How Much Does Land Clearing Cost Per Acre in North Carolina?

Land clearing in North Carolina runs about $1,500 to $5,000 an acre in one contractor pricing guide. National cost guides stretch wider, from about $500 an acre for lightly wooded ground to $6,155 for heavy woods.

Those are market numbers from published guides, not our price list. What stands on the acre moves the price most. Stumps and the debris plan come next. The same drivers set the price for land clearing around Burlington.

What does land clearing cost per acre in North Carolina?

Published guides sort clearing by how thick the growth is. Four national cost guides, updated between January 2025 and June 2026, list two wooded tiers. A pricing guide written for clearing contractors adds a middle tier. It also gives Southeast figures, and North Carolina sits in that region.

Within each tier, the price climbs with the size and the number of trees. Some jobs are priced by the hour instead, and national cost guides put that at $110 to $265 an hour.

For brush alone, with no trees, one national guide lists $330 to $630 an acre. If the goal is a usable field rather than bare dirt, brush cutting and bush hogging is the lighter job.

Why do stumps add so much to the price?

Clearing takes down what stands above ground. Pulling the stumps and roots is a second pass, often called grubbing. Cost guides say the stumps and roots need to come out wherever a house will stand.

National cost guides price stump removal at $100 to $350 a stump. The contractor guide lists $150 to $500 a stump, or $1,000 to $3,000 and up an acre for full extraction. It adds 25 to 40 percent for a fully clean site, with no stumps or debris left.

Ground for pasture or a view may not need every stump out, and that saves money. Once the stumps are gone, a house site often moves on to grading the pad and the drainage.

Haul it off or burn it: which costs less?

The debris is the next big fork. The contractor guide puts trucking to a landfill or transfer station at $500 to $2,000 or more an acre. That figure covers the trucks and the disposal fees.

Burning on site costs less, but the state’s open burning rule decides where it can happen. A land clearing burn has to sit at least 500 feet from any occupied building on other property. Signed waivers from everyone inside that line can work, if the state’s regional air quality office approves them.

On a small lot near other homes, that setback usually rules burning out. Then hauling the debris off becomes part of the job.

The same rule sets more conditions for a land clearing burn:

• Light the fire between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. After 6 p.m., add nothing until 8 the next morning.
• Burn only plant growth from the cleared land. Tires and trash never go on the pile.
• The wind has to carry the smoke away from roads within 250 feet and other places it could affect.
• No burning during a burn ban, or when the air quality forecast is Code Orange or worse.
• The pile burns on the land it came from, with narrow exceptions.

Burning saves the trucking bill, but a ban or a bad air day can stall the job.

How does the North Carolina burn permit work?

The burn permit is its own step, and it comes from the North Carolina Forest Service. Across the Piedmont, state law requires one for fires in woodland or within 500 feet of it. That rule covers fires started from midnight to 4 p.m.

You can get the permit online. A Forest Service county office or a local permitting agent can issue one in person. The Forest Service does not charge for it, and a permit can be canceled when fire danger runs high.

During a state burn ban, no open burning is allowed, permit or not. Inside city limits, check the town’s own burning rules too. Some towns allow burning only at set hours, and some forbid it.

What else moves the price per acre?

The contractor guide says slopes over 15 to 20 percent slow the machines down. Ground steeper than 30 percent can add 30 to 50 percent to the base cost.

Wet ground costs more too. Soft red clay ruts under heavy machines. The guide says boggy ground may mean waiting for a dry season or using machines made for soft ground.

Creeks and ponds bring their own limits. Machine clearing in a wetland can need a federal permit, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers makes that call. In the Jordan Lake watershed, which includes Burlington, state rules put a 50-foot buffer along streams and ponds. The first 30 feet from the bank stays undisturbed.

Tight access adds machine hours, and so does a creek crossing. Moving machines in costs about the same for half an acre as for a bigger tract. That is why small jobs run more per acre. The guide also puts lots in town at 20 to 40 percent over rural work.

Bigger jobs carry paperwork. State law requires an approved erosion and sedimentation control plan when development disturbs more than one acre. The plan goes in at least 30 days ahead, and work waits for approval. Where the state reviews it, the application fee is $119 an acre.

Burlington runs its own erosion program, and so do some nearby counties. Orange County asks projects that disturb over 10,000 square feet to check in first.

Can the timber pay for the clearing?

Sometimes, on bigger tracts with mature trees. NC State Extension publishes statewide average prices for standing timber. These are its averages for the second quarter of 2026.

Pulpwood is small wood. Sawtimber is logs big enough to saw into lumber. Any one stand can sell above or below these averages.

Extension notes that small tracts with low volume usually cannot be logged at a profit. Distance to the mill and poor access lower the price as well. When a sale does happen, the logger takes the logs, and the stumps and brush stay for the clearing.

Get help before you sign with a buyer. Extension cites a study where sales run by consulting foresters brought 11 percent higher prices. It also warns against counting on the buyer to tell you what the timber is worth.

How do you get a real number for your land?

A per-acre range gets you in the ballpark. A real price takes a look at the ground itself. We come look at the land and give you a free quote in writing. See how we handle clearing lots and acreage, or call or text (336) 516-7170.