How Much Does Land Clearing Cost Per Acre in Texas?
National cost guides put land clearing at about $500 to $8,000 per acre. Light brush and small trees run about $500 to $2,500 per acre. Thick timber with large trees runs about $3,300 to $8,000. One guide puts the average Texas clearing job at about $3,520.
Two things move the number most. The brush on the ground sets the machine hours, and the plan for the debris sets much of the rest. Bigger tracts also cost less per acre. Moving the machines in costs the same for 5 acres as for 50.
These are market numbers, not our price list. Our land clearing page covers how we clear tracts with heavy equipment.
What are the market ranges for land clearing in Texas?
The table draws on four national cost guides updated in 2025 and 2026. One line comes from the City of Fort Worth’s own permit application. Few tracts use every line.
| Line item | Market range |
|---|---|
| Light brush, shrubs and small trees | $500 to $2,500 per acre |
| Thicker brush and medium trees | $2,500 to $4,500 per acre |
| Dense timber with large trees | $3,300 to $8,000 per acre |
| Tree removal priced by the tree | $400 to $1,200 per tree |
| Stump removal priced by the stump | $100 to $400 per stump |
| Large rock removal | $650 to $1,200 per acre |
| Machine and crew time by the hour | $110 to $265 per hour |
| Roll-off container for hauled debris | $225 to $800 per container |
| Fort Worth urban forestry permit application | $296 up to 5 acres, plus $17.71 per acre over that |
A ranch tract of scattered brush may use only the first line. A wooded lot inside a city can touch most of them: bigger trees, and debris with nowhere to burn.
Why does brush density set the price?
Clearing is priced on machine hours, and density decides how many an acre takes. One national guide puts an acre at 2 to 12 hours of work. Scattered brush on open ground goes fast; a thicket of medium trees takes several passes.
The guides also note that hardwoods such as oak take longer to cut and move than softwoods. A heavy acre also leaves far more debris, so it costs more twice: at the machine and at the pile.
How do tree size and grubbing depth change the cost?
Small trees push over with a dozer blade. Big trees need an excavator to dig out the root ball. That is why national guides price them by the tree, about $400 to $1,200 each.
Grubbing depth matters as much as height. Pushing a tree over leaves the root crown; grubbing digs it out. The state extension service notes that mesquite and redberry juniper sprout back from buds below the surface. The plant has to come out below its lowest bud, a few inches to a foot or more down. The same source says grubbing takes more power, and usually costs more, as the soil dries.
Ground cleared for a pad or a road needs the roots out anyway. On a tract they come out by the acre, not stump by stump. The per-stump prices above belong to small lots.
Why do large tracts cost less per acre?
Moving a dozer and an excavator to the site costs the same for a lot as for a ranch. One national guide puts equipment costs at $150 to $3,000 of a clearing bill. On a small lot that charge lands on one acre; on a ranch it spreads across all of them.
One guide’s table lists 1 acre at $1,200 to $8,000. Its 5-acre line, $4,500 to $35,000, works out to $900 to $7,000 per acre. The guide’s reason: machines on site work faster across a big area.
How do slope, rock and access change the number?
Slope slows the machines, and the guides note that steep ground can keep heavy machinery off entirely.
Rock is the Hill Country’s problem: the state’s historical handbook describes the Edwards Plateau as thin soil over limestone. Grubbing there brings rock up with the roots. National guides put large rock removal at about $650 to $1,200 per acre, and boulders can call for blasting.
A tract with no road in may need a temporary access road first. Rain shuts machines down on clay, and a wet tract takes longer to clear.
What does the disposal method add?
Every cleared acre leaves a pile, and each way of dealing with it has a price.
Burning costs the least where the rules allow it. TCEQ’s outdoor burning rules let a landowner burn land clearing brush on the property where it grew. The fire burns outside city limits unless the city permits it, in daylight and attended. Wind has to be forecast between 6 and 23 miles per hour, and smoke has to stay off public roads. One national guide prices brush burning at $20 to $200 per hour.
Around Fort Worth the door is narrower. Tarrant, Dallas, Parker and Wise Counties sit in the Dallas-Fort Worth ozone nonattainment area. There, burning land clearing debris is allowed only when no practical alternative exists. Counties can also ban outdoor burning in dry spells, so check before a pile is lit.
Where burning is out, the debris is hauled or ground. National guides put a roll-off container at $225 to $800. Ask every bidder where the debris goes and who pays. One guide notes that some contractors include disposal in the base price and others bill it separately.
Do you need a permit to clear land in Texas?
Inside Fort Worth city limits, clearing all or part of a property takes an urban forestry permit. So does removing trees 6 inches across or larger, measured 4.5 feet up. The application fee is $296 for up to 5 acres, plus $17.71 per acre over that. A survey of protected trees 6 inches and up goes in with it.
A protected tree 24 inches across counts as significant, or 18 inches for post oak and blackjack oak. Removing one calls for mitigation. A single house lot of an acre or less is exempt. Other cities write their own rules, so ask each city’s permit office.
Texas law also requires a call to 811 for machine work 16 inches or deeper, at least 48 hours ahead. Grubbing reaches that depth, so big clearing jobs start with a ticket.
What should a written land clearing quote cover?
Two quotes only compare when they name the same work. Ask each one to list:
- The acres to be cleared and the boundary of the clearing
- Which trees stay, and how they will be protected
- Push-over only, or grubbing with the root crowns out
- Where the debris goes, and who pays for it
- Access to the tract, and any temporary road
- The finish: rough-graded, or ready for the next phase
That next phase is where the cleared ground earns its keep. A building pad goes down as site preparation work. A cleared corridor becomes a ranch road or a lease road through road building. Our guide to gravel road cost per mile covers that road’s price.
What is the next step for clearing a tract in Texas?
Tell us the county, the acreage, what is growing on it and what comes next. We look at the job and put the quote in writing, with the plan for the cleared material spelled out. Call or text (214) 557-5106, or read more about clearing tracts, pad sites and road corridors.