Excavation prices are hard to pin down because most of them never get published. Private dirt subs quote job by job. The best public, dated numbers come from state transportation departments, which publish weighted average bid prices for every pay item they let. Two recent reports give a solid baseline:
- Montana Department of Transportation, weighted average prices for calendar year 2025 (report dated January 2, 2026): unclassified excavation averaged $8.17 per cubic yard across 1,346,735 cubic yards.
- Oklahoma Department of Transportation, item price history for October 1, 2024 through March 31, 2026 (report dated April 15, 2026): unclassified excavation averaged $7.30 per cubic yard on awarded contracts across 237 occurrences and about 10.9 million cubic yards, or $7.74 averaged across the three low bidders.
Those are highway prices for large quantities, measured in place, on jobs with room to run big equipment. They are the floor, not the typical residential or commercial site price. Small quantities, tight access, haul-off, rock and water all push the number up, sometimes by several times. An earlier version of this article quoted $5 to $25 per cubic yard for common earth and $50 to $200 for rock, along with a set of rental, fuel and labor figures; we could not trace those to a published source and have replaced them with the dated bid data below.
DOT Bid Prices for Earthwork Items
Oklahoma DOT, October 2024 to March 2026
| Item | Unit | Avg awarded price | Avg of low 3 bidders | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unclassified excavation, 202(A)2200 | CY | $7.30 | $7.74 | 10,873,005 CY |
| Rock excavation, 202(C)2400 | CY | $11.66 | $12.05 | 350,926 CY |
| Unclassified borrow, 202(D)2500 | CY | $9.21 | $10.81 | 2,463,950 CY |
| Muck excavation, 202(B)2300 | CY | $6.44 | $9.22 | 35,727 CY |
| Structural excavation unclassified, 501(A)1200 | CY | $39.13 | $36.87 | 11,893 CY |
| Substructure excavation rock, 501(C)1400 | CY | $55.45 | $70.50 | 1,286 CY |
| Trench excavation, 613(V)8000 | CY | $22.99 | $19.58 | 15,676 CY |
Source: Oklahoma DOT Weighted Average Item Price Report, April 15, 2026, statewide totals.
Montana DOT, calendar year 2025
| Item | Unit | Avg unit price | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excavation, unclassified | CY | $8.17 | 1,346,735 CY |
| Excavation, unclassified borrow | CY | $14.30 | 20,298 CY |
| Special borrow, neat line | CY | $29.21 | 328,482 CY |
| Embankment in place | CY | $11.50 | 125,964 CY |
| Excavation, digouts | CY | $21.09 | 55,091 CY |
| Excavation, street | CY | $48.01 | 2,650 CY |
| Excavation, unclassified channel | CY | $58.00 | 152 CY |
| Structure excavation type 1 | CY | $75.00 | 540 CY |
| Topsoil, salvaging and placing | CY | $6.25 | 153,146 CY |
| Dewatering | hour | $35.83 | 1,416 hours |
Source: Montana DOT Weighted Average Prices Catalog, January 1 to December 31, 2025, dated January 2, 2026.
Three patterns stand out.
Quantity drives unit price. Mass excavation in the millions of yards prices in single digits. The same states pay several times more per yard for small, confined items: Montana's street excavation ($48.01) and structure excavation ($75.00), Oklahoma's structural excavation ($39.13). Those items involve smaller machines, tighter work areas, more hand work and more care around existing features.
Rock is not always a huge premium on highway jobs. Oklahoma's rock excavation item averaged $11.66 per yard, about 60% above unclassified excavation, over a sizable quantity. That reflects large cuts where contractors can rip or drill and shoot efficiently. Rock in a confined footing or trench is a different story: Oklahoma's substructure rock excavation averaged $55.45 per yard on small quantities.
Trench work prices higher than open cuts. Oklahoma's trench excavation pay item averaged $22.99 per cubic yard, about three times the unclassified excavation price.
How each DOT measures and pays for these items is set by its standard specifications (in both of these states, earthwork items sit in the 200-series sections). Read the measurement and payment clauses before comparing items across states, because one state's "unclassified excavation" may include hauling and compaction that another pays separately.
What Moves the Price on Your Site
Quantity and mobilization
Fixed costs do not shrink with the job. Getting machines to the site, setting up, and minimum charges are spread over the yards moved. That is why a small footing dig costs far more per yard than a mass grading job. Montana's 2025 report carries mobilization as its own lump-sum pay item; on private jobs, ask for mobilization as a separate line so you can see how much of the price is fixed.
Soil and rock
Soil type changes production. Sand and loam dig and load quickly; wet clay sticks in the bucket and slows every cycle; rock needs a hydraulic hammer, ripping or blasting. Before bidding any significant dig, check the USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey, which is free and maps soil types nationwide, and on anything with real depth, pay for test pits or geotechnical borings. Put a unit price for rock in the contract, and define what counts as rock (by machine size, refusal, or the need to drill or blast) the way DOT specifications do.
Depth and OSHA protective systems
Under 29 CFR 1926.652(a)(1), every worker in an excavation must be protected from cave-ins by a protective system (sloping, benching, shoring or shielding) unless the excavation is entirely in stable rock, or is less than 5 feet deep and a competent person finds no indication of a potential cave-in. Trenches 4 feet or deeper need a ladder, stairway, ramp or other safe means of egress within 25 feet of lateral travel, under 29 CFR 1926.651(c)(2), and a competent person has to inspect excavations daily and after rainstorms under 1926.651(k).
