Dump fees by state: what your load will cost at a public landfill

Pick your state, the public dump nearest you, your vehicle and a rough weight. You get the fee from the county or city price list, with its date and a link, and the same load at the 23 other public sites we checked.

Covers 24 public dumps in 13 states (AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, NC, NY, OH, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA). Not covered yet: Los Angeles County itself (nearest on our list: Orange County and Riverside County), Houston, Chicago, New York City.

Independent site, not a waste hauler or a landfill operator.

Example shown: Salt Lake Valley Landfill, Salt Lake City, UT. Pick your state and your dump to see your own price.

Your state

13 states on our list

Public dump

Landfill, or transfer station: a drop-off site that trucks the waste on to a landfill

Vehicle

Weight of the load

A guess is fine; the scale decides

Not sure of the weight? A standard pickup bed (6½ × 5 ft) piled 2 ft high with household junk is about 660 lbs on the federal EPA factors; a fridge alone is about 250 lbs. Measure your load instead.

What the load is

Mattresses

Box springs too

Tires

Fridges, air conditioners

Freezers too

You live in the area it serves

Example: Salt Lake Valley Landfill, Salt Lake City, UT

$17

11th cheapest of the 24 public sites we priced for this load.

Load: Flat fee for this vehicle, whatever the weight	$17
Total	$17

Salt Lake County (public), price list current schedule, no effective date printed, checked on November 7, 2026 on the official page. Mixed trash may include green waste, concrete, asphalt, soil and sod at the flat rate.

Same load at other public sites in Utah

Washington County landfill (St. George)$0 for residentsFree only for: Washington County residents: one load under a ton a month.

For comparison only: the cheapest sites in other states

27th Avenue and North Gateway transfer stations (Phoenix, AZ)$0 for residentsFree only for: Phoenix residents who pay for full city trash service: one load up to a ton, once a month.
Trail Ridge Landfill (Jacksonville, FL)$9.09
South Wake Landfill (Raleigh, NC)$11.10
Franklin County Sanitary Landfill (Columbus, OH)$11.93
McCommas Bluff Landfill (Dallas, TX)$14.93
Badlands, Blythe, Lamb Canyon and El Sobrante landfills (Riverside–San Bernardino, CA)$15.70

How this is calculatedFees from official price lists. No quote form, no ZIP code.

24 public dumps, plus Austin’s drop-off center (which takes no trash), in 22 areas of 13 states. Price lists checked on November 7, 2026 · Radif Partners · How the fees are read and priced · Who publishes this site

What a dump run costs depends on the site’s rule more than on the load. On the 24 public price lists we checked on November 7, 2026, a pickup with 600 lbs of household junk pays $9.09 at the cheapest site that charges for it (Trail Ridge Landfill, Jacksonville), $18.45 in the middle of the list and $75 at the most expensive (Miramar Landfill, San Diego). Residents of Phoenix, AZ and of Washington County, UT who meet the local rules get one free load a month, up to a ton. Sites charge in one of three ways: a price per ton with a minimum charge, a flat price per car or pickup, or a mix of the two. Mattresses, tires and fridges often add an item fee on top. Bring proof of address, because many sites charge more for waste from outside the county or city, or refuse it. Pick your state and your dump in the calculator to see the line of the price list that applies to you.

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The example above is a pickup with 600 lbs of household junk at Salt Lake Valley Landfill, near Salt Lake City: the county charges a flat $17 for a pickup, whatever the weight. For the same load, the middle of the 24 sites is $18.45, the cheapest that charges is $9.09 and the most expensive $75. Pick your state and your dump to see your own price.

Every price comes from a page published by a county, a city or a public waste authority, and the calculator shows which line of it applies. Most pages on dump fees give a national range with no source, then ask for your ZIP code so that a hauler can call you. This site sells nothing and asks for nothing.

Before you go

Check the date. Counties change rates on July 1, cities often on October 1, some on January 1. Each price list here shows its own date; King County transfer stations have already announced $43.50 and $264.01 a ton for 2027.
Cover the load. Every price list we read with an uncovered-load rule charges for it, up to double the fee in San Bernardino County.
Bring proof of address where residents pay less or only residents are served.
Sort before you leave. Clean yard waste, clean concrete and metal often have their own lane and a lower rate. Paint, batteries, chemicals and electronics usually go to a separate drop-off.
Pay attention to the minimum. At Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio the minimum is $5; in King County it is $40.25. Several small trips can cost much more than one full load.

