Topsoil Delivery Cost: What 256 Yards Actually Charge
Topsoil delivery usually starts around $55 a trip, and the middle half of yards start between $40 and $80. That comes from 256 bulk soil, mulch and stone yards in 37 states that publish delivery charges on their own websites. It is the lowest fee they list, usually for a nearby address. Distance, truck size and a second trip are what raise it.
What yards charge for delivery
This is the lowest delivery charge each yard publishes. 253 of the 256 give one; the other three quote only a rate by the mile or the hour.
| Lowest published fee | Yards |
|---|---|
| Under $50 | 86 |
| $50–74 | 83 |
| $75–99 | 41 |
| $100–149 | 26 |
| $150 or more | 17 |
The lowest was $10, from an Arizona yard on 10 tons or 10 yards within 10 miles. The highest was a $225 minimum from a Washington yard that bills by the hour. A single market can sit well outside these numbers: one Portland, Oregon yard says standard delivery there runs $250 to $400.
Delivery fees by region
Starting fees were highest in the Pacific Northwest and lowest across the Northeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. This is the median lowest fee for each region with at least 14 yards. The Southeast, Great Plains and Mountain West had too few to show.
| Region | Yards | Median starting fee |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast & New England | 49 | $50 |
| Midwest & Great Lakes | 73 | $50 |
| Mid-Atlantic & Piedmont | 54 | $50 |
| Southwest & Desert | 17 | $65 |
| California & Hawaii | 14 | $68 |
| Pacific Northwest | 19 | $89 |
Five ways yards work out the fee
Two quotes can look alike and be built differently, so ask which of these you are getting.
| How it is charged | A real published example |
|---|---|
| Flat fee per load | Ohio: $50 a load, up to 5 yards of screened topsoil |
| Distance bands | Michigan: $60 under 5 miles, $70 up to 10, $85 up to 20 |
| Base fee, then per mile | Louisiana: $125 for the first 30 miles, then $4 a mile, per trip |
| By the mile from the yard | Georgia: $7 a mile with a $60 minimum, or $12 a mile with a $100 minimum on the larger truck |
| By the hour | Minnesota: $105 for a single-axle and $130 for a quad-axle, one-hour minimum |
Bands, set by distance or load size, were the most common, followed by flat fees. Where a yard states a mileage rate, the median was $5 a mile, in a range of $2 to $15. Check whether it counts one way or the round trip, because yards do both. At $5 a mile, an address 20 miles past the included distance adds $100 one way or $200 if the rate is round trip.
What the fee adds to each yard
A flat fee is why small orders look expensive. This is simple division, and it is the number to use when you compare quotes. If the fee is most of the bill, see whether picking it up yourself is cheaper.
| Delivery fee | 2 yards | 3 yards | 5 yards | 10 yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $60 | $30 | $20 | $12 | $6 |
| $90 | $45 | $30 | $18 | $9 |
| $125 | $63 | $42 | $25 | $13 |
The last column only holds if one truck can carry all 10 yards. Some low fees only cover a small truck: the Ohio yard's $50 covers up to 5 yards, so 10 yards is two loads and $100. A Washington yard charges $120 for 2 to 5 yards and $150 for 6 to 12, so its larger truck costs less per yard once it is full. Dump truck sizes compared shows what each truck can carry.
When ordering more costs less
Some yards drop the fee above a set quantity, and that can change the sum. A Connecticut yard sells screened topsoil at $40 a yard, plus a $125 delivery fee on 9 yards or less and no fee on 10 yards or more.
| Order | Material | Delivery | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 yards | $360 | $125 | $485 |
| 10 yards | $400 | Included | $400 |
Ten yards costs $85 less than nine. If you are close to a threshold like this, ask before you order. Other yards do the same thing in a smaller area: the Ohio yard waives its fee on 4 yards or more in two nearby towns.
Charges beyond the trip fee
These all appear in yards' published terms, and none of them shows up in a headline fee.
- A second trip. Each trip normally carries its own fee, which is why coming up short is costly.
- Two materials. An Illinois yard adds $35 for a split load, and a Nebraska yard charges a $26 drop fee to bring a second product on one truck.
- Soil and stone versus mulch. Mulch is lighter and can cost less to haul. One Illinois yard charges $20 for mulch and $45 for soil or gravel within three miles.
- Spreading the load. An Ohio yard charges extra to tailgate material along a driveway rather than tip it in one pile.
- Fuel. Two South Carolina yards warn that their fees can rise with fuel prices.
- Late changes. A Utah yard may charge $35 for changing or cancelling within 24 hours of delivery.
What to ask before you agree a price
- What is the total, delivered to my address, including tax?
- How many yards does the truck carry, and how many trips will this take?
- Is there a quantity where the delivery fee drops or goes away?
- If you charge by the mile, is that one way or the round trip?
- Is there any charge for a split load, for tailgating, or if the truck has to wait?
Then divide the total by the yards. That delivered price per yard is the only fair way to compare two yards. Our topsoil price guide shows typical ranges by region, the topsoil calculator gives you the yards to ask for, and it helps to know where the driver should tip the load before they arrive.
How we got these numbers
In November 2026 we went through all 12,037 yards with websites among the 14,695 suppliers in our directory, and checked the public pages we could reach and were allowed to read. About 2,500 sites were unreachable or asked crawlers to stay out. We pulled out the lines mentioning both a price and delivery, read the likely ones by hand, and kept the 256 yards that clearly publish a delivery charge for bulk soil, mulch or stone, leaving out sod, dumpsters and pallet freight.
Treat this as a guide to what published fees look like, not a national average. Yards that post their fees may be cheaper than yards that quote by phone, and 256 yards cannot speak for every market. We also could not read price lists in PDFs. Fees change, so the yard's own quote is the number that counts.