What's the going rate for shoveling snow?

[MustachianAccountant]

As I was outside shoveling snow today, I started musing that some of the first money I ever made was shoveling snow for people in my neighborhood.
Which led me to wonder... how much do kids get for shoveling driveways nowadays?

[jjquantz]

I don't know, but I bet you could get a premium for doing driveways over sidewalks.  I just came in from clearing my sidewalk and I see several cleared driveways nearby, but only my sidewalk is clear.  I don't understand it on at least two levels:

1) everything is closed, so where do people think they are going?
2) Even with 10 inches on the ground I could get my little front wheel drive car out of my driveway without shoveling.  I don't know why their giant SUVs can't make it.

[coconutpop]

20 to 40$ around here.

Shoveler as a job pays around 15$ 20$ an hour. I do it sometimes for a friend. He pays me more if I give him clients.

Kids don't shovel much nowadays tho. Before my parents were getting a lot of offers from the kids in the block.

They moved to a new neighborhood where there are a lot of kids and they have not received any offers.

Also you can get a company that comes with a big blower for 300$ for the whole season. So if you can afford one of those blowers and get a city permit, Pretty decent Money can be made.

[Eric]

I'm not sure, but this winter I'd want to be paid by the ft³ or yd³

[Shor]

The California equivalent to snow shoveling was washing cars....

We got paid $5 split 4 ways per car (30 min)....
Now I see how my whole life has been disadvantaged from the start, imagine the compounding!

[GuitarStv]

I don't know, but I bet you could get a premium for doing driveways over sidewalks.  I just came in from clearing my sidewalk and I see several cleared driveways nearby, but only my sidewalk is clear.  I don't understand it on at least two levels:

1) everything is closed, so where do people think they are going?
2) Even with 10 inches on the ground I could get my little front wheel drive car out of my driveway without shoveling.  I don't know why their giant SUVs can't make it.

Around here if you shovel your snow promptly the asphalt on your driveway will heat up in the sun and melts pretty clear.  If you leave it or pack it over by driving back and forth on it the snow becomes an unmanageable packed hellish mixture of ice and compressed snow that stays around for ages and is a real PITA to clear.

[jjquantz]

I don't know, but I bet you could get a premium for doing driveways over sidewalks.  I just came in from clearing my sidewalk and I see several cleared driveways nearby, but only my sidewalk is clear.  I don't understand it on at least two levels:

1) everything is closed, so where do people think they are going?
2) Even with 10 inches on the ground I could get my little front wheel drive car out of my driveway without shoveling.  I don't know why their giant SUVs can't make it.

Around here if you shovel your snow promptly the asphalt on your driveway will heat up in the sun and melts pretty clear.  If you leave it or pack it over by driving back and forth on it the snow becomes an unmanageable packed hellish mixture of ice and compressed snow that stays around for ages and is a real PITA to clear.

That was the case when I lived in Iowa.  However, here in Northern Virginia I figure I can wait until Saturday and most of it will be melted, anyway.  I always try to make sure that pedestrians have a way to walk even if I may be the only pedestrian.

I wouldn't want to hire the teenagers who are digging out the car across the street.  Apparently they think that the car can move sideways into the street.  They aren't clearing any snow from in front of the vehicle.  Instead, they are digging out from the side and tossing it in front of the car.

[Thegoblinchief]

$20/hour and up, but it's more reasonable to have a contract that bills based on property size and event type. For the small walkway/alley type properties my way, I charge $5 for a dusting or salting, $15 for 1-6" and $25 for larger events. The effective hourly rate ends up being about $40/hour.

Not sure what professional contractors charge, though obviously that's all over the map depending on whether it's a guy in a truck versus true professionals like my brother's company. There the profit is all in salting, plowing is typically light profit, but they often lose money when they need to pay $20+ hourly labor to clear sidewalks and stuff.

[crazy jane]

My son's friend has a truck with a plow. He sometimes does my driveway if he's in the neighborhood on another job and sees that I haven't shoveled it myself (which I almost always do). I pay him in homemade cookies and beer.

[jrhampt]

$40 here.  We finally just paid to get it done after this last storm.  I don't think it's worth it to pay for it unless you have at least a foot, though.

[Boz86]

My shoulder's are wishing I'd paid the neighborhood plow $40 yesterday, but I got a hell of a workout this morning moving the heavy stuff we got in southern MD.

Now I just have two tracks down to the asphalt, hoping mother nature takes it from there.

[MrMoneyPinch]

If you want to save shoulders and back, I recommend this kind of shovel:
http://m.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/yardworks-sleigh-shovel-22-in-0596944p.html
If we get under 8 inches it is faster to clear my 50' driveway with that than starting the snowblower.
I still keep the blower since we get over a foot at a time regularly.  Not mustachian, but I try.

[hybrid]

"I'm Mister Plow, that's my name, that name again is Mister Plow...."

Anyone recognize that?

[Christiana]

If you want to save shoulders and back, I recommend this kind of shovel:
http://m.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/yardworks-sleigh-shovel-22-in-0596944p.html
If we get under 8 inches it is faster to clear my 50' driveway with that than starting the snowblower.
I still keep the blower since we get over a foot at a time regularly.  Not mustachian, but I try.

We have one of those, but the box is made of sheet metal, and we call it a "Yooper scooper" from our years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  It's great, though it is a little difficult to unload when the snow pile is taller than I am--I have to get a running start to push it up there. 

[TacosForever]

I have been wondering why I don't see more kids out doing this kind of work during the winter. There are days when it gets so bad in MN - the combination of subzero temps and frozen over snow - that I think I would pay someone $1,000 bucks to shovel my damn sidewalks.

[momo5]

its been snowing a lot here lately (NY). people knock on my door and offer to shovel my walk for $150, an extra $50 to dig out my car.
my husband does it in about an hour. it takes me two hours. my kids do it in about an hr and a half.
we dont have subzero temps here, its been down to the teens but mostly low twenties.

[Shropskr]

Zero

It's Seattle.  We get one to two inches twice a year. Wait a day and it's gone.  Anymore than that and you want to stay home anyway those yahoos are crazy.  The hills do make it bad but I swear they forget which end of the car is the front.  It's better just to avoid the whole mess.  Or if it's a really good storm say a whole 4 inches or more turn on the TV and LoL.

I was raised in Utah.  But Seattlites are crazy in snow.