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Artificial Turf Cost Calculator
Enter your yard size and pick a turf type to see what synthetic grass costs, hired out or done yourself. This artificial turf cost calculator also lists every material you'll buy and shows when turf pays for itself against sod.
Your lawn area
For L-shaped yards, split them into rectangles and add the totals, or switch to total area.
Installed: about $8.66 – $15.16 per sq ft for this yard.
Who installs it
Turf, base, infill, nails and labor, as an installer would quote it.
Your site
Slope and access
Remove old lawn
Add edging
Materials
Roll width
Base depth
Most turf comes in 15-ft rolls. A 3-inch compacted base suits most lawns; use 4 inches on clay or for dogs.
Your estimate
Installed cost
$4,830 – $8,953
$9.66 – $17.91 per sq ft over 500 sq ft
Cost breakdown
- Turf, base and infill$1,800 – $3,150
- Labor$2,530 – $4,428
- Old lawn removal$500 – $1,375
What your installer will order
- Turf to order600 sq ft (20% waste)
- Cut from the roll2 strips, 15 ft × 20 ft
- Seams20 linear ft
- Infill750 lb (15 bags of 50 lb)
- Base rock6.5 tons (4.6 cu yd)
- Weed barrier500 sq ft
- Nails1 bucket (30 lb)
Turf vs sod for this lawn
- Sod, installed$750 – $2,000
- Hired lawn care$980 – $1,430 a year
- Turf upkeep$125 – $350 a year
Turf pays for itself in about 6 years if you'd otherwise pay for lawn care.
National 2026 price ranges. Local labor, delivery and sales tax move the final number, so get two or three quotes before you commit.
See it before you buy it
See turf on your own backyard
Upload a photo of your yard and OutdoorBrite shows it redesigned with a turf lawn, paths and planting beds, so you can decide on the layout before you get quotes.
Try AI backyard design
See it before you buy it
See turf on your own backyard
Upload a photo of your yard and OutdoorBrite shows it redesigned with a turf lawn, paths and planting beds, so you can decide on the layout before you get quotes.
Try AI backyard designMost turf calculators give you one number: either a material total from a supplier who wants to sell you rolls, or an installed price per square foot with nothing behind it. This one gives you both, line by line, so you can see where the money goes.
It works out how many 15-ft strips your yard needs and how much you'll waste cutting them, then adds infill, base rock, nails and seam tape. Switch to hire a pro and it prices labor for your site and project size. Then it checks the result against a sod lawn, so you know if turf is worth it for you.
How to use this calculator
Five inputs, and the estimate updates as you type.
- 1
Measure the lawn
Enter length and width in feet or meters, or switch to total area for curved or L-shaped spaces. Measure the turf area itself, not the whole yard.
- 2
Pick a turf type
Standard landscape turf suits most lawns. Pick pet turf for dogs, play turf for kids and sports, or a putting green.
- 3
Choose pro or DIY
Hire a pro shows an installed price. DIY shows the materials and rentals you'd pay for if you do the work.
- 4
Describe the site
Slopes, tight side yards and hard soil add labor. Say whether the old lawn has to come out and whether you need edging.
- 5
Read the estimate
You get a price range, a line-by-line breakdown, the materials list and a turf vs sod payback for your lawn size.
Tip: measure twice and round up to the next foot. Turf is cut from fixed-width rolls, so an inch short means buying another strip.
Artificial turf cost by type
The turf you choose sets about half the price. Here's what each type costs per square foot, as rolls you install yourself and fully installed.
| Turf type | Turf only (DIY) | Installed | Infill | Lifespan | Cost per sq ft per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget landscape turf (polypropylene) | $1.75 – $3.50 | $6 – $10 | 1 lb per sq ft | 8 to 12 years | $0.80 |
| Standard landscape turf (polyethylene) | $2.50 – $5.50 | $8 – $14 | 1.5 lb per sq ft | 15 to 20 years | $0.63 |
| Pet turf (drains fast, odor-control infill) | $3.25 – $6.50 | $10 – $18 | 1.5 lb per sq ft | 12 to 18 years | $0.93 |
| Play and sports turf (nylon, heavy use) | $4.50 – $8.00 | $9 – $16 | 2.5 lb per sq ft | 10 to 15 years | $1.00 |
| Putting green | $4.00 – $8.00 | $12 – $25 | 2 lb per sq ft | 10 to 15 years | $1.48 |
Installed prices assume a flat, easy-access yard with a 3-inch base. Cost per year is the middle installed price divided by the middle lifespan.