The price lists at a glance

Public sites that take trash: 24
States covered: 13
A 600 lb pickup load, middle site: $18.45
Same load, lowest fee charged to highest: $9.09 to $75

How a public landfill prices a load

A landfill buries the waste. A transfer station is a drop-off site that reloads it onto trucks for a landfill further away. Both build the price of your load from a few pieces:

Price per ton (county pages call it the “tipping fee” or “gate rate”): your vehicle is weighed on the way in and on the way out, and you pay for the difference.
Minimum charge: the least any load pays. North and South transfer stations in Seattle charge $37 for anything up to 420 lbs. A car or pickup of household junk rarely weighs more than a few hundred pounds, so this is what most residents pay at a site with a scale.
Flat vehicle rate: no scale, one price per car or pickup. Salt Lake Valley Landfill charges $17, whatever it weighs. A bargain for heavy loads, expensive for a few bags. Orange County in California mixes the two: flat under 880 lbs, weighed above.
Item fees for mattresses, tires and fridges or air conditioners (their cooling gas must be removed). 7 of the 24 price lists print a mattress price, 15 of all 25 a tire price and 12 a fridge price.
Resident rules: in Phoenix, residents who pay for city trash service bring one load a month, up to a ton, free. Some sites charge more for waste from outside the county or city.

Every public price list we checked

Two typical loads at each site, resident rates, no mattress: a car with 120 lbs of bags and a pickup with 600 lbs of household junk. Sorted by state. Tap a site name (underlined) to open its official price list.

Show the 24 price lists

Checked on the official pages on November 7, 2026. “Residents, once a month”: a free monthly load for residents of that city or county, not a mistake.
Site	Area	Car, 120 lbs	Pickup, 600 lbs	Price list dated
27th Avenue and North Gateway transfer stations	Phoenix, AZ	$0 (residents, once a month)	$0 (residents, once a month)	current page, no effective date printed
Los Reales Sustainability Campus	Tucson, AZ	$20	$20	July 1, 2026
Olinda Alpha and Prima Deshecha landfills	Orange County, south of LA, CA	$15	$30	July 1, 2026
County landfills and transfer stations	Riverside–San Bernardino, CA	$13.71	$18.45	July 1, 2023
Badlands, Blythe, Lamb Canyon and El Sobrante landfills	Riverside–San Bernardino, CA	$15.70	$15.70	July 1, 2026
Kiefer Landfill	Sacramento, CA	$10	$35	January 1, 2026
North Area Recovery Station	Sacramento, CA	$10	$40	January 1, 2026
Miramar Landfill	San Diego, CA	$75	$75	July 1, 2026
Larimer County Landfill	Fort Collins, CO	$20	$37	January 1, 2026
Trail Ridge Landfill	Jacksonville, FL	$1	$9.09	current page, no effective date printed
North Dade and South Dade landfills, Resources Recovery Facility	Miami, FL	$7.17	$35.85	rates the page says are effective as of October 1 (no year printed; the county's sheet dated October 1, 2025 shows $115.80)
Orange County Landfill, Porter and McLeod Road transfer stations	Orlando, FL	$10	$16.92	October 1, 2026
Seminole Road Landfill	Atlanta, GA	$16.50	$37.13	January 1, 2026
South Wake Landfill	Raleigh, NC	$2.22	$11.10	current page for haulers, no effective date printed
Broome County Landfill	Binghamton, NY	$5	$16.50	current page, no effective date printed
Franklin County Sanitary Landfill	Columbus, OH	$5	$11.93	current rates page; SWACO's FAQ dates the $39.75 rate to April 1, 2017
Alcoa/Maryville/Blount County Sanitary Landfill	Knoxville, TN	$15	$18	current page, no effective date printed
McCommas Bluff Landfill	Dallas, TX	$2.99	$14.93	October 1, 2026
Greater El Paso Landfill	El Paso, TX	from $16	from $16	city news release of December 3, 2025
Salt Lake Valley Landfill	Salt Lake City, UT	$17	$17	current schedule, no effective date printed
Washington County landfill	St. George, UT	$0 (residents, once a month)	$0 (residents, once a month)	January 1, 2026
I-66 Transfer Station and I-95 Landfill Complex	Fairfax (DC area), VA	$39	$49	July 1, 2026
North and South transfer stations	Seattle, WA	$37	$52.20	April 1, 2026
King County transfer stations	Seattle, WA	$40.25	$73.01	January 1, 2026

