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Excavation Cost CalculatorDig size, soil type, haul-away, and region, contractor or DIY rental

Excavation Cost Calculator
Enter your dig size, soil type, and haul-away needs to see a realistic cost range for contractor and DIY equipment rental.
Your dig
Hit an intact rock ledge? That's a different job (jackhammering or blasting) and needs a site-specific quote, not this calculator.
Drives the labor cost multiplier for contractor digging and haul-away. Equipment rental pricing assumes a national-ish retail rate regardless of region.
  • Low, mid, and high estimate
  • Contractor and DIY rental compared
  • Swell-adjusted loose cubic yards
  • No login needed

Excavation cost is driven mostly by soil type and volume, but haul-away can cost more than the digging itself once excavated soil swells and needs trucking off-site. The inputs below account for soil difficulty, haul-away, install method, and your region so the number you see reflects a real dig, not a textbook average.

Last reviewed September 2026

Reviewed by the FigureNerd construction team. Per-cubic-yard cost benchmarks are checked against HomeGuide's 2026 excavation cost guide; swell factors are checked against Caterpillar's published material density tables. Verify current pricing with a licensed excavation contractor before finalizing your budget.

Excavation cost estimate

$17,902
30 x 20 x 3 ft, Topsoil / Loam, haul away, Contractor-Installed, National Average
Low
$13,500
$202.50/bank cu yd
Mid
$17,902
$268.54/bank cu yd
High
$22,305
$334.57/bank cu yd
Haul-away often dominates total cost. Hauling and disposal can run $140 to $230 per loose cubic yard, more per yard than the digging itself. Switch haul-away to "No" to see contractor or rental cost for the dig alone.
Volume and trucks This dig is 66.7 bank cu yd, 95.2 loose cu yd once excavated, needing 10 truckloads to haul away.
Cost breakdown by category
Low, mid, and high estimate, stacked by category.
Line itemLowMidHigh
Cost-per-bank-cubic-yard reference
Contractor dig cost (includes labor and equipment) by soil type, national average 2026.
Soil typeLowMidHigh
What this estimate does not include. This calculator assumes level, accessible ground with no underground utilities, tree roots, or standing water; obstructions add substantial labor. Intact bedrock requiring jackhammering or blasting is a different, much higher-cost job (HomeGuide's own table prices that at $50 to $200+ per cubic yard) and is out of scope here; get a site-specific quote if you hit a rock ledge. This estimate also does not include permit fees, land surveys, or soil testing. Per-cubic-yard and haul-away pricing is checked against HomeGuide's 2026 excavation cost guide; swell factors are checked against Caterpillar's published material density tables; the mini excavator rental rate is checked against a live Home Depot Rental listing. Haul-away note: hauling and disposal pricing ($140 to $230 per loose cubic yard) can exceed the cost of the digging itself, especially on larger volumes or where landfill tipping fees or haul distance are high. Equipment rental note: the $339/day mid-tier figure is a typical Home Depot Rental price as of September 2026, checked at one store; rental pricing varies by store and region and is not a fixed national number. Verify current pricing with your local supplier or contractor before finalizing your budget.

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How this calculator works

This calculator starts with your dig's bank cubic yards (the volume of undisturbed ground before digging), applies a soil-specific swell factor to estimate the loose (excavated) volume that actually needs hauling, then prices the job two ways: a contractor's per-cubic-yard rate (which already bundles labor and equipment), and a DIY mini excavator rental rate by the day. Haul-away, when selected, adds a separate per-cubic-yard trucking and disposal cost on top of either path, calculated from the swollen loose volume rather than the smaller bank volume, since that is the amount that actually has to leave the site.

The DIY question: renting a mini excavator skips contractor labor cost, but it does not skip your own time, your learning curve on unfamiliar equipment, or the cost of hauling dirt away if you need it gone. A small, shallow dig on flat, accessible ground with no utilities nearby is the most realistic DIY candidate; anything requiring shoring, deep trenching, or work near a foundation is not.

What drives excavation cost the most

Soil type

Soil type is the single biggest lever on both digging cost and swell. Topsoil and loam dig the fastest and swell the least. Clay digs slower and costs more per cubic yard. Rocky or loose-rock soil costs the most to dig and swells the most once broken up, since broken rock has far more air space between pieces than it did in the ground. Intact bedrock is a different job entirely and is out of scope for this calculator.

Haul-away

A dig priced only on digging misses real cost. Excavated soil swells (see below), and every cubic yard that has to leave the site adds trucking and, often, a landfill or fill-site disposal fee. This calculator uses HomeGuide's own published per-cubic-yard and per-truckload dirt-removal pricing, and a standard 10-cubic-yard tandem dump truck as the default load size.

Swell factor

Bank cubic yards (undisturbed ground) and loose cubic yards (excavated, hauled material) are not the same number. Loosened soil has air pockets between particles that it did not have when compacted in the ground, so it takes up more space once dug. This calculator uses Caterpillar's own published material density tables to convert bank volume to loose volume by soil type: topsoil and loam swell by roughly 43 percent, clay by roughly 22 percent, and broken rock by as much as 67 percent.

Region

The region input adjusts contractor labor cost and haul-away cost only. DIY equipment rental pricing in this calculator assumes a national-ish retail rate regardless of region; real rental pricing does vary by store and market, which this tool does not model beyond the single live-checked example above.

Bottom line: use this calculator to get the right order of magnitude for your excavation budget, then get two or three contractor quotes for your specific site, soil, and access conditions. Haul-away is usually the biggest swing factor between this estimate and your actual quotes, so ask each contractor to price digging and hauling as separate line items.

Excavation cost sources, checked live 2026-09-26

Per-cubic-yard dig cost and haul-away pricing: HomeGuide, "How Much Does Excavation Cost? (2026)" (written February 5, 2026). Truckload capacity: HomeGuide, "Dump Truck Sizes: Types, Dimensions & Capacity Guide" (written July 6, 2026), which lists a tandem (10-wheeler) dump truck at 10 to 14 cubic yards typical capacity; this calculator uses 10 cubic yards per load, which independently matches the 10 cubic yards per load implied by the excavation cost guide's own per-load and per-cubic-yard haul figures. Swell factors: Caterpillar, "Material Density Tables To Help Estimate Earthwork Volumes", converting Caterpillar's own published Load Factor (bank density divided by loose density) into a swell factor for topsoil, clay, and broken rock. Mini excavator rental rate: a live Home Depot Rental listing, $339 per day, checked live at one Home Depot store in September 2026, not confirmed as a fixed national price. Region labor multiplier reused from this site's bathroom remodel cost calculator, calibrated against the JLC/Zonda 2025 Cost vs Value report. Order-of-magnitude project cost, for comparison only and not used in this calculator's math: Angi, "How Much Does Excavation Cost? [2026 Data]" (updated September 14, 2026), national average $3,975 based on 3,439 verified projects.

Building more than one thing at once? See also the Fence Cost Calculator, the Retaining Wall Cost Calculator, and the Landscaping Material Calculator for other site-work estimates.

Estimates are designed for planning purposes based on 2026 national cost-guide data. Actual costs may vary based on your local contractor rates, equipment rental availability, soil conditions, site access, and permit requirements. Consult a licensed excavation contractor for a binding quote. This tool is provided for educational and planning use only and does not constitute professional construction, engineering, or financial advice.