Land Clearing and Grading Cost in Arkansas (2026 Guide)

You have the lot, a builder and a house plan, and woods standing exactly where the slab should go. Before a blade can shape a pad, the trees and brush have to come off. Clearing a homesite in Arkansas runs $1,500 to $4,500 an acre with Cut Brush, and that is what we charge around Bryant, Batesville and Bella Vista. The grading that follows is a second bill from your dirt contractor, usually by the hour or by the job.

At a glance:

• Two trades, two bills: we price clearing by the acre; your dirt contractor prices stump pulling, the pad and the drive.
• State stormwater: ADEQ’s construction permit, ARR150000, covers one acre or more of disturbance. One to under five acres is covered automatically with no filing and no fee; five acres or more needs a notice of intent ten business days ahead and a $200 fee.
• Bryant: the city asks for a stormwater permit and impact fee from one acre, and for any disturbance beside a lake, stream or creek.
• Little Rock: any land alteration in a designated floodplain needs a grading permit, without exception.

Our crews work around Bryant in Saline County, Batesville in Independence County and Bella Vista in Benton County. What we hand over is an opened footprint, drive and utility path with the trees down and the growth mulched, ready for the dirt contractor. We do not grade, build pads, install septic systems or file permits.

How Much Does Land Clearing and Grading Cost in Arkansas?

A building site goes through the same phases in the same order. Here is who does each one and how it is priced.

Phase	Who does it	Price
1. Open the house footprint, drive and utility path	Cut Brush	$1,500 – $4,500 / acre equivalent
2. Clean out the wooded edges you are keeping	Cut Brush	$1,500 – $2,500 / acre
3. Pull stumps and root balls	Your dirt contractor	By the hour or the job
4. State stormwater coverage	You or the site operator	No fee from 1 to under 5 acres; $200 at 5 acres or more
5. Cut and fill the pad and drive	Your dirt contractor	By the hour or the job
6. Fill dirt and gravel	The nearest supply yard	By the delivered load

Where these numbers come from. The first two rows are copied from our Bryant, Batesville and Bella Vista pricing pages: Lot & Homesite Prep for the footprint, and the lighter understory row for edges that stay. All three carry a working floor near $1,500 a project, and all three say stump removal and grading belong to your dirt contractor. We publish no grading price because we do not grade. Get the supply yard’s delivered price for fill and gravel before you compare grading bids, because on low ground that line can outgrow the dozer time.

Clearing land with no dirt work planned? The Arkansas land clearing cost per acre guide prices it by what is standing.

What Changes the Price of Clearing and Grading in Arkansas

Clay that swells and cracks. On the Delta’s big-river floodplain, the Sharkey soil holds 60 to about 90 percent clay between 10 and 40 inches down, and in most years opens cracks 1 to 3 centimeters wide to 20 inches or deeper. Along the Arkansas and Red Rivers, the Perry clay, a series first described in Perry County, carries 60 to 85 percent clay, drains very slowly and floods for short periods nearly every year unless leveed. A slab on that ground is usually raised on hauled fill rather than cut in, so the fill and compaction lines grow while the dozer hours shrink.

Shale and sandstone a few feet down. The Carnasaw soil of the Ouachitas and the Arkansas Valley reaches shale bedrock at 40 to 60 inches. In the Boston Mountains, the Enders soil, with its type location in Franklin County, sits 40 to more than 60 inches above shale or sandstone on slopes up to 65 percent and lets water through very slowly. A basement or a deep cut into a hillside pad meets rock there, and rock work is priced differently from dirt.

Sinkholes on the Springfield Plateau. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission describes the plateau around Bella Vista as cherty Boone limestone where sinkholes and caves are common. A depression inside the footprint moves the pad or brings in an engineer before any dirt is pushed. We flag what we find while the brush is coming off.

Where the stumps go. A blade needs clean soil under the pad and drive, so every root ball the dirt contractor pulls has to go somewhere. The state’s open burning rule exempts fires used only for on-site land clearing, but county judges issue burn bans that override it: Saline County kept its countywide ban in place on August 27, 2026 “until further notice.” While a ban stands, stumps leave on trucks, and hauling costs more than a fire.

