Sod Cost Calculator & Price Guide

Sod is grass that a farm has already grown, cut into strips or rolls with a thin layer of soil and roots attached. Laying it gives you a usable lawn in weeks instead of the months that seed can take, and that speed is what you pay for. It costs much more than seeding the same area.

The price of a sod project has two main parts: the sod itself, which varies by grass species, and the labor to prepare the ground and lay it. Delivery is often a third line, since a pallet of sod is heavy and has to be laid soon after it is cut.

If you plan to lay sod yourself, the material price is the number that matters most. LawnLove lists sod-only prices for three common grasses.

Climate largely decides which grass you can grow, and that narrows your price range before you compare suppliers. Bahiagrass, Bermudagrass, St. Augustine, and zoysia are warm-season grasses used mainly in the South. Kentucky bluegrass is a cool-season grass common in northern states. Zoysia sits at the top of the material range here, and Bahia is one of the cheapest.

Your local cooperative extension office can tell you which grasses do well in your region and soil. That advice is free and can save you from paying for sod that struggles in your yard.

Most of the labor goes into preparing the ground. A typical job includes removing the old lawn or weeds, grading the soil so water drains away from the house, adding topsoil or amendments where needed, and laying and rolling the sod so the roots make contact with the ground.

LawnStarter also publishes installed prices by grass type, which combine the sod and the labor in one figure.

St. Augustine and Bermudagrass sit at the top of that list, while Bahia and Kentucky bluegrass cost less to have installed.

Because sod is priced by area, the total scales with your lawn. LawnLove gives these figures for professional installation:

To estimate your own lawn, measure the area in square feet and multiply by a per-foot installed rate. Break odd shapes into rectangles and triangles, measure each, and add them up. Order a little extra to cover cuts around beds, walkways, and curves; suppliers often suggest a small overage on top of the measured area.

Sod farms and garden centers usually sell sod by the pallet. Pallet coverage and price vary by supplier and grass type.

Delivery is often charged separately, and some suppliers waive it above a minimum order. Plan the delivery for the day you lay the sod, or the day before at most. Sod left stacked on the pallet heats up and starts to die, especially in summer.

The two sources below give quite different per-foot averages for installed sod.

LawnStarter reports an average of $1.65/sq ft, while LawnLove gives $1.70 – $2.60/sq ft. The difference may come from how much site preparation each figure assumes. A job on bare, graded soil costs less than one that starts with removing an old lawn, hauling debris, and bringing in topsoil. Lawn size may matter too, because small jobs carry a minimum charge that raises the per-foot price. Regional labor rates and the grass species in each average may also contribute.

Laying sod is one of the more approachable landscaping projects. If the ground is already fairly level, a homeowner with a helper can handle a small lawn over a weekend. The main costs are the sod, delivery, a rented sod cutter if you are removing old turf, and a lawn roller.

A professional crew is worth the cost when the site needs real grading, when drainage runs toward the house, or when the area is large enough that the sod would sit on pallets too long. Pros also know how to stagger seams and fit pieces tightly, which helps the lawn knit together without gaps.

Before any digging, call 811 to have underground utility lines marked. The service is free, and it applies to regrading and sod cutting as much as to deeper digging.

New sod needs frequent watering until the roots grow into the soil below. Keep foot traffic off it during that time and hold off on mowing until the sod is firmly rooted, which you can check by gently lifting a corner. A lawn that is underwatered in its first weeks can shrink, leaving gaps at the seams that cost money to patch.