Land Clearing Cost in NJ: $4,000 to $30,000 per acre

Clearing wooded land in northern New Jersey runs $4,000 to $30,000 per acre, around $16,000 per acre, with JWSR LLC as of August 2026. What moves it is what is actually growing, whether the material is mulched on site or hauled away, whether the stumps come out, and whether the ground is graded afterward. Pulling stumps with an excavator is $300 per stump, with an $800 minimum to come to the site. And disturbing more than 5,000 square feet, about an eighth of an acre, needs a soil erosion plan certified by the county Soil Conservation District.

What moves the price

What is genuinely on the lot. “Wooded” covers everything from young saplings to mature hardwood, and the two are not the same job.
Whether the material stays on the property or has to be hauled off. Haul-off is trucking, tipping and time.
Whether a forestry mulcher runs the job and leaves the chips on site, which is usually the cheaper end.
Whether the stumps come out. Grinding or pulling stumps is separate work from dropping what is above ground.
Whether rough grading is part of it, because a cleared lot and a usable lot are different things.

The spread here is the widest on this page for a reason: “wooded land” is vague. Two acres that look identical from the road can be four times apart in price once somebody walks them.

Stumps are their own line

Dropping what is above ground and dealing with what is below it are different work. We pull stumps with an excavator, roots and all, rather than grinding them off at the surface: $300 per stump, with an $800 minimum to come to the site. The minimum is the cost of getting a machine to the property, so a single stump costs the same as two.

We pull stumps with an excavator, we do not grind them. For grinding we send people to Stump n Grind in Stillwater, and we would rather tell you that than take the work and sub it out.

Why a day of machine time costs what it does

People react to the day rate more than to anything job-specific, and the day rate is arithmetic: it is what has to be carried before a machine turns.

Insurance. General liability, commercial auto on every truck and trailer, workers compensation on every man. It is carried whether or not the phone rings, and on underground work the limits are not small.
Labor. Not just the wage. Payroll taxes, workers comp premium, training, and the hours that are real work but are not on your job: loading, travelling, fueling, and the markout call three days before anybody digs.
Equipment. An excavator is a several-hundred-thousand-dollar machine that is either financed or owned outright, and either way it costs money to sit still. Add tracks, buckets, teeth, hydraulic hoses, and the trailer and truck that move it.
Fuel. Diesel for the machine, diesel for the truck that hauled it, and the run to the site and back before anyone gets paid for anything.
Materials. Pipe, stone, fittings, fill, geogrid, fabric. Bought at whatever the supply house is charging that week, which is not what it was charging last year.
Maintenance and downtime. Machines break. A hydraulic line lets go and the day stops. That risk is real and it is priced in, because the alternative is pricing every job as though nothing ever goes wrong.

The permit most clearing quotes leave out

In New Jersey the rule is about how much ground is disturbed, not who owns it. Past 5,000 square feet, about an eighth of an acre, the work is a project under the Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act and needs a plan certified by your county Soil Conservation District, which has 30 days to act on it. Disturbance counts stockpiles and the tracks machines cut getting to the work, so it adds up faster than people expect. Nearly every clearing job priced by the acre is over that line.

Two things sit outside the Act: clearing for genuinely agricultural or horticultural purposes, and a single-family house that is not part of a subdivision or other development approval. On top of it, the Highlands region covers every county we work in, and freshwater wetlands transition areas run up to 150 feet beyond the wetland itself. The full answer is in do I need a permit to clear land in NJ, and your district is on NJ Soil Conservation Districts.

Cleared is not the same as usable

A lot with the trees gone and the stumps out is still full of holes and roots. Filling, rough grading and stabilizing the ground so it does not wash away is what turns it into pasture, a building pad or lawn, and it is worth asking any contractor whether their number includes it. Fresh bare ground is at its most vulnerable in the first week after the machines leave, which is why we finish with seed and straw rather than walking away from the dirt; see keeping fresh excavation from washing away.

Clearing for something specific? Owners clearing for a riding area should read dirt bike tracks and trails, and utility and pipeline corridors are a different job with different rules on right-of-way clearing.

What customers say about this work

Love the work done and the people who work here. We cleared 1/2 acre of land and it looks perfect. So excited for the grass to grow in and for our kids to play in a bigger yard!

Andrea Bruno

I purchased a large property with an old building my insurance required me to tear down. I hired James and his crew and couldn't be more pleased with the results. I'll be going through James for all my future projects.

Nautisha Holliday

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Common questions

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

$4,000 to $30,000 per acre, around $16,000 per acre, with us as of August 2026 in northern New Jersey. The spread is wide because "wooded" covers everything from young saplings to mature hardwood, and because whether the material is mulched on site or hauled off, and whether the stumps come out, are separate decisions with separate costs.

Why are land clearing quotes so far apart?

Because two acres that look identical from the road can be very different jobs once somebody walks them. What is actually growing, whether it leaves the property, whether stumps come out and whether the ground gets graded afterward each move the number, and a quote that does not say which of those it includes is not comparable with one that does.

Is it cheaper to mulch the trees on site or haul them away?

Mulching on site with a forestry mulcher is usually the cheaper end, because haul-off adds trucking, tipping fees and time. Whether you want the chips left on the ground is your call, and we price both ways.

How much does stump removal cost?

$300 per stump, with an $800 minimum to come to the site, as of August 2026. We pull stumps with an excavator rather than grinding them. The minimum is what it costs to get a machine to the property, so one stump and two cost the same.

Do I need a permit to clear land in New Jersey?

Usually, once the work disturbs more than 5,000 square feet, about an eighth of an acre. That needs a soil erosion and sediment control plan certified by your county Soil Conservation District, which has 30 days to act on it. Clearing for genuinely agricultural or horticultural purposes sits outside the Act, and the Highlands rules and wetlands transition areas can apply on top.

Does the price include making the land usable?

Only if the quote says so. A cleared lot and a usable lot are different things: filling the holes, rough grading and getting the ground ready for pasture, a building pad or lawn is separate work from dropping what is above ground. Ask any contractor which one they are pricing.

Sources

Prices are ours, as of August 2026, for typical jobs in our counties. They are not a quote for your property. Every other cost we publish is on what our work costs.
N.J.S.A. 4:24-39 et seq., the NJ Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act (statute text)
NJ Highlands Council: Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act
NJDEP Watershed & Land Management: Freshwater Wetlands

What clearing land costs in New Jersey