Land Clearing Cost Per Acre in Massachusetts (2026 Guide)

Maybe it is a Worcester County woodlot sitting on glacial stone, a valley hayfield lost to bittersweet and buckthorn, or a building lot you want carved out of the family woods. Either way the first question is what clearing it will cost. Our crew clears Massachusetts land for $1,500 to $4,500 an acre, the same bands we publish for Palmer and North Adams.

A field margin under trees you are keeping lands near the bottom. A stony wooded lot mulched to ground level, with a wetland 80 feet from the work, lands near the top.

At a glance:

• Hedgerows, field margins and the brush under trees you keep: $1,500 to $2,500 an acre
• Glossy buckthorn, barberry and bittersweet mulched in place: $1,500 to $4,000 an acre
• A whole parcel or house site cleared to ground level, stumps flush: up to $4,500 an acre
• Smallest job: a minimum charge near $1,500, where small jobs start, not a fee added on top
• Wetlands: work within 100 feet of a wetland, or 200 feet of a river, can need a Conservation Commission order before a machine moves
• Burning: January 15 to May 1 with a fire department permit, allowed for brush from agricultural land clearing but never for commercial or industrial clearing, and never in 22 cities and towns including Boston, Worcester and Springfield

Our crew works Massachusetts from two markets, Palmer in the Pioneer Valley and North Adams in the Northern Berkshires. Request a free quote for land anywhere in the state and we’ll contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need; travel is part of the quote farther from either one.

What Land Clearing Costs Per Acre in Massachusetts

Clearing can mean thinning the shrub layer out from under white pine or taking a whole lot down to ground level. Our price follows what is growing there now, because stems and stone set the machine hours. Forestry mulching grinds brush, small trees and stumps into mulch on site, stumps flush and nothing hauled away; full stump removal below grade and hauling very large trees are priced in the quote. Grading and build pads are not part of our price; we clear to the ground so a builder can grade.

On the ground now	Cut Brush price per acre	Where Massachusetts owners see it
Understory under timber you keep, hedgerows, field margins	$1,500 – $2,500	Barberry and multiflora rose under oak and white pine on old Worcester County farms
Regrowth ground where it stands	$1,500 – $4,000	Valley hay ground overrun by Asiatic bittersweet and glossy buckthorn
Whole parcel cleared to ground level	$1,500 – $4,500	Stony Berkshire hillsides; pitch pine and scrub oak on Plymouth County sand
House site, drive and utility corridor	$1,500 – $4,500 per acre equivalent	A building envelope cut from family woodland, priced as one project

Travel, access and your property set the quote.

They are the four bands on our Palmer pricing page. Trucking the machine out costs the same for a morning as for a full day, so every job carries a minimum charge near $1,500: small jobs start there, and access, density and any added work set the final quote. The dirt work afterward, grading and drainage, belongs to your excavation contractor.

What Raises or Lowers a Massachusetts Clearing Price

Before we put a number on a Massachusetts parcel, these are the questions we ask.

Is the Conservation Commission involved? The Wetlands Protection Act, Chapter 131, section 40, bars anyone from altering a bank, riverfront area, freshwater or coastal wetland, or land subject to flooding without filing a Notice of Intent with the town’s Conservation Commission and receiving an order of conditions. The state’s regulations reach 100 feet out from a wetland’s edge, and clearing there that the commission judges will alter the wetland needs the same filing. Abutters within 100 feet are notified, and the hearing and the order each follow within 21 days. None of that touches our rate, but all of it moves the start date.

Is there a river within 200 feet? The Act also protects a Riverfront Area running 200 feet back from a river’s mean annual high-water line, narrowing to 25 feet in cities of 90,000 people or more. How much of that strip can be worked is the commission’s call, so ask before you count acres.

Is the woodland in Chapter 61? Woods enrolled in the Chapter 61 forest tax program cannot be sold for, or converted to, residential, commercial or industrial use while enrolled, or for a year after, without notifying the town. The town then holds a 120-day first refusal option it can assign to a land trust, and leaving forest use brings roll-back taxes for that year and the four before. A house for you or a close relative is not a conversion under the statute. Settle it with the assessors first.

How much stone is under the leaves? Paxton, the official state soil, is till from schist, gneiss and granite on drumlins. On the Charlton soil beside it, the fields in crops and hay are the areas cleared of stones, and the stony areas are mostly wooded. So in central Massachusetts, standing woods usually mean rock underfoot. A mulching head has to ride higher over it, and the hours climb.

Which shrubs are in the thicket? MDAR’s Massachusetts Prohibited Plant List includes glossy and common buckthorn, Japanese barberry, multiflora rose, autumn olive, burning bush and Asiatic bittersweet, and Callery pear was added in September 2024, with nursery sales ending after 2028. On abandoned farm ground those plants are often most of the stems. Forestry mulching takes them down in one pass, but the roots stay, so plan a return visit; any herbicide step is a licensed applicator’s work. Our autumn olive removal guide sets out that plan for one of them.

