Four guides, four averages
| Guide | Average | Typical range | Date the guide shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angi | $750 | $200 to $2,000 or more; short trees closer to $150, tall trees up to $10,000 | Titled "2025 Data"; no update date |
| Thumbtack | $985 | $1,072 for a tree and its stump | Updated Oct 23, 2026 |
| HomeGuide | $1,150 | $300 to $2,000; $150 minimum, $6,000 maximum | None shown |
| Forbes Home | $1,200 | $400 to over $2,000 | Audited and verified Oct 1, 2024 |
All four checked Nov 11, 2026. National figures; none is a Louisiana or Denham Springs price.
Why they differ: each guide draws on different jobs and prices them differently. Treat the spread as the honest answer. A small tree in an open front yard sits near the bottom, and a big oak over a house sits well above the averages.
Removal by height
Each guide uses its own height bands, so the rows don't line up exactly (all checked Nov 11, 2026):
| Tree height | HomeGuide | Angi | Forbes Home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 30 ft | $150 – $500 | $150 – $450 | $200 – $500 |
| 30 to 60 ft | $300 – $1,000 | $450 – $1,200 | $500 – $900 (30–50 ft) |
| 60 to 80 ft | $650 – $2,000 | $800 – $1,500 | $900 – $1,200 (50–80 ft) |
| Over 80 ft | $1,200 – $2,700 | $1,000 – $2,000 | $1,200 – $2,000 |
Thumbtack's Baton Rouge page gives these ranges without saying whether they're local or national: under $150 up to more than $450 for small trees, $150 to $850-plus between 30 and 60 feet, and $500 to over $1,000 between 60 and 80 feet (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Oaks and pines
| Tree | HomeGuide | Forbes Home |
|---|---|---|
| Oak, average | $250 – $2,500 | $700 – $2,000 |
| Mature oak | $3,000 – $6,000 | Not listed |
| Pine, average | $200 – $1,600 | $250 – $2,500 |
| Pine 100 ft or taller | $2,000 – $3,000 | Not listed |
Checked Nov 11, 2026.
The mature-oak line is the one to read for a wide live oak or an old water oak beside the house. A live oak's long limbs come off one at a time, and a hollow water oak may need rigging or a crane because rotten wood is hard to predict (see the water oak guide).
Cranes, storms, stumps and hauling
| Add-on | What the guides say |
|---|---|
| Crane | HomeGuide: $500 – $2,500 a day extra. Forbes Home: $250 – $600 a day extra. Angi: about $500 including the truck rental and extra staff, with difficult jobs around $6,000 – $7,000 in total. |
| Emergency or storm work | HomeGuide: $150 – $250 an hour. Thumbtack: sometimes as high as $250 an hour. Forbes Home: about $2,500 for urgent removal. Angi: as much as $5,000 in an urgent situation. |
| Stump grinding | HomeGuide: $120 – $400 for the first stump, $30 – $60 for each additional. Angi: $100 – $150 first, about $50 each after. Forbes Home: about $300 – $400. |
| Hauling | HomeGuide: $75 – $250 per dump trip, plus dump-site charges of $30 – $100 per ton. |
| Wood chipping | HomeGuide: $100 – $150 |
| Splitting logs for firewood | HomeGuide: $50 – $100 |
| Root removal | HomeGuide: $75 – $150 an hour |
All national, checked Nov 11, 2026. Grinding by stump width is on the stump grinding page.
Trimming, for comparison
HomeGuide's average trim runs $400 to $900 a tree, with small trees as low as about $80 and big ones $2,500 and up. By height, it lists $250 to $700 for trees to 30 feet, $600 to $1,200 between 30 and 60, and $1,000 to $2,500-plus beyond 60. Thumbtack gives a national trimming range of $270 to $450 (both checked Nov 11, 2026). For a sound live oak over the roof, a trim may be the cheaper and better answer; see tree trimming.
What moves the price on a Livingston Parish lot
- Spread over the house. A live oak's limbs can reach far past the roofline. Every limb over a roof or carport is cut and lowered rather than dropped.
