Between $1,800 and $6,500 an acre across Central Texas, with most jobs landing near $3,000. Density drives it more than acreage does, which is why two neighbouring properties can be quoted a thousand dollars an acre apart.
Prices by density
| Density | Per acre | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Light | $1,800 – $2,800 | Scattered cedar and scrub, grass between. |
| Medium | $2,800 – $4,200 | Continuous juniper 10–15 ft, some hardwood. |
| Heavy | $4,200 – $6,500 | Solid canopy, mature cedar, no line of sight. |
| Selective | $3,000 – $5,500 | Cedar out, every oak left standing. |
| Full clear and grub | $5,000 – $9,000 | Root balls out, ground graded. Building work. |
The three decisions that set your price
Mulch in place or haul off. Mulching is roughly a third cheaper. A tracked machine with a drum mulcher grinds standing cedar into a mulch layer in one pass, nothing leaves the property, and the mulch holds soil through the next downpour. Hauling means trucks, trips and tipping fees. Unless your plan needs bare ground, mulch.
Grub or leave the roots. Grubbing pulls root balls out and costs considerably more. You only need it where something will be built or graded, because a root ball left under a pad rots and settles. For pasture, fire protection or a fence line, leave them.
Everything or selectively. Selective clearing adds 20 to 30 percent because the operator steers around every keeper, roughly halving the daily rate. On Hill Country acreage it is usually the right call anyway, since live oaks suppressed under cedar for thirty years often recover strongly once they have light and water to themselves.
What else moves the number
Slope, because a mulcher on a grade works slower and more carefully. Rock, since west of I-35 on the Edwards Plateau limestone is often inches down, which is hard on equipment and rules out digging in places. Access, because a gate a tracked machine cannot fit through is a problem before anything starts. And distance, though within the Austin metro that rarely matters much.
A mulcher covers one to three acres a day depending on density. That is the number to sanity-check a quote against.
Before you clear anything
Unincorporated county land in Travis, Williamson and Hays generally has no tree permit requirement, which is why most acreage clearing needs no paperwork. Inside city limits it changes fast, and Austin protects any tree 19 inches or more even on a vacant lot. See the permit guide.
Two more worth checking. An agricultural valuation can be affected by clearing, so ask the county appraisal district first. And golden-cheeked warbler habitat is a live issue in parts of western Travis and Williamson County, where mature Ashe juniper is exactly what the birds nest in; clearing during nesting season, roughly March through August, can run into federal rules.
The thing we argue about
Clearing every cedar off a steep slope and leaving nothing. Thin soil over limestone with no root structure washes into the creek the first time Central Texas does four inches in an hour, and once that soil is gone it does not come back in a lifetime.
Clear it back from buildings for fire safety, thin it out from under the oaks, open up what you want to look at. Leave cover on the grades. That is the version you will be happy with in ten years.
Got acreage to clear? Send the address and roughly how many acres. A satellite view tells us the density before anyone drives out. See land clearing and lot clearing for new builds. We work Leander, Kyle and the wider metro.