Artificial turf cost by yard size
Standard landscape turf on an easy, flat site with the old lawn removed. Small jobs cost more per square foot because a crew spends the same day setting up either way.
| Lawn size | Installed | Per sq ft | DIY materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | $1,054 – $1,945 | $10.54 – $19.45 | $623 – $1,244 |
| 200 sq ft | $2,108 – $3,889 | $10.54 – $19.45 | $1,021 – $2,134 |
| 300 sq ft | $2,898 – $5,372 | $9.66 – $17.91 | $1,437 – $3,068 |
| 500 sq ft | $4,830 – $8,953 | $9.66 – $17.91 | $2,237 – $4,859 |
| 750 sq ft | $6,750 – $12,563 | $9.00 – $16.75 | $3,237 – $7,094 |
| 1,000 sq ft | $9,000 – $16,750 | $9.00 – $16.75 | $4,323 – $9,503 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $13,500 – $25,125 | $9.00 – $16.75 | $6,326 – $13,984 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $18,000 – $33,500 | $9.00 – $16.75 | $8,382 – $18,555 |
DIY covers turf, infill, base rock, weed barrier, nails, seam tape, a plate compactor and sod cutter rental, and disposal of the old lawn.
What changes the price
Two quotes for the same yard can be thousands of dollars apart. These are the reasons.
Turf quality
Polypropylene is the cheapest and wears fastest. Polyethylene feels softer and suits most lawns. Nylon is the toughest and the most expensive. Taller, denser pile costs more.
Base preparation
The crushed rock base is what keeps turf flat and draining. Clay soil, low spots and dog runs need a deeper base, which means more digging and more rock.
Removing the old lawn
Stripping grass and hauling it away adds $1 to $2.75 per sq ft when a crew does it. Some quotes leave it out, so check.
Slope and access
If a skid steer can't reach the backyard, everything moves by wheelbarrow. Slopes and steps can add 15% to 35% to the labor.
Project size
Under 250 sq ft, expect to pay noticeably more per square foot. Over 2,000 sq ft, installers usually come down 10% to 20%.
Shape and seams
Turf comes off 15-ft rolls. A 16-ft-wide yard needs two strips and wastes almost half of the second one. Curves add cutting waste too.
DIY vs hiring a pro
Labor is roughly half of an installed turf job. Doing it yourself typically brings a 500 sq ft lawn from about $4,800 to $9,000 installed down to $2,200 to $4,900 in materials and rentals.
The hard part isn't laying the turf, it's the base. You'll dig out 3 to 4 inches of soil, move several tons of rock and compact it in layers with a rented plate compactor. A 500 sq ft lawn needs about 6.5 tons of base, which is a lot of wheelbarrow trips.
Seams are the other risk. A badly glued seam shows for the life of the lawn. If your yard needs more than one strip, watch a seaming tutorial first, or hire a pro for just the seams.
How much turf, infill and base you need
Turf: you buy whole strip widths. Divide the side running across the roll by 15 (or 12), round up, and multiply by 15 and the other side. The calculator tries both directions and keeps the one that wastes less.
Infill: 1 to 2.5 lb per sq ft depending on the turf, sold in 50-lb bags. Base: area × depth in inches ÷ 12 ÷ 27 gives cubic yards; compacted crushed rock weighs about 1.4 tons per cubic yard. Nails: about one 30-lb bucket per 850 sq ft.
Worked example
A 25 × 20 ft backyard (500 sq ft) in standard landscape turf, DIY, old lawn removed:
- 1.Turf: rolls running along the 20-ft side need 2 strips (25 ÷ 15 = 1.7, round up), so 2 × 15 × 20 = 600 sq ft, with 20% waste.
- 2.Seams: one 20-ft seam between the two strips.
- 3.Infill: 500 × 1.5 lb = 750 lb, or 15 bags of 50 lb.
- 4.Base: 500 × 3 ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = 4.6 cu yd, about 6.5 tons of crushed rock.
- 5.Weed barrier: 500 sq ft. Nails: 1 bucket.
At 2026 prices that comes to about $2,360 to $5,130, or $4.70 to $10.25 per sq ft, including a compactor and sod cutter for the day.
Artificial turf vs sod over 15 years
Turf costs far more on day one. Sod costs money every year after. Here's the running total for a 500 sq ft lawn, using the middle of each price range.
| After | Artificial turf | Sod, hired lawn care | Sod, you mow it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $7,129 | $2,580 | $1,405 |
| 5 years | $8,079 | $7,400 | $1,525 |
| 10 years | $9,266 | $13,425 | $1,675 |
| 15 years | $10,454 | $19,450 | $1,825 |
If you pay a crew to mow, fertilize and aerate, turf catches up in about 6 years and keeps saving after that. Hired care here means 26 mowing visits, two fertilizer rounds and aeration every other year, plus irrigation water.
