666,395 | $501,707 |
| $285,714 (average sold) | $485,714 | $657,142 | $859,999 | $1,129,290 | $964,602 |
| $354,201 (upper quartile sold) | $602,142 | $814,662 | $1,066,145 | $1,505,257 | $1,340,569 |
| $500,000 | $850,000 | $1,150,000 | $1,505,000 | $2,305,637 | $2,140,949 |
Computed here. Equipment normally transfers inside the price in a small landscaping sale. SBA columns on the same terms as section 02. Illustrative arithmetic, not a loan offer.
Read the last two columns against the others. At the lower quartile, $100,056 of earnings supports only about $110,100 of financed price once the buyer takes $80,000, and nothing at all after an equipment reserve, so the smallest companies sell to owner-operators who take less salary, put more down or get seller financing, which is why they trade near 1.7x. At the median, the reserve-adjusted $426,878 lands on the observed $425,000 sale. From the average up, capacity runs far ahead of even the upper quartile multiple, which is the financing reason larger companies can command more than 3x.
Methods
10The five ways a landscaping company gets valued
You will meet all five in a landscaping sale, and they will not agree. Knowing which one the other side is using is most of the negotiation.
Seller discretionary earnings multiple
The primary method for an owner-operated landscaping or lawn care company. Normalized SDE times a multiple between about 1.70x and 3.01x, which is where half of all landscaping sales landed. It is the method a lender checks, because SDE is what services the acquisition debt.
Revenue multiple
A cross-check. Sold landscaping companies traded at a median 0.63x revenue, with a lower quartile of 0.46x and an upper quartile of 0.88x. It works better here than in most trades because owner margins held between 25.9 and 31.0 percent in every year of the record, so revenue and earnings move together.
EBITDA multiple
For companies with a general manager and a payroll that does not include the owner, usually above about $1 million of EBITDA. This is where the 5x to 9x figures in broker articles come from. Applying them to an owner-operated company doing $700,000 of revenue overstates its value by a factor of two or more.
Equipment and asset value
The floor. Trucks, trailers, mowers, skid steers and small tools at fair market value, not at the depreciated tax value on the balance sheet. A company whose earnings will not support a loan sells near this floor. Ask for an equipment list with year, hours and condition on every unit.
Contract book value
How much of next year's revenue is already signed. Maintenance agreements, commercial contracts and multi-winter snow contracts are the part of the business a buyer is sure to keep. One-off installation and design jobs are not, and buyers price them accordingly.
Value drivers
11What moves a landscaping company between the quartiles
The distance between the lower and upper quartile multiple is 1.70x to 3.01x, which on $187,761 of earnings is the difference between $319,194 and $565,161. These are the factors that decide where a specific company lands.
Recurring maintenance share
The factor that moves a landscaping company the most. BizBuySell says buyers look for substantial recurring revenue in the form of maintenance agreements and long-term contracts. A company with most revenue under signed maintenance agreements sells near the upper quartile; one living on call-in installs sells near the lower one.
Revenue above $1 million
BizBuySell states that a landscaping company consistently generating close to $1.5 million of sales may sell for an earnings multiple over 3, while a yard care business below $400,000 may trade around 1.7 or lower. It calls revenue above $1 million key to a decent multiple. The sold quartiles for revenue run from $344,007 to $1,429,968, so those thresholds sit close to the quartile edges.
Commercial versus residential mix
Commercial contracts raise value, according to both BizBuySell and M&A advisers. CT Acquisitions reports that moving from 30 percent to 70 percent commercial can expand a multiple from 4.5x to 7x on the larger companies it tracks. Residential routes are easier to win and easier to lose.
Equipment age and condition
The hidden cost of every landscaping deal. A fleet of worn mowers and high-mileage trucks means the buyer spends the first years of ownership replacing equipment out of the same cash flow that pays the loan. Section 02 shows how much that is worth.
Owner on the crew
If the seller still runs a crew, estimates every job and holds the commercial relationships, the earnings include the seller's labor. A buyer who will not do the same must hire someone to do it, and that wage comes straight out of what they can pay.
Snow removal and seasonality
In northern markets, snow contracts turn a seven or eight month business into a year-round one. CT Acquisitions reports a 0.5x to 1x premium for documented multi-winter snow contracts. Snow that depends on the weather rather than on a seasonal contract is revenue a buyer will not fully count.
Customer concentration
CT Acquisitions calls a top ten that brings in under 40 percent of revenue healthy and over 60 percent a material risk for commercial-led operators. A single property manager or HOA that controls a large share of the work can walk with the change of ownership.
Questions
Landscaping business valuation questions, answered against the sold record
How much is a landscaping business worth?
The median US landscaping and yard service business sold over the five years 2021 to 2025 went for $425,000, on median revenue of $708,412 and median owner earnings of $187,761. The published median multiple is 2.30x seller discretionary earnings, and half of all landscaping companies sold between 1.70x and 3.01x. Dividing median price by median earnings gives 2.26x.
What is the multiple for a landscaping business?
Landscaping companies sold at a median of 2.30 times seller discretionary earnings and an average of 2.46 times, with a lower quartile of 1.70x and an upper quartile of 3.01x. On revenue the median was 0.63x and the average 0.70x. The yearly average earnings multiple rose every year of the record, from 2.30x in 2021 to 2.55x in 2025.
