The direct answer
Among the 21 active residential route properties with an explicit numeric rate stored in SnowIS on September 1, 2026, the median stored rate is $119. The observed range is $69 to $299, and the simple average is $139.57.
Those numbers describe St. Louis Snow Removal's current route book. They are not a survey of every contractor in St. Louis, and they are not a guaranteed price for a new driveway.
The full, dated dataset summary is published in our St. Louis snow-removal pricing guide.
What the snapshot includes
The source set contains 39 active SnowIS sites categorized as residential routes. Twenty-one had an explicit numeric rate_usd value in the property service specification. Eighteen did not, so they were excluded instead of estimated.
That gives the snapshot a 54% completeness rate. Publishing the missing records as guesses would make the result look more complete while making it less trustworthy. We would rather show the limitation.
The calculation excludes customer names, street addresses, phone numbers, and every other identifying field.
What the $119 median means
A median is the middle value after the 21 stored rates are ordered from lowest to highest. Half of the included properties are at or below $119 and half are at or above it.
The median is more useful than the average when a route book includes a few unusually large, difficult, or high-scope properties. The $139.57 average is pulled upward by higher-priced stops; the $119 median better describes the center of the current set.
Neither number tells us what an unreviewed property should cost.
Why two nearby driveways can price differently
- Route density: A stop already inside a compact route is faster and more reliable to serve than an isolated address that adds travel and turning time.
- Driveway geometry: Width, length, grade, curves, retaining walls, garage position, turnaround room, and where snow can be stacked all change production time.
- Access: Parked vehicles, gates, narrow entrances, low branches, steep approaches, and limited visibility can change the equipment or handwork required.
- Trigger: A lower accumulation trigger can create more qualifying service events across a winter. Ice-only response and refreeze monitoring are separate commitments unless named.
- Scope: Driveway-only service is different from driveway plus walks, steps, de-icing, repeat passes, or post-storm cleanup.
- Service window: A property that must be completed before an early departure may need a different route position than a flexible residential stop.
This is why a flat internet price can be easy to advertise and hard to deliver reliably.
How to compare residential proposals
Before comparing the number, put the scope on the same page. Ask each contractor to state:
- The exact accumulation or ice trigger.
- Whether service is recurring or on demand.
- Which surfaces are included.
- Whether salt or other de-icer is included.
- How long storms and repeat passes are handled.
- Where snow will be stacked.
- What proof or notice follows a completed visit.
- Whether an individual qualifying event can be skipped.
A cheaper price with a higher trigger, narrower scope, later service window, or no ice coverage is not the same product.
St. Louis weather makes the trigger matter
The National Weather Service's St. Louis climatology says seasonal snowfall has averaged a little over 18 inches and that snowfall of one inch or less occurs on several days in many winters. That matters because a one-inch trigger and a two-inch trigger can produce different service counts even when the seasonal snowfall total is identical.
The contract should define the trigger and the measurement source before the first event. Otherwise, the pricing conversation is incomplete.
Methodology and update policy
This version is dated September 1, 2026. We will refresh it after material route-book changes while preserving the date, sample size, inclusion rule, and limitations.
The exact rule is simple: active residential-route records only; explicit numeric rate only; no estimated values; unweighted minimum, median, average, and maximum; no customer identifiers.
For an actual address, use the residential route pricing review rather than applying the median as a quote.