If you mow it yourself, sod stays far cheaper: your only running cost is water, about $20 to $40 a year for 500 sq ft. Turf makes the most sense when you'd pay for lawn care, face watering limits, or have a spot where grass won't grow.
Tips before you buy
Get at least three quotes and ask each one to list base depth, turf brand and face weight, infill type and whether removal is included.
Don't let anyone skip the crushed rock base. Turf laid on soil sinks, puddles and ripples within a year.
Lay all strips with the grain running the same way, ideally facing the house, so seams and color differences disappear.
For dogs, pay for pet turf with a perforated or flow-through backing and an odor-control infill. Plain silica sand holds smells.
Check your water utility before you buy. Many Western cities pay a rebate per square foot for replacing lawn, though some exclude artificial turf.
Ask for samples and leave them in the sun. Some turf gets hot enough to hurt bare feet, and lighter colors fade faster.
How we calculate
Installed prices are national 2026 ranges per square foot for each turf type, cross-checked in October 2026 against Angi's customer-reported project costs, HomeGuide and LawnStarter, and the rates published by the top-ranking turf calculators. Labor is treated as 55% of an installed price, and only that share changes with slope, access and project size.
DIY prices come from quantities, not a flat rate: turf strips from the roll width, infill by turf type, base rock by depth, nails at one bucket per 850 sq ft, seam tape per foot of seam, and tool rentals. Every figure is a low to high range because turf prices vary by brand and region.
The turf vs sod comparison uses sod at $1.50 to $4 per sq ft installed, turf upkeep of $0.25 to $0.70 per sq ft a year and hired lawn care priced from HomeGuide. To size a natural lawn instead, use our sod calculator.
This calculator gives planning estimates, not quotes. It doesn't include sales tax, delivery, drainage systems, irrigation changes or permits. Prices in high-cost areas such as California or the Northeast often land at the top of each range.
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Artificial turf cost questions, answered
Straight answers using the same numbers as the calculator above.
Installed artificial turf costs about $6 to $25 per square foot in 2026. Standard landscape turf runs $8 to $14, pet turf $10 to $18 and putting greens $12 to $25. Doing it yourself, materials and rentals come to roughly $4 to $10 per square foot.
About $9,000 to $16,750 for standard landscape turf installed on a flat, easy site with the old lawn removed. DIY materials for 1,000 sq ft run about $4,300 to $9,500.
Expect about $4,800 to $9,000 installed for standard landscape turf, or $2,200 to $4,900 if you install it yourself. Pet turf for the same lawn runs about $5,900 to $11,100 installed.
Around $2,100 to $3,900 installed. Small jobs cost more per square foot because the crew's setup day is the same either way. DIY materials for 200 sq ft come to about $1,000 to $2,100.
About $1,050 to $1,950 installed, or $600 to $1,250 DIY. Many installers have a minimum job price, so for very small areas a DIY install or a turf mat is often better value.
It depends on your yard's width compared with the roll. Turf comes in 15-ft (sometimes 12-ft) rolls, so a 15-ft-wide yard wastes nothing and a 20-ft-wide yard can waste 20% to 50%. Enter your length and width above and the calculator picks the layout that wastes the least.
Usually 1 to 2.5 lb per square foot. Budget turf takes about 1 lb, standard landscape and pet turf about 1.5 lb, putting greens 2 lb and play turf up to 2.5 lb. A 500 sq ft lawn at 1.5 lb needs 750 lb, or 15 bags of 50 lb.
Most lawns need 3 inches of compacted crushed rock or Class II road base, and 4 inches on clay or for dogs. At 3 inches that's about 1.3 tons per 100 sq ft, so a 500 sq ft lawn needs around 6.5 tons.
Not upfront: sod costs $1.50 to $4 per square foot installed against $6 to $25 for turf. Over time turf can win if you pay for lawn care. For a 500 sq ft lawn with hired mowing, turf breaks even in about 6 years at mid-range prices. If you mow it yourself, sod stays cheaper.
Yes, in hire-a-pro mode. The installed price includes turf, base, infill, nails and labor, adjusted for your slope, access and project size. DIY mode leaves labor out and prices each material plus tool rentals instead. Neither includes sales tax or delivery.
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