A zero is a free monthly load for residents of Phoenix and of Washington County in Utah. El Paso publishes only a starting price, so its figure reads “from”. The King County transfer stations and the Seattle stations cost the most for heavy loads: their prices per ton are the highest on the list.

Not in the table: Austin’s drop-off center, which takes recycling, reusable goods and tires but no trash. We found no public landfill open to residents in Chicago or New York. The fee pages of Houston, San Antonio, the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, Mecklenburg County, Pierce and Snohomish counties, Palm Beach County and Portland’s Metro could not be opened when we checked them, so we print no figure for them.

Three loads, priced everywhere

1. A car with a few bags 120 lbs, Car, SUV or minivan, no mattress

Cheapest $0 at 27th Avenue and North Gateway transfer stations (Phoenix), a free resident load; middle of the 24 sites $15 at Olinda Alpha and Prima Deshecha landfills (Orange County, south of LA); most expensive $75 at Miramar Landfill (San Diego).
2. A pickup of household junk 600 lbs, Pickup or cargo van, no mattress

Cheapest $0 at 27th Avenue and North Gateway transfer stations (Phoenix), a free resident load; middle of the 24 sites $18.45 at County landfills and transfer stations (Riverside–San Bernardino); most expensive $75 at Miramar Landfill (San Diego).
3. A pickup of remodel debris 1,800 lbs, Pickup or cargo van, no mattress

Cheapest $0 at 27th Avenue and North Gateway transfer stations (Phoenix), a free resident load; middle of the 24 sites $44.80 at McCommas Bluff Landfill (Dallas); most expensive $219.04 at King County transfer stations (Seattle).

The heavy load shows where flat rates pay off. At Salt Lake Valley Landfill the 1,800 lb pickup pays the same $17 as the light one, while weighed sites charge it by the ton. For the car with a few bags the order reverses: weighed sites with small minimums are the cheapest, and flat-rate sites charge the full vehicle rate for a few bags. If your county runs both kinds of site, the right one depends on what is in the car. The truckload page turns the size of a pickup bed into pounds with the federal EPA factors, and the per-ton page ranks every rate.

Mattresses, tires and appliances

Mattress fees run from nothing in Sacramento County, where household mattresses are taken free, to $40 each in Larimer County, Colorado. Riverside County does not price the mattress itself: a load with one pays a higher flat rate. Orange County in California adds $15 to a light load carrying an item longer than six feet, such as a mattress. Tires cost a few dollars each almost everywhere, up to a limit per load, and Sacramento County takes four a day free. A refrigerator, freezer or air conditioner pays a fee for removing its cooling gas (refrigerant), because federal rules make the last link in the disposal chain, such as the landfill, responsible for it. The mattress, tire and refrigerator pages list every fee we read.

Yard waste and construction debris

Clean yard waste goes to a compost or mulch pile and is usually cheaper than trash: at the King County stations it is $129.38 a ton against $243.38. Construction debris goes the other way at some sites. Miramar weighs it at $241 a ton, more than twice its trash rate, while Salt Lake County takes clean concrete, asphalt and soil at $12 a ton. Debris is also heavy: the EPA factors give about 417 lbs a cubic yard for mixed debris and 860 for broken concrete, against 275 for household trash. A bathroom tear-out can weigh more than a garage clean-out. The yard waste and debris pages compare the rates.