How much dirt moves. Little Rock’s commercial civil plan review asks whether a site cuts or fills 1,000 cubic yards or more, makes a vertical cut of 10 feet, sits in a floodplain or floodway, or removes seven or more trees 6 inches across or larger. Any one of those points to a grading permit there, and each one is also a sign the dirt bill will be large.

Pro tip: Once the cover is down, take a slow lap of the house site before you call the grader. A shallow bowl in Ozark ground or a swale holding water on Delta clay stands out on bare dirt. Photograph it for your builder, so the pad moves while moving it is still free.

Clearing and Grading Costs Across Arkansas

Bryant and Little Rock. Saline and Pulaski county lots are wooded with pine and oak, and the cost sits in which trees stay and where creeks run. Bryant’s stormwater office treats any disturbance beside a lake, stream or creek as a special construction site. Our Bryant and Saline County permit guide lists each step.

Bella Vista. Any land alteration inside the city needs a Grading and Erosion Control permit, filed with the building application on a single-family house. Karst sets the engineering. See the Bella Vista permit guide.

Batesville. Cherty Ozark ground with thin soil on the hills and White River bottoms below. Near the river, flood zones matter more than rock; the Batesville permit guide covers the city’s floodplain steps.

The Delta and the river bottoms. Sharkey and Perry clays make a pad a fill-and-wait job. This ground lies outside our three Arkansas areas.

Stormwater and City Permits in Arkansas

ADEQ. The 2026 construction general permit, in force from November 1, 2026 to October 31, 2031, covers clearing, grading and excavation that disturb one acre or more, or less as part of a larger common plan. Small sites of one to under five acres are covered automatically without a notice, a plan submission or a fee, but the Notice of Coverage must be posted before work starts and the stormwater plan kept on site. Large sites of five acres or more file a notice of intent and stormwater plan through DEQ’s SEEK portal at least ten business days ahead, with the $200 fee.

Cities. The City of Bryant stormwater page lists a Site Clearing Permit from Code Enforcement, a stormwater permit application and a stormwater impact fee for sites of one acre or more, sites beside water and every new commercial site. In Little Rock, City Code 29-186(c) requires a grading permit for land alteration in a designated floodplain without exception, and the city issues grading permits only after reviewing erosion control, grading and drainage plans, a survey and a drainage study, per its civil review checklist. The permit costs $100 under half an acre, $200 from half an acre to one acre, and $100 more for each acre after that.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to clear and grade an acre in Arkansas?

The clearing half runs $1,500 to $4,500 an acre with Cut Brush. The grading half depends on how much dirt moves, so get your dirt contractor’s number once the site is staked, plus a delivered price for any fill.

Does Cut Brush grade or build pads in Arkansas?

No. Our part ends once the footprint, drive and utility path are opened and the growth is mulched. Stump pulling and grading belong to the dirt contractor you hire, and permit filings sit with you, the builder or an engineer.

Do I need a stormwater permit to clear and grade a lot in Arkansas?

From one acre of disturbance, yes, under ADEQ’s general permit, and below that if the lot is part of a larger plan of development. Under five acres coverage is automatic, but the notice must be posted and the plan kept on site. Cities such as Bryant and Bella Vista add their own permits.

Why does a Delta lot cost more to build up?

Sharkey and Perry clays shrink, crack and hold water, so pads there are raised on fill rather than cut in. Fill, hauling and compaction usually cost more than the dozer time saved.

Can I leave the parts of the lot I am not building on?

Yes, and it keeps your disturbed acreage down. We can clean out the brush under the trees you keep instead; the Arkansas underbrush removal cost guide prices that lighter work.

Get a Clearing Quote Before the Grader Is Booked

Pick the nearest Arkansas area below and request a free quote. Our crew will contact you to talk through the lot, the access from the road, the house, drive and septic layout your builder has staked, and any creek, sinkhole or soggy ground you already know about, so our crew and your dirt contractor can be scheduled back to back.

Building across the state line? See our Oklahoma and Tennessee clearing and grading guides.

Sources

• Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality: ARR150000 fact sheet, 2026 permit and 2026 permit text
• Arkansas Game and Fish Commission: ecoregions of Arkansas