How do you value a landscaping business?
Start from normalized seller discretionary earnings: net profit plus owner salary, owner benefits, interest, depreciation and one-time costs. Apply a multiple between about 1.70x and 3.01x based on revenue size, recurring contract share and owner involvement. Then check the equipment list, because trucks and mowers that need replacing come out of the same cash flow.
How much is my lawn care business worth?
Work out your seller discretionary earnings first, then find your row. A company at the lower quartile of $100,056 is worth roughly $170,000 to $301,000 on the sold multiples; at the median $187,761, roughly $319,000 to $565,000; at the upper quartile of $354,201, roughly $602,000 to $1,066,000. Recurring contracts push you toward the top of your row.
What percentage of revenue is a landscaping business worth?
Sold landscaping companies traded at a median 0.63 times annual revenue, or 63 percent of sales, with a lower quartile of 46 percent and an upper quartile of 88 percent. The average was 0.70x and rose from 0.65x in 2021 to 0.76x in 2025. Use it as a cross-check on an earnings valuation, not as the price.
How much does a landscaping business make a year?
The middle landscaping company that sold reported $187,761 of seller discretionary earnings on $708,412 of revenue, a 26.5 percent owner margin. The lower quartile earned $100,056 and the upper quartile $354,201. In 2025 the median sold company earned $201,392 on $755,359 of revenue, the first year the median passed $200,000.
Do landscaping businesses sell for the asking price?
Usually not quite. The published average sale to ask ratio is 0.93, the same as the all-service average of 0.92 within a point. It ranged from 0.92 in 2024 to 0.95 in 2021. On the sold median multiple, sellers who closed took about 7 percent off their own asking price, and listings that asked far more simply did not sell.
How long does it take to sell a landscaping business?
The median landscaping company that sold spent 182 days on the market, about six months. That counts only companies that sold, so it describes a correctly priced business. Timing matters in this trade: a sale that closes before the spring season lets the buyer inherit a full year of maintenance revenue, which is easier to finance.
Can you get an SBA loan to buy a landscaping business?
Yes, and landscaping finances more easily than most trades. At 10 years, 10.5 percent, 1.25x coverage and 10 percent down, the median $187,761 of owner earnings supports about $591,566 if the buyer draws $80,000 a year. The median company sells for $425,000, so the debt is covered about 3.03 times. Equipment replacement is the real constraint.
Is equipment included when you buy a landscaping business?
Usually, yes. In a typical small landscaping asset sale the trucks, trailers, mowers and tools transfer with the business and are inside the sale price, not paid on top. Confirm it in the letter of intent, list every unit with its year and hours, and check which vehicles carry loans the seller must pay off at closing.
How much does a landscaping business valuation cost?
A formal business valuation commonly runs $1,500 to $8,000 for a calculation engagement and $5,000 to $15,000 for a full conclusion of value. On a $425,000 landscaping company that is 0.35 to 1.88 percent of the sale price for a calculation and 1.18 to 3.53 percent for a full report. An estimate is enough to set an asking range or test a listing.
Asked another way
What landscaping owners and buyers ask when they are deciding
These come up once the numbers are understood and the decision is the real problem, whether that is making an offer, reading a listing or choosing when to sell. Answered against the same closed-transaction data as the rest of this page.
Is a landscaping company listed at 3x cash flow overpriced?
For most companies, yes. 3.01x is the upper quartile of landscaping sales, so only a quarter of companies closed at or above it, and BizBuySell ties that end to companies near $1.5 million of revenue. A 3x asking price on a $500,000 residential mowing company is well above where comparable companies sold.
Why do landscaping companies sell for low multiples?
BizBuySell attributes the discount to a low barrier to entry and high competition. The financing math adds a second reason: at the median, a lender would support about $591,566, yet the market pays $425,000. The gap equals roughly $30,000 a year of equipment replacement, which buyers deduct before they price the business.
Should I buy a landscaping business or start one?
Buying gets you a customer list, trained crews and a paid-off or partly paid-off fleet on day one, at a median of $425,000. Starting costs less cash but takes years to reach the $187,761 of owner earnings the median sold company produced. The deciding question is how much of the seller's revenue is under contract and will stay after the sale.
Is now a good time to sell a landscaping business?
The record is favorable. The average earnings multiple rose every year from 2.30x in 2021 to 2.55x in 2025, the median sale price reached $480,000 in 2025, the highest in the record, and median owner earnings passed $200,000. Sellers with signed maintenance contracts and a documented equipment list are selling into the strongest year of the five.
Do I need a formal appraisal or is an estimate enough?
An estimate is enough to decide whether to list, to set an asking range, or to decide whether a listing deserves an offer. A formal appraisal becomes necessary for an SBA loan above the lender threshold, a partner buyout, estate or gift tax filings and litigation. This page and the estimator on it are benchmarks against closed sales, not a certified appraisal.
Benchmarks behind the estimate
Buying or selling a landscaping company
Find out where in the range a landscaping company sits
Enter revenue and owner earnings, for your own company or for a listing you are considering, and read a value range against real landscaping and lawn care sales. An educational estimate, not a certified appraisal.