How Much Does Land Clearing Cost Per Acre in Texas?
Most Texas acreage clears for about $500 to $8,000 per acre. Published 2026 cost guides put light brush near the bottom of that spread. Heavy woods with mature trees sit at the top. A national cost guide updated at the end of 2025 lists a $2,900 average for a clearing job, with most jobs landing between $1,565 and $4,520.
The spread is wide because an acre of pasture and an acre of thick mesquite are different jobs. Density sets the price, then tree size, stumps, access and what happens to the debris. This page walks the published ranges so you can size a land clearing job before anyone comes out. These are market numbers, not our price list.
What is the average cost to clear 1 acre of land in Texas?
National cost guides put a single acre at roughly $810 to $5,870. Guides written for Central Texas run $1,500 to $6,500 per acre in 2026.
Here is how published ranges break down by what is standing.
| Acre cover | Range per acre | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Grass, light brush | $500 to $2,000 | Light pass. |
| Mixed brush with mesquite and huisache | $1,500 to $3,000 | Thicket down, stumps priced apart. |
| Heavy brush with small trees | $3,000 to $5,000 | Trunks up to about 8 to 10 inches. |
| Wooded with mature trees | $5,000 to $8,000 and up | Big timber, stumps out, debris gone. |
| Forestry mulching, most acres | $1,500 to $4,000 | Ground in place, no haul off, no dump fees. |
| Cleared to bare dirt, roots out | $3,000 to $6,000 and up | Conventional clearing with debris hauled. |
Half an acre is not half the price. The same national guide lists a half acre at $405 to $2,935.
Does forestry mulching cost less than clearing with haul off?
Usually. National guides put forestry mulching at $800 to $2,500 per acre, with most acres between $1,200 and $1,800. Texas guides run higher on thick cover, $1,500 to $4,000 an acre. Clearing down to bare dirt with the roots out and the debris hauled runs about $3,000 to $6,000 an acre and up.
The gap is the debris. A mulcher grinds brush and small trees where they stand, so nothing gets piled, loaded or dumped. Published comparisons put mulching 20 to 40 percent under conventional clearing once haul off and dump fees are counted. The forestry mulcher leaves the ground covered instead of bare.
Mulching has limits. Large trees and stumps still want an excavator, and the roots stay in the ground unless you pull them.
What drives the price of clearing an acre?
Density comes first. A thin stand of brush and a solid thicket price differently on the same acre. Tree size is next. National guides price single tree removal at $385 to $1,070 a tree, so a handful of big ones moves the number.
Stumps and roots are their own line. National guides put stump removal at $130 to $350 per stump. Roots left in the ground sprout back on some species, and a pad or a slab needs them gone.
Access and ground matter. A gate a loaded dump truck cannot clear slows the whole job. North and west of San Antonio the soil is thin over limestone, so rock sits close to the surface, and rock is slow. Slope adds time and keeps the bigger machines off parts of the tract.
Debris is the last lever. Mulch stays put and costs nothing to move. Haul off buys trucks, fuel and a dump fee, which is where dump truck hauling gets added to a clearing number. Guides put land grading at $800 to $4,000 if you want the acre smooth after. Acreage cuts the other way: ten acres usually prices under ten times one acre, because the machines make one trip.
What makes South Texas brush different?
Mesquite and huisache do not quit when you cut them. Texas A and M AgriLife Extension explains that mesquite carries a bud zone at the root crown, below the soil line. Cut the tree at ground level and it sprouts back from those buds. Extension guidance is that grubbing takes out the whole root crown. An excavator pulling roots beats a blade at the surface.
That is a cost question too. Mulching a mesquite flat is the lower number today. Plan on grubbing the root crowns if you want the tract to stay clean for years.
Cedar behaves differently. The cedar on the Hill Country side is Ashe juniper, and published Texas range research describes it as a non sprouting species. Cut below the lowest live limb, it does not come back from the base. A cedar acre often clears once and stays clear, though seedlings still come in from seed.
Do you need a permit to clear land in Texas?
There is no single statewide land clearing permit. What applies depends on where the acre sits.
Inside San Antonio and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, the city tree preservation ordinance applies. The city tree ordinance fact sheet spells it out. A tree affidavit or a tree permit application is needed before clearing vegetation, construction or tree removal. The ETJ reaches about 5 miles past the city limits. The ordinance is Chapter 35, Section 35-523 of the Unified Development Code.
The thresholds are in that fact sheet. A significant tree measures 6 inches or more at 4.5 feet above the ground. Ashe juniper, huisache, mesquite, Arizona ash and hackberry count as significant at 10 inches. A heritage tree is 24 inches or more. Rules get amended, so confirm the current version with Development Services before a machine rolls.
On unincorporated county land outside a city and its ETJ, there is usually no tree permit at all. Ranch acreage prices out simpler than a lot inside the city. Ask the county first.
Two other rules can reach a clearing job. The TCEQ construction stormwater permit covers sites that disturb 1 acre or more. A stormwater pollution prevention plan goes in before work starts. TCEQ also protects the Edwards Aquifer under 30 TAC Chapter 213. That covers the recharge, transition and contributing zones in Bexar, Comal and Medina counties. An approved Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan comes before land disturbance there.
How long does it take to clear 5 acres of land?
Published equipment guides put a forestry mulcher at roughly 1 to 5 acres a day. A skid steer with a mulching head does 1 to 3 acres a day. An excavator with a mulching head runs about a half acre to an acre a day. It is the pick for steep ground or selective work.
On those numbers, 5 acres of light to medium brush is a two to five day job. Heavy cover, big trees or a haul off plan adds days, because every load has to leave the property. Wet weather moves the schedule. Loaded trucks do not sit well on the clay east of San Antonio.
What is the next step on your acreage?
Published ranges get you close. The actual ground sets the price. Global Contractors LLC works from a yard in Pleasanton, south of San Antonio, and covers about 50 miles around the city.
Call (253) 606-9497 for a free estimate on clearing a lot or a whole tract, and the number goes in writing after we see the site. If the acre is headed for a slab, a pad or a road, site preparation picks up where the clearing stops.