Land Clearing Cost Per Acre in Alabama (2026 Guide)

Land clearing in Alabama costs $1,500 to $4,500 an acre. Those are the bands we publish for our six Alabama service areas: North Alabama around Huntsville, Central Alabama around Birmingham, West Alabama around Tuscaloosa, the River Region around Montgomery, the Wiregrass around Dothan and Northeast Alabama around Gadsden.

At a glance:

• Brush, briars, regrowth and understory: $1,500 to $2,500 an acre
• Forestry mulching, light brush through dense mixed woods: $1,500 to $4,000 an acre
• Full clearing with heavy stems, slope or a stump-free finish: up to $4,500 an acre
• A homesite (pad, drive, utility corridor): $2,000 to $6,000 total
• Burning: burning over a quarter acre needs a free state burn permit.
• Stormwater: disturbing one acre or more needs state stormwater coverage. Huntsville and Birmingham have rules below that.
• Cogongrass: machines carry it from site to site. Ask how a contractor cleans theirs.

Get a quote for North Alabama, Central Alabama, West Alabama, the River Region or the Wiregrass. Around Mobile and Baldwin County, where Cut Brush does not have a crew yet, tell us about your land.

The Short Answer, by What Is Standing

What is on the acre	Per-acre range	Where you see it
Brush, briars, regrowth, understory under timber you keep	$1,500 – $2,500	Fence rows, pasture edges, fields idle a few seasons
Forestry mulching, light brush through dense mixed woods	$1,500 – $4,000	Wooded back acreage, cedar-choked fields, closed-in woods
Full land clearing, heavy stems, slope, stump-free finish	$1,500 – $4,500	Whole tracts and anything being cut for construction
Homesite pad, drive and utility corridor	$2,000 – $6,000 total	A typical residential lot

Where these numbers come from. These are the ranges on our Huntsville, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and Dothan pricing guides. They use the same bands; local ground decides where a tract lands inside one. Use them for budgeting, not as a quote.

Small jobs carry a practical floor near $1,500. Loading, hauling and unloading a tracked machine costs the same for a quarter acre as for four.

For the mulching figure broken down by vegetation density, see our forestry mulching cost in Alabama guide. For whole-project budgets around Huntsville, see the Huntsville land clearing cost guide.

What Actually Moves the Number

Stem size. This is the biggest single driver on every quote. An acre of privet and saplings goes down in hours. An acre of mixed hardwood pushing twelve inches is a day or more of machine time, and it lands at the top of its band.

What you want left behind. “Cleared” can mean a mulched floor with the canopy kept, selective clearing, stumps out for a pad, or a maintenance pass: four different prices on the same acre. Name the finish before anyone quotes.

Mulch in place or clear and haul. Forestry mulching grinds the material where it stands and leaves it as a mat, so there is no pile, nothing to truck and no dump fee. Clear-and-haul earns its higher price when a site is being cut to grade or the owner wants nothing left on the surface.

Ground, slope and access. Rock near the surface, clay that goes soft when wet and grades a machine has to work up and down all add hours. So do gates, culverts and long drives. A tract a trailer can back onto from a paved road prices lower.

Where in Alabama Is Your Land?

North Alabama and the Tennessee Valley. Red clay over limestone, which produces sinkholes, so suspect depressions get flagged and worked around. Inside Huntsville, the city’s grading permit covers clearing unless exempt. See land clearing in Huntsville and North Alabama.

Central Alabama and the Birmingham ridges. Thin soil over shale on steep slopes, where gradient and rock decide the method more than acreage. The City of Birmingham wants an erosion and sediment control permit before non-exempt land disturbance of any size. See land clearing around Birmingham.

Northeast Alabama, around Gadsden. Rolling plateau ground on the Coosa, where privet fills the creek bottoms and fence rows and state air rules bar land-clearing burns from May through October in Etowah and DeKalb counties. Inside Gadsden, a city land disturbance permit applies from one acre, or at any size near the river or in a floodway. See land clearing around Gadsden, the Gadsden pricing guide and our Gadsden permit guide.

West Alabama around Tuscaloosa. Around Lake Tuscaloosa the City of Tuscaloosa owns the shoreline below the 230-foot Acquisition Line, and cutting trees there needs a city permit; our Lake Tuscaloosa clearing guide covers what the rules allow. See land clearing around Tuscaloosa and the Tuscaloosa pricing guide.

