What Excavation Costs Around Rochester
Short answer: most homeowner excavation around Rochester runs $50–$150 per cubic yard, grading runs $0.50–$2.25 per sq ft depending on the pass, and building pads run $1,500–$6,700 by size. This page shows the whole rate card — the same numbers our calculator and our written estimates use.
Dirt work is priced three ways at once: by the square foot for surface work, by the cubic yard for moving dirt, and by the job for pads. Any page that gives you one neat number for all of it is making it up.
Here's the honest complication. The big published guides disagree about excavation unit prices by an order of magnitude — some quote $2.50–$15 a yard. Those numbers describe huge machine jobs priced by the truckload-day. A homeowner with a 30-yard backyard job never sees them, because no operator rolls a machine out for $330.
Small jobs are priced retail: a machine, an operator, and a truck showing up at your lot. That's the $50–$150 per yard band below, and it's the band every local bid you get will land in.
Every number here is a planning range. Your final price is confirmed in writing after an in-person look, before any work starts.
The Rate Card
- Excavation & dirt moving — $50–$150 per cubic yard (small-job rate; $1,500 job floor)
- Finish grading — $0.50–$1.25 per sq ft ($750 job floor)
- Rough grading / regrading — $1.00–$2.25 per sq ft
- New gravel driveway, with base — $1.75–$4.50 per sq ft ($1,200 job floor)
- Gravel driveway top-up refresh — $0.75–$1.50 per sq ft
- House building pad — $2,500–$5,600 per job
- Small pad (garage / shed) — $1,500–$3,500 per job
- Fill dirt, delivered & spread — $20–$50 per cubic yard ($500 floor)
- Screened topsoil, delivered & spread — $40–$85 per cubic yard
- Dirt haul-off — $300–$600 per load
Why Jobs Carry a Floor
Excavators and operators bill by the hour whether the job is two hours or two days, and the machine rides a trailer to get to you. That's why small jobs carry a floor — $1,500 for excavation, $750 for grading, $1,200 for driveways. A 20-yard job does not get billed at a per-yard rate alone; the machine has to get there.
Haul distance is the other silent price. Stone and fill price by the load, and trucking is part of every yard you buy — the pit that's 10 miles away beats the pit that's 40 on every load.
Worked Examples
A 200-yard basement dig with the spoil kept on site lands at $10,000–$30,000 — right on the published range for basement excavation. A quarter acre of finish grading lands at $5,450–$13,600. A 12×100 ft country driveway in standard gravel lands at $2,100–$5,400.
Want your own numbers? The calculator on our home page runs these same bands. Then call (612) 260-8779 and we'll come look and write the real one down.
Why do other websites quote $10 a yard?
Those are contractor-scale unit prices for very large jobs — hundreds or thousands of yards with machines already on site. Homeowner jobs carry mobilization, an operator, and small loads. The two products wear the same name; they aren't the same product.
Is the written estimate really free?
Yes. We come look in person, figure the yards or the footage, and put the scope and price in writing. You owe nothing unless you hire the work.
What moves a price most?
Access, haul distance, and how much dirt actually moves. A tight lot, a long haul, or a deeper cut all add machine time — your written estimate shows which ones are in your job.
Get your real number — call (612) 260-8779 or send the form for a free written estimate.