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Dumpster rental vs. hauling it yourself: cost calculator

Hauling a load to the dump yourself costs the gate fee for its weight. Across the 166 posted fee schedules in our listings that publish a per-ton rate for ordinary trash (203 facilities), the median is $60.97 per ton, with a range of $24 to $274.57. Two level-to-heaped pickup loads of household trash weigh about 1,000-1,800 lb by EPA's conversion factors, so they cost roughly $30-$55 at the median rate. Enter your ZIP or state, the size of the load and the number of trips, then type the dumpster quote you were given: the calculator shows each step of the math and the difference. It never fills in a dumpster price for you. For comparison, EREF's 2024 national average from 351 landfills is $62.28 per ton. Figures computed 2026-10-23.

Where you are

The ZIP only picks your state, from the ZIPs of facilities we list. It is not sent anywhere.

Only what you would actually pay; leave blank if you own the truck.

Posted per-ton trash fees by state

Every figure below is computed from the fee schedules copied onto our facility listings. A state is used by the calculator once it has at least 3 distinct posted schedules; below that, the calculator falls back to the national median and says so.

Median and range of posted per-ton trash fees by state, with sample sizes
State Median per ton Range Schedules Facilities
Alabama $30 — 1too few, national used 1
California $89.90 $29.52-$274.57 33 43
Florida $63.57 $24-$191.46 31 41
Georgia $60 $35.75-$75 5 5
Illinois $25.35 — 1too few, national used 1
Iowa $49 $38-$60 6 6
Kansas $50.10 $45-$60 4 4
Michigan $98 — 1too few, national used 1
Minnesota $79 $60-$89.26 4 4
New York $110.30 $75-$237 14 30
North Carolina $54.75 $37-$86 16 16
Ohio $45.75 $30-$64.05 6 6
Oklahoma $56.31 $55-$57.62 2too few, national used 2
Pennsylvania $94.50 $89-$100 2too few, national used 2
Tennessee $40 — 1too few, national used 1
Texas $52 $32-$100 25 25
Virginia $60 $41-$85 13 14
Washington $46 — 1too few, national used 1
All listings $60.97 $24-$274.57 166 203

11 states meet the 3-schedule bar today. States not in the table have no listing with a posted per-ton trash rate yet; their facility pages show flat or per-load fees where we have them.

How the comparison is calculated

  1. State. A ZIP is matched to a state by its first three digits, using the ZIP codes of the 4,848 facilities we list (a prefix is used only when at least 90% of those facilities are in one state). If the ZIP is not recognised, choose the state.
  2. Rate. For each listing with a fee schedule we read the per-ton rate for ordinary trash (MSW, refuse, garbage or household waste). Rates for tires, yard waste, concrete, special waste, construction-only loads, out-of-county or uncovered loads are skipped, as are flat per-vehicle, per-yard and per-bag prices. A schedule shared by several sites in one county counts once. The calculator uses the median of those rates, and shows the lowest and highest beside it.
  3. Weight. Tons are taken as entered. Cubic yards are converted with EPA's factor for mixed household trash, uncompacted: 250-300 lb per cubic yard. A pickup load is our own geometry, not a source: a full-size bed is about 2 cubic yards level and 3 heaped. Construction debris is heavier (EPA: 417-484 lb per cubic yard), so enter tons if you know the load is dense.
  4. Haul it yourself = load size × trips → tons × per-ton rate, plus your own cost per trip × trips if you enter one.
  5. Dumpster = the quote you type. The difference is your quote minus the haul-it-yourself range. With no quote, the tool says “enter a quote to compare” rather than guess one.

Related guides and tools

Sources