How much does land grading cost in Louisiana?
Land grading and yard leveling run about $1 to $2 per square foot, going by 2026 national cost guides. HomeAdvisor puts the normal range for a yard at $1,022 to $3,332, with an average of $2,177. A full acre runs $15,000 to $45,000 in the guides, before any extra fill dirt.
Those are published national ranges, not J-Rod’s Dirt Work prices. We do land grading and yard leveling out of Hammond, and the real number comes off your lot. Two things drive it the most: how much dirt moves, and where the water has to go.
Grading tilts the ground so water runs away from the house. Leveling smooths out the humps and dips. Most yards need a mix of both.
What does land grading cost per square foot?
Most guides price yard leveling at $1 to $2 per square foot. Fixr adds a condition: that rate assumes no extra fill dirt comes in. Most residential yards run 5,000 to 10,000 square feet, but few people regrade the whole lawn. HomeAdvisor’s advice is to spend on the problem areas.
| Area leveled | Published range |
|---|---|
| 1,000 square feet | $1,000 to $2,000 |
| 2,000 square feet | $2,000 to $4,000 |
| 5,000 square feet | $5,000 to $10,000 |
| 10,000 square feet | $10,000 to $20,000 |
Source: HomeAdvisor.
Fixr lands close by. It puts a 1,000 square foot yard at $1,500 to $2,600, with a national average of $1,800. That $1,800 example has 2 feet of slope, plus 5 cubic yards of fill dirt and 10 of topsoil.
What does land grading cost per acre?
Some guides price land leveling by the acre instead. Fixr puts grading a full acre at $15,000 to $45,000. HomeAdvisor’s table starts at $3,000 for a fifth of an acre and tops out at $45,000 for one acre. Neither guide includes extra fill dirt in its acre prices.
| Area graded | HomeAdvisor | Fixr |
|---|---|---|
| 1/5 acre | $3,000 to $9,000 | $3,000 to $9,000 |
| 1/4 acre | $4,200 to $11,250 | $3,750 to $11,250 |
| 1/2 acre | $8,500 to $22,500 | $7,500 to $22,500 |
| 1 acre | $17,000 to $45,000 | $15,000 to $45,000 |
Sources: HomeAdvisor and Fixr.
Per square foot, the acre prices come out cheaper than the yard sizes above. An acre is 43,560 square feet. At $15,000 to $45,000, that works out to about 34 cents to $1.03 a square foot.
Rough grading is a different number. One land clearing guide lists rough grading after clearing at $1,000 to $3,000 per acre, for building prep and driveways. That means shaping open ground for a building or a drive, not a finished lawn. When you compare per acre quotes, ask which kind of grading each one covers.
If the acre is still grown up, clearing comes first. Our land clearing cost guide covers that part of the bill.
What else shows up on a yard grading bill?
The per foot price covers the shaping. The rest depends on what the lot needs before and after that work.
| Line item | Published range |
|---|---|
| Machine with an operator | $100 to $300 per hour |
| Moving dirt around on the lot (cut and fill) | $1 to $15 per cubic yard |
| Fill dirt | $5 to $30 per cubic yard |
| Topsoil | $12 to $55 per cubic yard |
| Hauling extra dirt off the lot | $8 to $25 per cubic yard |
| Clearing brush and trees first | $1,300 to $5,700 |
| Land survey | $375 to $750 |
| Soil compaction test | $100 to $125 per test location |
| Permit fees | $100 to $500 |
Sources: Bob Vila, HomeAdvisor and Fixr.
Machine work usually carries a one day minimum. That is why a small patch of yard can cost close to what a bigger one does.
Where the dirt comes from matters too. Say a low corner needs 20 cubic yards to come up level. Buy that as fill and the dirt alone is $100 to $600, before anyone spreads it. Cut it from a high side of the same lot and moving it runs $20 to $300.
To size a low spot, multiply length by width by depth in feet, then divide by 27. A 1,000 square foot area raised 6 inches takes about 19 cubic yards. When the lot comes up short, our fill dirt cost guide covers per yard and per load pricing.
How much should a yard slope away from the house?
Grading around a house has one job: move rainwater away from the foundation. Department of Energy building guidance sets a minimum for it. Slope the final grade away from the house at least half an inch per foot for 10 feet. That is about 5 inches of drop between the wall and the 10 foot mark.
The same guidance says to pack the soil so it does not settle later. Loose dirt sinks, and a yard that sinks next to the slab starts tipping water back toward it.
For a new house, the building code sets the number the plans must meet. In Tangipahoa, the parish building permit process includes a plan review by the Permit Office. Ask the office that permits your lot before the final grade goes down.
HomeAdvisor puts regrading around a whole foundation at $1,000 to $3,000. Regrading a driveway runs $1,500 to $9,500 in the same guide. A rutted drive that needs new rock is its own job, covered on our gravel driveway page.
What pushes land grading cost up around Hammond?
Flat ground is the first thing. Water has little fall to follow here, so the fall has to be built into the dirt.
Rain is the second. Hammond averages 64.2 inches of precipitation a year, spread over about 116 days. Wet dirt slows a machine, and a soaked lot can stop a grading job for days.
In August 2016, the National Weather Service recorded 20 to 30 inches of rain over parts of Southeast Louisiana. Tangipahoa was one of the parishes hit hardest. Grading will not hold back a flood like that, but it decides where everyday rain goes.
The rest of the money goes here:
- Dirt volume. More cubic yards moved means more machine hours.
- The outlet. The fall has to end somewhere, like a road ditch or a low corner. A far outlet means a longer run of shaped ground.
- Soft ground. Muck that will not pack has to come out. Hauling it away runs $8 to $25 per cubic yard.
- Clearing. Brush and trees come off first, published at $1,300 to $5,700.
- Access. A narrow gate or a tight back yard calls for a smaller machine and more hours.
- Testing. Where fill goes under a slab, a builder may want a soil compaction test, $100 to $125 per test location.
Do you need a permit to grade land in Louisiana?
In a mapped flood zone, plan on it. Federal rules count filling, grading and excavation as development. LSU AgCenter states that all development in a special flood hazard area requires a permit. Its list of development includes contouring the land, which is grading.
Tangipahoa Parish does flood determinations through its Permit Office. The Hammond office is at (985) 542-2117. The floodplain administrator is at (985) 340-9028. Call before any lot grading starts, since the answer depends on where your lot sits.
St. Tammany Parish reads the same for Covington, Mandeville and Slidell. All development in the floodplain requires a permit, earthwork included. Fill or dig without one and you may have to put the land back at your own cost.
The national guides put permit fees at $100 to $500. Parish fees are set locally, so ask the office.
Utilities get located before any machine digs. Louisiana law requires notice to the regional notification center at least 48 hours ahead. The same law caps it at 120 hours, weekends and holidays excluded. Locate requests are free at 811 or 1-800-272-3020.
Where does a house pad fit in?
Building up ground for a new slab or a mobile home is pad work, and it is its own bill. Our house pad cost guide covers those numbers. The site preparation page covers how that work runs.
How do you get a real number for your lot?
Send us the address and a few photos of where the water stands after a rain. We will look at the ground and give you a free estimate on the land grading work. We sell and haul fill dirt too, so the dirt and the grading land on one bill. Call or text (985) 500-4145, or send the form on our contact page.
Sources used for the ranges above: HomeAdvisor, Fixr, Bob Vila, OWNR OPS, the U.S. Department of Energy, 44 CFR 59.1, LSU AgCenter, the Tangipahoa and St. Tammany parish pages, the National Weather Service, NOAA normals via Current Results, Louisiana R.S. 40:1749.13 and Louisiana 811.