What Is a Fair Price for Cutting Down a Tree?
Somewhere between $400 and $2,000 for most residential trees, and if that range sounds uselessly wide, good instincts. The honest answer depends on three things you can see from your porch: how tall the tree is, what’s underneath it, and how close a truck can park.
The Washington adjustment
National surveys average around $750 per tree. Western Washington runs 20 to 40 percent above that, for a reason visible from any window: our default tree is a conifer the size of an office building. A mid-size tree here (30–60 feet) fairly prices at $800–$2,000; large firs and cedars run $1,500–$4,000; true giants and hazard trees go beyond.
What makes a quote fair isn’t the number
It’s the paper. A fair quote itemizes the scope — felling, chipping, hauling, stump grinding, each its own line, and comes from a crew that can show liability and L&I coverage. Two quotes a thousand dollars apart usually aren’t one honest and one greedy; they’re two different jobs, or one uninsured. Make the scopes match and the mystery evaporates.
The full local breakdown — ranges by size, the five price factors, real ways to save — is in our Pierce County cost guide. Or skip to the useful part: a free written estimate for your actual tree.
