How much does tree removal cost?

Published national ranges for removing a tree by height, the costs that are priced separately, and how to compare quotes line by line.

Updated November 7, 202621 official sources

On this page5 sections

1What removing one tree costs
2If the tree only needs trimming
3What pushes the price up
4Costs that are priced separately
5Comparing quotes

The figures here are published national ranges from cost guides, city fee schedules and one city's bid tabulation. They aren't quotes, we didn't measure them, and local prices vary. Use them to plan a budget, then get quotes from tree companies near you.

What removing one tree costs

A typical single tree costs about $400 to $1,200 to remove.^1-2 Angi's range is wider, at $200 to $2,000 or more.³

The cost guides price removal by the tree's height. Each draws its height bands a little differently, so each row below runs from the lowest to the highest figure among them.

Tree height	Published range
Under 30 ft	$150 to $500 per tree^1-4
30 to 60 ft	$450 to $1,500 per tree^1-4
60 to 80 ft	$800 to $2,000 per tree^1-4
Over 80 ft	$1,000 to $2,500 or more per tree^1-4

The tree cost estimator turns these ranges into a planning range for the number of trees you have.

If the tree only needs trimming

Trimming is priced by height too, and each row runs from the lowest to the highest figure among the guides that price it this way.

Tree height	Published range
Under about 30 ft	$80 to $400 per tree^5-7
30 to 60 ft	$150 to $800 per tree^5-7
Over 60 ft	$300 to $1,800 per tree^5-7

HomeGuide's trimming prices run about double these, at $250 to $700 for a tree under 30 ft.⁸

What pushes the price up

Emergency work. Emergency or storm removal costs about 2 to 3 times the normal price.^{1-2, 4} Fixr puts an emergency job at $450 to $5,000,² and Angi says an urgent removal can cost as much as $5,000.³
A crane. Oxnard, California priced a crane with an operator at $125 to $225 an hour on its 2022 tree contract.⁹ ArboStar puts it at about $150 an hour with a 4-hour minimum.¹⁰ Oxnard's figure is a city contract price rather than a homeowner price, so treat both as a guide to scale.
Access, a lean toward the house and nearby power lines. Ask each company whether any of these changes its price, and by how much.

Costs that are priced separately

The cost guides list these on their own, so a quote may or may not include them.

Item	Published range
Stump grinding	$150 to $500 for a typical stump,^11-14 and $30 to $75 for each extra stump^{11, 15}
Hauling the debris away	$75 to $250^{8, 16}
Splitting the logs	$50 to $120, priced per tree or by the hour^{1, 16}
Chipping	$50 to $125 an hour^{4, 16}
Removal permit	Nothing in Portland, Oregon to about $253 in Austin, Texas.^17-18 Austin waives its fee for dead, diseased and imminently hazardous trees,¹⁸ and Seattle charges nothing for a dead tree¹⁹
An arborist's written report	$150 to $700, with reports that cover several trees at the upper end^20-21

The stump guide covers grinding and digging out in more detail, and the permit guide covers when a permit is needed.

Comparing quotes

Ask every company to put the same things in writing, so you can compare them line by line:

Which trees it's removing, and how it'll bring them down.
Whether the stump is ground, and how far below the surface.
What happens to the wood: hauled away, split and stacked, or left where it falls.
Whether the chips stay or go, and who cleans up the yard.
Who applies for any permit, and whether the fee is in the price.
Whether the price is fixed or hourly, and what would change it.

If one quote leaves an item out, ask for it to be priced before you compare.

Ranges compiled from HomeGuide, Angi, Fixr, Forbes Home and ArboStar, a city bid tabulation and city fee schedules, checked September 2026.