DumpsterPriceIndex

Roll-Off Dumpster Rental

A 20-yard is the size these jobs land on, a median of $419, typically $350 to $490.

What each size costs, roll-off dumpster
Size MedianSample
40 yard $600 264 companies
30 yard $520 592 companies
20 yard $419 1075 companies
15 yard $365 952 companies
10 yard $345 653 companies

Where a 20-yard costs most and least

20-yard median, most expensive and cheapest of 37 states
State MedianSample
New Hampshire $664 10 companies
Massachusetts $620 26 companies
New Jersey $597 28 companies
Connecticut $550 18 companies
Idaho $349 9 companies
Utah $338 26 companies
Iowa $335 19 companies
Nebraska $300 14 companies

A $364 difference for an identical container, which is why a national average is close to useless for budgeting.

What the price includes

Typically included before extras start
Included MedianSample
Rental period 7 days, median
Weight allowance 2 tons, median
What is charged past that
Charged on top MedianSample
Per extra ton $76 845 companies
Per extra day $16 876 companies

Those two lines are where a bill diverges from a quote. Put your own numbers in the calculator, or see everything that lands on an invoice.

Find companies near you

Independently owned, ranked by Index Score, showing the prices they publish themselves.

Search the directory · Prices by state

What a roll-off dumpster is

A roll-off is the open-top container on a hooklift truck that gets dropped in your driveway and collected when you are done. It is what almost every company on this site rents, and what most people mean when they say dumpster.

Who rents one

Homeowners clearing out, roofers, remodellers and builders. Anything where the waste is generated in one place over days rather than weekly.

The thing that catches people out

The name refers to how it is delivered (it rolls off the back of the truck), not to a size. A 10-yard and a 40-yard are both roll-offs, and the price difference between them is the largest single decision you make.

How it differs from the others

Front-load containers, the kind behind a restaurant, are serviced on a weekly round instead and priced per month. If somebody quotes you a monthly rate, that is what they are quoting.

Choosing the size

Sizing a roll-off is a question about density before it is a question about volume. Light material runs out of space first, so you size on how much room it takes up. Dense material hits the weight allowance first, so you size down and accept a container that looks half empty. That is why a 10 yard is the standard answer for concrete and a 30 yard is the standard answer for a house clearance, even though the clearance is the bigger job by any ordinary measure.

If you are between two sizes on a light load, take the larger one. The price gap between neighboring sizes is consistently smaller than a second delivery, and running out of room halfway through a weekend is the expensive outcome.

What moves the price

Four things move a roll-off quote and none of them are the container itself. The tipping fee at whichever landfill or transfer station the hauler uses, which is set locally and varies more than anything else on the invoice. The drive time from their yard to you and on to the tip. How long the container sits with you, because it earns nothing while it is parked. And what is going in it, since clean loads of a single material are cheaper to dispose of than mixed debris.

The pricing guide works through each of those in turn, and the state medians on the Price Index show how far the first one alone moves the number.

Common questions

Is a roll-off the same as a skip?
Same idea, different equipment and different name by country. A skip is lifted by a chain or arm onto a lorry. A roll-off is winched onto a flat bed that tilts, which is where the name comes from. In the US the word is roll-off, and containers run from 10 to 40 cubic yards.
How much space do I need for a roll-off?
Allow the container's own length plus about ten feet for the truck to work, and roughly 22 feet of overhead clearance so the bed can tilt. A 20 yard is 22 feet long, so you are looking at a little over 30 feet of clear run. Overhead is what stops most deliveries, not width.
Can I move a roll-off once it is delivered?
No, and you should not try. Loaded, they weigh several tons and the wheels will damage whatever they are dragged across. If it is in the wrong place, call the hauler. Repositioning usually costs a trip charge, which is why it is worth marking the spot before delivery day.

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