How to Price Snow Plowing: Per-Push vs. Seasonal Contract
Residential snow plowing runs $30–$75 per push for a standard driveway, or $350–$600 for a flat seasonal contract that covers the whole winter regardless of storm count. Per-push protects you in a heavy-snowfall year; a seasonal contract gives the customer (and your cash flow) predictability, but only pencils out if you've priced it against your region's average storm count, not a light year. Salting/de-icing and a stated trigger depth are add-ons in either model.
Per push: the safer default
$30–$75 per push is the standard residential range, scaling with driveway size and snowfall depth. This model has one real advantage: you get paid for every storm, so a heavy-snow winter is a good winter for revenue, not a problem.
Seasonal contract: predictability, priced on real data
A flat seasonal rate — commonly $350–$600 for a residential driveway — is what customers usually prefer, since they know the cost before winter starts. It only works for you if the flat price is built on your region’s average storm count, not a hopeful guess.
Before offering a seasonal rate:
- Know your local average number of plowable storms per season.
- Price the season as (average storms × your per-push rate), plus a margin for a heavier-than-average year.
- Decide your trigger depth up front and put it in writing — most operators use 2 inches as the standard.
The add-ons that live outside either model
- Salting / de-icing. Usually its own line, since ice storms and snow storms don’t track together.
- Extra passes for heavy, ongoing snowfall. A storm that dumps snow all day may need more than one visit — decide in advance whether that’s covered by the per-push price or billed as a second push.
- Walkways and steps. Often priced separately from the driveway, since they’re shoveled by hand, not plowed.
Don’t mix models mid-season
Switching a customer from per-push to seasonal (or back) partway through winter is where billing disputes start. Pick the model at signup, put the trigger depth and any add-ons in writing, and hold the line for the season — change it at renewal, not mid-storm.
Frequently asked questions
Which pricing model is safer for a new operator?
Per-push, until you have at least one full season's worth of local storm-count data. A seasonal contract priced on a guess about how many storms will hit can lose money in a heavy year that a per-push customer would have simply paid more for.
What's a 'trigger depth' and why does it matter?
It's the snowfall amount that triggers a plow visit — commonly 2 inches. Stating it on the contract (per-push or seasonal) avoids disputes over whether a light dusting should have been plowed.
Should salting be included in the seasonal price?
Most operators price it separately, since salt usage varies storm to storm and bundling it into a flat seasonal number means guessing at ice-storm frequency on top of snowfall frequency — two unknowns instead of one.