The River Region, around Montgomery. Black Belt prairie clay runs through the southern part of the area, and inside the City of Montgomery a grading permit applies to land disturbance with no acreage floor, with a $400 fee. See land clearing around Montgomery and our Montgomery permit guide.

The Wiregrass, around Dothan. Well-drained ground, generally kind to tracked equipment, so stem size and access decide the price. See land clearing around Dothan and the Dothan pricing guide.

The rest of South Alabama. Outside the six areas above, Cut Brush does not have a crew yet and does not quote or work there. If you hire locally:

• The Black Belt. Clay that is firm in a dry spell and slick after rain. Expect a contractor to schedule around wet weather and price that in. We serve Hale and Greene counties through our Tuscaloosa market and Lowndes, Macon and Bullock counties through our Montgomery market; for other Black Belt land outside our service areas, tell us where it is and we will confirm availability.
• The Gulf Coast, Mobile and Baldwin County. Filling wetlands needs a federal permit unless an exemption applies, so settle whether wet ground is a wetland first. West of the Mobile and Tombigbee Rivers the gopher tortoise is federally threatened; tell your contractor about any burrows.

Burning, Stormwater and Licensing: What to Check Before Work Starts

Burning. You need a permit to burn any woodland, grassland, field or new ground over a quarter acre, or within 25 feet of woods or grass. Permits are free: get one from the Alabama Forestry Commission or call AFC dispatch at (800) 392-5679. An online portal opened in September 2026, and the Commission plans to phase out phone permits within 12 months. In fire alert conditions permits are discretionary, so a burn-pile plan can stall in a dry spell. Jefferson County also prohibits outdoor burning April through October.

Stormwater. ADEM requires stormwater coverage for disturbing one acre or more, or less when it is part of a larger plan of an acre or more. Cities and counties can add rules below that acre. Our Huntsville permit guide and Birmingham permit guide walk through each.

Licensing. Alabama requires a general contractor license for site work and grading of $100,000 or more, a line raised from $50,000 on October 1, 2024. Most residential clearing sits well under that. Before you sign:

• On a large tract, ask for the bidder’s license number and check it with the licensing board.
• Ask how the machine is cleaned for cogongrass before it arrives and before it leaves. It is in more than 75 percent of Alabama’s counties, and a dirty machine can cost you years of treatment.
• Get the finish, the disposal plan and anything excluded in writing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to clear one acre of land in Alabama?

$1,500 to $4,500 an acre in the six areas we serve. Light brush sits at the bottom; dense hardwood on rock or slope with stumps out sits at the top.

Is forestry mulching cheaper than clearing and hauling?

Usually. Mulching tops out around $4,000 an acre on our pricing, against $4,500 for full clearing, with no pile to burn or truck.

Do I need a permit to clear land in Alabama?

It depends. Stormwater coverage starts at one acre, burning over a quarter acre needs a free permit, and Huntsville and Birmingham have rules below the acre.

Why do two Alabama quotes for the same acreage differ so much?

Because the acres differ. Stem size, rock, slope, soft clay, access and disposal all turn into machine hours that a satellite photo does not show.

Getting a Real Number

Ranges are for budgeting. The number you pay comes from someone standing on your ground.

In North Alabama, around Huntsville, Madison, Athens, Decatur or Hartselle, request a free walk-through and a written quote. In Central Alabama, across Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, Bibb and Chilton counties, ask for a Birmingham quote. In West Alabama, ask for a Tuscaloosa quote; in the River Region, ask for a Montgomery quote; in the Wiregrass, ask for a Dothan quote. Around Mobile, Baldwin County or anywhere else in the state, tell us about your land. We do not work there yet, but if we can point you to a vetted local contractor, we will; if not, we will say so.

In Northeast Alabama, across Etowah, Cherokee, DeKalb and Marshall counties, ask for a Gadsden quote.

Sources

• Alabama Forestry Commission, burn permit requirements
• ADEM, construction general permit: stormwater coverage at one acre
• Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors, changes to the licensing threshold
• Alabama Cooperative Extension System, major soil areas of Alabama
• Geological Survey of Alabama, sinkhole hazards
• Alabama Forestry Commission, cogongrass
• Jefferson County Department of Health, open burning rules