How much should I raise my prices? Work it out from your own costs

Why there's no single right percentage

Search for how much to raise prices and you'll find confident round numbers. None of them knows your costs. A lawn crew that burns a lot of fuel, a cleaning business where wages are nearly everything, and an HVAC shop buying parts and refrigerant have had very different years, even in the same town.

National figures show how differently costs can move. In the US, in the 12 months to September 2026:

If fuel is a big share of your costs, the headline 3.7% understates your year. If you're mostly paying wages, it may be close. That's why the method below starts from your own cost lines.

The method: price from your own cost lines

1. 1

   Pick one typical unit of work

   A weekly mow, a biweekly clean, a quarterly pest treatment, a plan visit. Use what you actually charge for it now.

2. 2

   Split what it costs you

   Labour (wages plus payroll costs for the time on site and driving), fuel and vehicle, materials or chemicals or parts, and a share of overhead (insurance, software, phone, office). The labor rate calculator helps with the labour line.

3. 3

   Put last year's figure next to each line

   Use your own receipts, payroll and supplier invoices where you have them. Where you don't, a national figure for that kind of cost is a fallback, not a substitute.

4. 4

   Decide what you're protecting

   Keeping the same profit in dollars per visit gives the smallest rise. Keeping the same profit margin (as a share of the price) gives a bigger one, because your profit grows in line with your costs. Most owners aim for the margin, or the rise just stops them falling behind.

5. 5

   Round to a clean price

   Customers notice the new number, not the percentage. Round to a price you'd be happy to quote a new customer.

A worked example (made-up numbers)

• Same profit in dollars: $95.55 + $30.00 = $125.55, a rise of about 4.6%.
• Same 25% margin: $95.55 ÷ 0.75 = $127.40, a rise of about 6.2%. Rounded, $128.
• Inflation only: US CPI-U rose 3.7% from September 2025 to September 2026, so $120 kept in line with it would be about $124.49. In this example that leaves the business behind on its own costs.

Doing nothing is a choice too: the same visit now earns $24.45 instead of $30.00.

How many customers could you lose and still gain?

The fear behind most delayed price rises is losing customers. The maths is kinder than it feels. With a rise of r, your revenue stays the same as long as fewer than r ÷ (1 + r) of customers leave.

Carrying on the example with 100 customers at one visit each: a 6.2% rise to $127.40 means revenue holds until about 5.8% leave. Keeping 95 gives $12,103 against $12,000 now; keeping 94 gives $11,975.60.

Profit is more forgiving still, because a customer who leaves also takes their visit costs with them. At the new costs, $120 earns $24.45 a visit and $127.40 earns $31.85. Keeping 77 customers earns $2,452.45 against $2,445 if you don't raise; keeping 76 earns $2,420.60. Overhead doesn't fall when customers leave, so the real figure is lower than this, but the direction holds.

How often should you raise prices?

Pick a fixed review date and stick to it: once a year is the most common choice, at the start of your season or each customer's renewal. A fixed date stops older customers drifting years behind, which is usually where the real losses are.

Owners often say small, regular rises go down better than rare large ones. One owner on Jobber's community forum reported raising 400 recurring clients by 4% and losing two (thread ↗). That's one business's account, not a benchmark.

If a customer is far behind your current rate, a single large jump may be too much. Two smaller steps a few months apart, or a smaller service at the old price, are both honest options.

Outside the US

The same method works anywhere: start from your own costs. For the inflation sense check, use your national statistics office, such as the Office for National Statistics ↗ in the UK or Statistics Canada ↗. Our inflation calculator holds US figures only, so outside the US you type your own.

Once you have the number

Find which customers are furthest behind with the free price-rise audit, give the notice your customers are owed (some US states and Canadian provinces set notice periods for ongoing service contracts; the notice checker gives you dates), and send a short, plain letter: there are templates for lawn care, cleaning, HVAC and other trades. Our guide to raising prices on recurring customers covers the letter and pushback step by step.