Pro tip: Not sure whether a damp corner counts? File a Request for Determination of Applicability with the Conservation Commission before you gather quotes. The commission answers in writing within 21 days, and its determination helps define the clearing scope; other permits or local restrictions may still apply.

Clearing Costs Across Massachusetts

The Berkshires: Great Barrington and the south county, with the north county covered below. The Berkshire soil series is till on hills and mountains with slopes reaching 80 percent, mostly wooded in sugar maple, yellow birch and red spruce. Grade and stone push a hillside parcel into the upper half of the band.

North Adams and the Northern Berkshires. For land in Berkshire or Franklin County, or over the line around Bennington and Brattleboro, Vermont, or Hoosick and Troy, New York, see land clearing around North Adams and the North Adams pricing page. The valley hay ground there sits on Stockbridge soil, till derived mainly from limestone, which is open and quick to work; the hill lots above it are the stony Berkshire till described above. A Berkshire County town that accepts chapter 131, section 39A can also review clearing in its mountain regions, generally land above 1,800 feet in the Hoosic River watershed.

The valley floor in Hampshire and Hampden counties: Northampton, Hadley, Springfield. The Hadley series has its type location in Northampton: deep, stone-free silt on flat flood plains, farmed for hay, silage corn and tobacco. A machine crosses it fast when dry, but it floods anywhere from once a year to once in ten, mostly with the spring runoff. Springfield, West Springfield, Chicopee and Holyoke never allow open burning.

Palmer and the Pioneer Valley. For land in Hampden, Hampshire or southern Worcester County, or over the line in Stafford and Somers, Connecticut, see land clearing around Palmer and the Palmer pricing page. In Palmer the Quaboag, Ware and Swift join to form the Chicopee at Three Rivers, so many lots sit within the 200-foot riverfront area. This is our crew’s Palmer market, so travel takes the smallest share of a quote here.

Worcester County and the central hills: Worcester, Paxton, Spencer, Charlton, Barre. Drumlins of Paxton and Charlton till under oak, hickory, maple and white pine, where stone sets most prices. Worcester itself never allows burning; the towns around it allow it in season with a permit.

Greater Boston, the North Shore and the Merrimack Valley. Smaller parcels, close neighbours and most of the no-burn list: Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Newton, Somerville, Waltham and Watertown, plus Lowell and Lawrence. With no fire available, mulching in place usually beats paying to haul.

Plymouth County and the Cape: Wareham, Carver, Plymouth and Barnstable County. The Carver series around Wareham is excessively drained coarse sand under scrub oak and pitch pine. It sheds rain fast and holds little stone, so the ground itself prices kindly. Beaches, dunes, salt marsh and land subject to coastal flooding are all resource areas under the Act. Fall River and New Bedford never allow burning.

Wetland, Burning and Stormwater Rules in Massachusetts

Stormwater. In Massachusetts the EPA, not the state, issues construction stormwater coverage. Disturbing 1 acre or more needs coverage under EPA’s 2022 Construction General Permit and a stormwater pollution prevention plan. We clear; the permit filings and the grading stay with you and your dirt contractor.

Burning. Where it is allowed, the season runs January 15 to May 1, with a permit issued in advance by the local fire department, which can refuse it on a hazardous day. Burn between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., at least 75 feet from every dwelling. Trees and brush from agricultural land clearing and residential forestry debris may go on the fire; stumps, and brush or trees from commercial or industrial land clearing, may not. Ask the fire department which side a house-site job falls on before you plan a pile.

Selling the timber first. Under the Forest Cutting Practices Act, a timber cut needs a cutting plan filed with DCR and the Conservation Commission at least 10 days ahead, unless it is 25,000 board feet or 50 cords or less, or the cutting clears land for building or cultivation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to clear an acre of land in Massachusetts?

Budget $1,500 to $4,500, the range our crew charges around Palmer and North Adams. Field margins sit near the bottom; a stony wooded lot cleared to ground level sits at the top, and full stump removal below grade is priced in the quote.

Do I need a permit to clear trees on my property in Massachusetts?

Within 100 feet of a wetland, within 200 feet of a river, or on land subject to flooding, expect to file with your Conservation Commission first. Disturbing an acre or more also needs EPA construction stormwater coverage.

Can I burn the brush from clearing my land in Massachusetts?

Only from January 15 to May 1, with a fire department permit, and not at all in the 22 no-burn communities. Brush from agricultural land clearing can be burned; stumps and brush from commercial or industrial land clearing never can.

Will clearing land in Chapter 61 raise my taxes?

It can: roll-back taxes for the current year and the four before, plus a 120-day town option on a sale or conversion for development. A home for yourself or a close relative is not a conversion.

How do I get a land clearing quote in Massachusetts?

Request a free quote and our crew will contact you to go over the property, the way in and the finish you want.

Get a Price for Your Massachusetts Parcel

Request a free quote and we’ll contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need. It helps to know, before we talk, whether a wetland or river lies within 200 feet and whether the land is in Chapter 61.

Sources

• Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, MassDEP and DCR, annual reminder on open burning season
• Massachusetts General Laws, c.131 s.40, Wetlands Protection Act
• Town of Palmer, history of Palmer