Lawn and landscape
Lawn aeration cost
Core aeration costs about $95 for a 5,000 sq ft lawn — the visit minimum — $140 for 10,000 sq ft and $408 for an acre. Aeration and overseeding together is about $277 for 5,000 sq ft of tall fescue, most of it seed. Renting an aerator is about $95 a day, which on a small lawn saves little.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-29 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
Lawn aeration cost calculator
The lawn, the grass and the job
Aeration is priced by the square foot with a visit minimum. Overseeding adds the seed your grass needs and spreading it; dethatching is its own job.
0.11 acre of grass.
Cool-season: aerate in early fall.
Long straight passes.
Clay or compacted soil, heavy foot traffic, a lawn that puddles.
25 lb of seed.
Only if thatch is over ½ in.
A lawn service.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
5,000 sq ft, aerated and overseeded
$277
$55.40 per 1,000 sq ft · about $277 a year
Aeration at the visit minimum
Getting the machine to the yard costs the same for a small lawn as for a big one.
Plugs, not spikes
Leave the cores on the lawn.
A core aerator pulls plugs of soil and leaves holes for air, water and seed. The plugs look messy for a week and break down into the grass. Spike aerators push holes shut around the spike and compact the soil beside them.
By lawn size
Tall fescue, open and flat, hired.
What the lawn service charges for
- Core aeration
Core aeration: a machine pulls plugs of soil 2–3 in deep every few inches, and the plugs are left to break down on the lawn.$95 - 25 lb of tall fescue seed
5 lb per 1,000 sq ft for overseeding.$105 - 1 bag of starter fertilizer
40 lb bags at 5 lb per 1,000 sq ft.$32 - Spreading the seed
Seed spread over the aerated lawn so it falls into the holes, with a starter fertilizer.$45
What it costs
National average. 5,000 sq ft of tall fescue core-aerated and overseeded with starter fertilizer. Not included: topdressing, watering, weed control.
Seed rates and prices are those of the sod and seed page; keeping it cut, lawn mowing cost.
Worth knowing
- Tall fescue is cool-season: aerate it in early fall, when the soil is warm and the grass is growing hard — and overseed the same day. Aerating a dormant or stressed lawn opens the soil for weeds instead.
- A lawn this size pays the visit minimum, about $95. Booking it with the neighbours, or on the same visit as the fall cleanup, is how small lawns get it cheaper.
- Overseeding 5,000 sq ft of tall fescue takes 25 lb of seed at 5 lb per 1,000 sq ft — $105 — and 1 bag of starter fertilizer. Seed right after aerating so it lands in the holes, and keep it damp for three weeks.
- Every year: clay or compacted soil, heavy foot traffic, a lawn that puddles — about $277 a year. Flag the sprinkler heads and mark shallow cable and irrigation lines before the machine goes over them.
On this page — 4 sections
By the square foot, with a minimum
The short version
- 5,000 sq ft: $95. The visit minimum.
- 10,000 sq ft: $140; an acre: $408.
- With overseeding: $277 for 5,000 sq ft of fescue.
- Renting doesn’t save much on a small lawn.
Core aeration is priced per thousand square feet — about $14 with a walk-behind machine up to 10,000 sq ft and $8 beyond, where a ride-on aerator takes over — never below the visit minimum of about $95. Most suburban lawns pay the minimum. Overseeding is where the bill grows: the seed is priced by the pound, and a tall fescue lawn takes 5 lb per 1,000 sq ft.
$95
Aerate
5,000 sq ft
$277
Aerate and overseed
5,000 sq ft, fescue
$408
Aerate
One acre
$95
Rent the aerator
A day
MaterialsEstimator, Lawn aeration, overseeding and dethatching price survey · checked 2026-09-29
Aerate, then seed
| Seed, 5,000 sq ft | Aerate and overseed | |
|---|---|---|
| Tall fescue | 25 lb | $277 |
| Kentucky bluegrass | 8 lb | $236 |
| Perennial ryegrass | 20 lb | $244 |
| Bermuda | 5 lb | $222 |
| Zoysia | Runners, not seed | $95 |
| St. Augustine | Runners, not seed | $95 |
Seed spread right after aeration falls into the holes, in contact with soil and out of the birds’ reach — which is why the two are sold together. The pounds are the sod page’s overseeding rates for each grass. Zoysia and St. Augustine are not grown from seed in an existing lawn; they fill in with their own runners, and aerating helps them do it.