Finding the landfill that serves you

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) keeps a list of landfills, built to track landfill gas. It lists 2,641 municipal solid waste landfills, of which 1,266 are marked open, in 53 states and territories. 776 of the open ones are owned by a county, a city, a district or another public body, and those are the ones most likely to publish a fee page and take a car or pickup from a resident. The share varies a lot by state: California has the most open landfills, 114, of which 83 are public, while in some states most landfills belong to waste companies and fewer gate rates are published. The landfills by state finder lists them all, with owner and county, and links to the schedule where we have read one. Transfer stations and rural convenience centers are not in the EPA list; your county’s solid waste page names them.

For a state where we have read no price list, the method is the same: find the public site that serves your county, open its fee page, and note the minimum charge, the per-ton rate, any flat vehicle rate and the item fees. Those four lines are enough to price any household load, and they are exactly what the calculator reads from each schedule.

Hauling it yourself or paying someone

A dump run costs the gate fee plus the drive. The federal business mileage rate set by the IRS (the tax agency), 76 cents a mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026, is a fair measure of what driving a car really costs, fuel and wear included. A dumpster or a junk removal crew costs more but saves trips and labor, and is quoted, not published: we found no price list we could reuse. The comparison page takes the quote you were given and sets it against the public fees and the driving for the same weight. In Phoenix, where a resident’s monthly load up to a ton is free, spreading a clean-out over several months beats almost any quote.

What the calculator leaves out

It uses the resident rate for household waste unless you answer No to “You live in the area it serves”, and it applies only the lines printed on the price list we read. It does not include sales tax where a site adds it, card fees, penalties for uncovered or mixed loads, or rates for commercial accounts. When a price list prints no fee for an item, the calculator says so instead of guessing. Flat rates depend on the size of the vehicle as judged at the gate, and some sites refuse certain items altogether. The method page lists every rule, and the fee is always the one on the site’s current price list: if it has changed since we read it, the weigh station at the gate is right and we are not.

Sources

Every fee, landfill count and load weight on this page comes from a county or city price list, an EPA file or the IRS mileage table listed here, all read on November 7, 2026.

Fees come from 25 official pages, each linked in the table above with its effective date. The landfill list is the EPA’s LMOP Landfill and Project Database, a public-domain U.S. government work (EPA disclaimers); load weights come from the EPA’s volume-to-weight conversion factors; refrigerant rules from the EPA’s Section 608 safe disposal page; the driving cost from the IRS standard mileage rates. The engine is tested on every build against cases worked by hand from the schedules, including the county’s own example on the Sacramento North Area page.

Every page on the site

Landfill and transfer station fees

Landfill prices per tonThe per-ton gate rate of every public landfill and transfer station we read, from the lowest to the highest, and what a weighed load pays.
Cost to dump a truckloadMeasure the pile in your pickup bed, turn it into pounds with the EPA factors, and price it at the landfill you will drive to.
Transfer station feesWhat a small load pays at a transfer station or landfill: the minimum charge, flat vehicle rates and bag rates, site by site.
Landfills by stateEvery open landfill on the EPA list, state by state, with public or private ownership and a link to the fee schedule where we read one.

Mattresses, tires and appliances

Mattress disposal feeWhat a public landfill or transfer station charges for a mattress or a box spring, from nothing to forty dollars, site by site.
Tire disposal feeWhat public landfills charge per tire, how many they take in one load, and the counties where the first tires are free.
Refrigerator disposal feeWhat public landfills charge to take a refrigerator, freezer or air conditioner whose refrigerant must be recovered, site by site.
Yard waste disposal feeWhat a load of branches, leaves and grass pays at public landfills, against the trash rate for the same weight.
Construction debris disposalWhat public landfills charge per ton for drywall, shingles, concrete and other remodeling debris, and how heavy those loads get.