Sloping is where depth gets expensive. Under Appendix B to Subpart P, simple slope excavations in Type C soil up to 20 feet deep have a maximum allowable slope of 1½:1 (horizontal to vertical). Each extra foot of depth in sloped Type C soil adds 1.5 feet of width on each side, so the volume of a sloped trench grows much faster than its depth. On tight sites that cannot slope, a trench box or shoring system adds equipment cost and slows production instead. For other OSHA rules that apply on excavation sites, see our fall protection requirements guide.
Water
Groundwater slows everything. Pumping, soupy spoils that haul poorly and backfill that will not compact all add time and cost. Montana's 2025 dewatering item averaged $35.83 per hour, but on private work dewatering ranges from a rented trash pump to a full wellpoint system, so get it priced as a separate item.
Utilities
Call 811 before digging; it is free and required. The locate covers public utility lines, but private lines on the owner's side of the meter (irrigation, site lighting, propane runs, private drains) are generally not marked, so consider a private locator on any developed site. Hand digging near marked lines, where state damage-prevention law requires it, costs much more per yard than machine digging.
Haul-off and disposal
If spoils cannot stay on site, trucking and tipping fees can rival the cost of digging. Balancing cut and fill on site is the biggest cost lever in earthwork. Watch the measure: excavation is usually paid in bank (in-place) yards, but soil swells when dug, so trucks haul loose yards. If one quote is in bank yards and another in loose yards or per load, convert before comparing.
Labor and Equipment Context
The Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 wage survey puts the national median wage for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators at $28.78 an hour, and for construction laborers at $22.66. Those are base wage medians, not burdened rates, and union and prevailing wage jobs pay more. Prevailing wage laws apply in 29 states plus the District of Columbia, and Davis-Bacon rates apply to federal work, so check the wage determination on any public dig.
On new single-family homes, the National Association of Home Builders' 2024 cost of construction survey (published January 23, 2025) put site work at 7.6% of construction costs and foundations at 10.5%. NAHB does not break out excavation as a separate line in that summary, but together those stages show how much of a house budget sits in and around the hole.
Run your quantities through our excavation calculator and the grading and slope calculator before you price a job. For linear utility work, our sewer line replacement cost guide covers trench-and-pipe pricing, and the demolition cost guide covers site clearing that often comes first.
How to Read an Excavation Quote
A good excavation quote lists unit prices, not just a lump sum:
- Mobilization, per machine and per move
- Mass excavation per cubic yard, stating bank or loose measure and the assumed soil type
- Trenching per linear foot or per cubic yard, with depth and protective system stated
- A rock unit price, with the classification method defined
- Haul-off per cubic yard or per load, with the disposal site and fee named
- Backfill and compaction, with fill source, lift thickness and testing
- Fine grading per square foot, with tolerance
- Dewatering, as a separate unit or allowance
If a quote comes back as one number, ask for units. When conditions change, and in earthwork they often do, unit prices turn a dispute into arithmetic. Compare bids on scope, not just price; a low number that excludes rock, water, haul-off and testing is not actually low.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average excavation cost per cubic yard in 2026?
The most recent public bid data puts large-quantity unclassified excavation at $8.17 per cubic yard in Montana (2025 weighted average) and $7.30 in Oklahoma (October 2024 to March 2026, average awarded price). Those are highway prices on big quantities. Small, confined or residential digs cost more per yard because of mobilization, access and haul-off.
How much does rock excavation cost per cubic yard?
On Oklahoma DOT contracts from October 2024 to March 2026, rock excavation averaged $11.66 per cubic yard over about 351,000 cubic yards, while substructure rock excavation in confined areas averaged $55.45 on a small quantity. Rock in a basement or trench typically lands closer to the second figure than the first.
How much does trench excavation cost?
Oklahoma DOT's trench excavation item averaged $22.99 per cubic yard over that period, about three times its unclassified excavation price. Depth matters most: OSHA requires a protective system for most excavations 5 feet or deeper, and sloping Type C soil at 1½:1 widens the trench quickly.
Why is my small excavation job so expensive per yard?
Fixed costs such as mobilization, setup and minimum charges are spread over fewer yards. DOT data shows the same effect: street and structure excavation items with small quantities run several times the price of mass excavation in the same state.
How are cubic yards measured for excavation?
Usually in bank yards, the in-place volume calculated from the excavation's dimensions (length times width times depth, divided by 27 for cubic feet to cubic yards). Soil swells when dug, so hauling is often priced in loose yards or per load. Confirm which measure each line uses.
Does 811 mark all the utilities before I dig?
No. 811 locates cover public utility lines, but private lines on the owner's side of the meter are generally not marked. Hire a private locator on developed sites, and follow your state's hand-digging rules near marked lines.
Your Action Item for This Week
Pull your state DOT's latest average bid price report and find the earthwork items: unclassified excavation, borrow, rock excavation, structure excavation and trench excavation. Compare them with the last private excavation quote you received. If the quote is a lump sum with no rock clause, no bank or loose yard definition and no haul-off rate, ask for all three in writing before you sign.