MaterialsEstimator, Turfgrass establishment, irrigation and maintenance survey · checked 2026-09-16
MaterialsEstimator, Sod, seed and topsoil price survey · checked 2026-09-16
When and how often
Aerate when the grass is growing hard enough to fill the holes: early fall for cool-season lawns, late spring into early summer for warm-season lawns. Clay or compacted soil wants it every year; average soil every two years; sandy soil every three. If a screwdriver will not push into damp soil, the lawn is compacted.
Cooperative extension turfgrass programmes, Core aeration, dethatching and overseeding guidance · checked 2026-09-29
What goes wrong
Before the machine comes
- Sprinkler heads flagged.
- Shallow cable, dog fences and irrigation lines marked.
- The lawn watered a day or two before.
- Seed and starter fertilizer on hand.
- Mowed a little shorter than usual.
01Spike aeration
It compacts the soil around each hole.
Instead — Core aeration that pulls plugs.
02Raking up the cores
They are soil and microbes the lawn needs.
Instead — Leave them to break down.
03Aerating a dormant lawn
Weeds fill the holes before grass does.
Instead — Aerate when the grass is growing.
04Dethatching every year
Thin thatch protects the soil.
Instead — Only above 0.5 in.
- 01Measure the lawnThe grass only, not the house, drive or beds.
- 02Test the soilIf a screwdriver will not push in easily when the soil is damp, it is compacted.
- 03Check the thatchCut a plug: over half an inch of thatch, dethatch first.
- 04Decide on seedThin cool-season lawns are overseeded the same day.
- 05Pick the seasonEarly fall for cool-season grass, late spring for warm-season.
- 06Flag the sprinklersMark heads and shallow lines before the machine arrives.
Mowing by the visit and the season, with the treatment program many services sell alongside aeration.
Keeping it cut- Core aeration
- Pulling plugs of soil 2–3 in deep every few inches so air, water and seed reach the roots. The plugs are left on the lawn.
- Spike aeration
- Pushing solid tines into the soil. It compacts the soil around each hole and does little for a compacted lawn.
- Overseeding
- Spreading seed over an existing lawn to thicken it — best done right after core aeration.
- Thatch
- The mat of dead stems and roots between the grass blades and the soil. Over about half an inch it blocks water and air.
- Dethatching
- Power raking the thatch out of a lawn and hauling it away.
- Starter fertilizer
- A fertilizer high in phosphorus for new seedlings, spread with the seed.
- Compaction
- Soil pressed dense by traffic, clay or machinery, so roots, air and water cannot get in.
Common questions
- How much does lawn aeration cost?
- About $95 for a lawn up to about 6,800 sq ft — the visit minimum most services charge — $140 for 10,000 sq ft, $234 for half an acre and $408 for an acre. That is about $14 per 1,000 sq ft up to 10,000 and $8 beyond.
- How much does aeration and overseeding cost?
- About $277 for 5,000 sq ft of tall fescue: $95 to aerate, 25 lb of seed at 5 lb per 1,000 sq ft ($105), starter fertilizer and spreading. For 10,000 sq ft it is $504; for an acre, $1,908. Kentucky bluegrass needs less seed by weight — $236 for 5,000 sq ft.
- How much does it cost to aerate an acre?
- About $408 to core-aerate an acre, and $1,908 with fescue overseeding — the seed is most of that.
- How much does it cost to aerate a quarter-acre lawn?
- About $147 for a quarter acre of grass (10,890 sq ft).
- How much does it cost to rent a lawn aerator?
- About $95 a day for a walk-behind core aerator ($70–$130). It covers about 5,000 sq ft an hour with overlap and turns, and it weighs about 200 lb, so it needs a pickup or a trailer and two people to load.
- Is it cheaper to aerate your own lawn?
- Not on a small lawn: renting the aerator ($95) costs as much as hiring the minimum ($95), and with seed and a spreader doing 5,000 sq ft yourself is $282 against $277 hired. On 10,000 sq ft with seed it is $419 yourself against $504.
- How much does dethatching cost?
- About $150 for a small lawn plus about $50 to haul the debris — $295 with aeration on 5,000 sq ft. Only worth it when the thatch is over about 0.5 in thick.
- How often should a lawn be aerated?
- Every year for clay or compacted soil, heavy foot traffic, a lawn that puddles; every two years for average soil and use; every three years for sandy soil that drains well.
- When is the best time to aerate?
- When the grass is growing hardest: early fall for cool-season grasses like fescue, bluegrass and ryegrass, overseeded the same day; late spring into early summer for warm-season grasses like bermuda, zoysia and St. Augustine.
Send this to whoever is paying
The link carries your measurements, so whoever opens it sees the same numbers you are looking at — and you can come back to it yourself tomorrow with the delivery note in front of you.
Plain links, no tracking scripts. Nothing here reports back that you shared it.
About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
More about how this site is edited