Fees in your area

San Diego: Miramar LandfillMiramar Landfill’s flat rates for cars and pickups, the higher rate for waste from outside the city, green waste and debris.
Seattle and King CountyThe minimum charge and per-ton rate at Seattle’s two city transfer stations and the King County stations, 2026 and 2027.
Phoenix transfer stationsPhoenix residents’ free monthly load up to a ton, the $55 a ton rate above it, and Tucson’s Los Reales for comparison.
Sacramento CountyKiefer Landfill and the North Area Recovery Station: vehicle rates, free mattresses, four free tires and two free appliances a day.
Salt Lake Valley LandfillThe $17 flat rate for cars, pickups and hand-unloaded trailers at Salt Lake Valley Landfill, item fees, and St. George’s free resident loads.
Atlanta: DeKalb CountyDeKalb County’s Seminole Road Landfill: five weight bands for loads under a ton, then $99.80 a ton, with its tire and appliance fees.
Orlando and Florida sitesOrange County’s landfill and transfer station rates from October 2026, with Miami-Dade and Jacksonville beside them.
Dallas and Texas sitesMcCommas Bluff Landfill’s gate rate from October 2026 plus its per-ton fees, with El Paso and Austin’s drop-off center.
Riverside and San BernardinoRiverside County’s flat rates and hard-to-handle rule under Ordinance 779.26, and San Bernardino County’s 300 lb small-load fee.
Fairfax County, VirginiaFairfax County’s FY 2027 residential rates at the I-66 Transfer Station and I-95 Landfill Complex: minimums by vehicle, bags, items.
Orange County, CaliforniaOC Waste & Recycling: $15 for a car under 360 lbs, $30 for a pickup under 880 lbs, then by the ton, and the hard-to-handle fee.

Weight and comparison tools

Load weight calculatorTurn the length, width and height of a pile into cubic yards and pounds, with the EPA factor for ten common materials.
Dumpster or dump runSet the dump fees and driving cost of hauling it yourself against the dumpster or junk removal quote you were given.

Questions people ask before a run to the dump

Tap a question to see the answer.

How much does it cost to go to the dump?

For a household load in a car or pickup, the public price lists we read charge from nothing to about $75. Residents of Phoenix and of Washington County in Utah get a free monthly load up to a ton; a 600 lb pickup load pays $9.09 at the cheapest site that charges for it and $75 at the most expensive. The minimum charge or the flat vehicle rate usually decides the bill, not the weight.

Do landfills charge by weight or by load?

Both exist, and some sites combine them. Salt Lake County, Riverside County, Sacramento County and Miramar in San Diego charge a flat rate per car or pickup. Seattle, King County, Fairfax County and Columbus weigh every load and charge per ton above a minimum. Orange County in California charges a flat rate below a weight limit and weighs anything heavier. The calculator applies the rule of the site you pick.

What is the cheapest way to get rid of junk?

Usually your own city’s curbside bulky pickup, if it has one, then a public landfill or transfer station that offers residents a free or flat-rate load. Junk removal crews and dumpsters cost more but save labor and trips. Mattresses, tires and appliances are often cheaper to return to the store that sells the replacement, which may take the old one away.

Why are dump fees so different from one city to the next?

Because they pay for different things. A landfill near town only buries the waste; a city transfer station reloads it and pays to truck or rail it to a distant landfill, which is why King County transfer stations charge $243.38 a ton and South Wake Landfill $37. Some counties fund disposal through property taxes or trash bills and charge residents little at the gate.

Can I dump at a landfill outside my county?

Sometimes, often at a higher rate, and sometimes not at all. Miramar charges more for waste from outside the City of San Diego and SWACO more for waste from outside its district, while Broome County and Blount County take loads from their own residents only. Check the page of the site before you load the truck, and bring proof of address.

Why does this site not show dumpster prices?

Because no rental company publishes a price list that we could read and reuse: dumpsters are quoted by ZIP code, size, weight allowance and number of days. Rather than print a national range with no source, the comparison page asks for the quote you were given and sets it against the public dump fees and the cost of driving the trips yourself.

Do I have to give a ZIP code or phone number?

No. The site has no quote form, no account and no callback. Every calculation runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere; the address bar only changes so that you can copy a link to your own load. We are not a waste hauler, a landfill operator or a dumpster company, and we pass no details to anyone.

Worked out by Radif Partners

Independent publisher of US landfill and transfer station fee tables built from county and city fee schedules and EPA data

Fees checked on November 7, 2026 · Editorial policy · Contact

Fee schedules for 2026, last read on November 7, 2026. Estimates only, from published fee schedules: check the facility’s own page before you load the truck.