- Rot. Clemson Extension writers quoted by LSU AgCenter say water oak trunks often rot by age 50 (checked Nov 12, 2026). Decay makes climbing and felling less predictable and can bring in a crane.
- Wet ground. The parish's Colyell and Satsuma soils hold a perched water table 1 to 2.5 feet down from December through April (USDA). Soft lawns can mean mats, smaller machines or waiting for dry weather.
- Power lines. Any work closer than 10 feet to a high-voltage line has to wait for at least 48 hours' notice to the line's owner and agreed safety measures (La. R.S. 45:143). The service wire may need to be disconnected first.
- The road in front. A tree in a state highway right-of-way needs DOTD's vegetation permit, signed by the property owner or lessee, with traffic control.
- Hauling. Waste Pro in Denham Springs won't take debris a contractor generates, and Walker's flyer says Waste Management won't collect tree-service debris (checked Nov 11, 2026). On parish land, it depends on your hauler. Plan on paying for removal of the wood.
- After a storm. Once an emergency is declared, Louisiana's price-gouging law (La. R.S. 29:732) limits prices to what's ordinarily charged in the area, with exceptions for real cost increases.
Worked example: a 70-foot oak over a carport
Picture a 70-foot oak, hollow at the base, with limbs over a carport, on a lot where the pieces have to be lifted out. Using only HomeGuide's national figures (checked Nov 11, 2026):
- Removal of a 60- to 80-foot tree: $650 to $2,000
- A crane for the day: $500 to $2,500
- Grinding the stump: $120 to $400
- One or two dump trips: $75 to $500
Added up, that's about $1,345 to $5,400, and HomeGuide's separate line for a mature oak, $3,000 to $6,000, lands in the same territory. The arithmetic only shows how the pieces stack; it isn't a local price. The contractor who sees the tree sets the real one.
Government charges you might run into
- Denham Springs tree removal permit (clearing an acre or more, or development): a $50 application fee, included in building permit fees. Removing a tree without a required permit: $150 a day per tree (city's posted ordinance, checked Nov 11, 2026).
- Denham Springs fire department permits: $50, per its permit form (checked Nov 11, 2026). Ask before burning inside the city.
- Cutting a neighbor's tree without consent: three times the tree's fair market value under La. R.S. 3:4278.1, plus attorney fees for a willful cutter.
The rules behind these are on the rules page.
When homeowner insurance comes in
If a storm drops a tree on your house, your own homeowner's policy is the first call. Ask your insurer what it pays toward removing and hauling a fallen tree, and keep the contractor's itemized bill. If your policy has a separate hurricane or named-storm deductible, Louisiana law (La. R.S. 22:1337) applies it once per calendar year across named-storm losses, so a second storm that year may cost you less out of pocket (FindLaw copy, checked Nov 11, 2026). More on the storm page.
Put these in the written price
- Each tree by where it stands, and the plan for it: take down, trim or keep.
- The method for each one, and what keeps the roof, carport, fence and lawn safe.
- Whether the stump is ground, how deep, and who requests the Louisiana 811 locate.
- What happens to the logs, limbs and chips, and whether hauling is included.
- Who contacts DEMCO or Entergy if a line is involved.
- When payment is due, and any deposit.
Price questions answered
Why does one big oak cost more than three small trees?
Height, spread and what's underneath drive labor. A big oak over a roof is taken apart in pieces, sometimes with a crane, while small trees in the open can be dropped whole.
Is it cheaper to keep the wood?
Often. HomeGuide prices dump trips at $75 to $250 each, so leaving stacked rounds or chips on the property can reduce the bill.
Are these prices for Louisiana?
No. All four guides publish national figures. No Denham Springs or Baton Rouge price list was found for this site.
Does it cost more to remove a tree in winter?
The guides don't price by season. Locally, soft winter ground can slow a job or call for mats, which the contractor may build into the price.
For a price on your own tree, send a request. A single independent contractor working in Livingston Parish receives it.
Where this comes from
- HomeGuide, tree removal cost, tree trimming cost and stump grinding cost (no update dates shown). Checked Nov 11, 2026.
- Angi, How much does tree removal cost? (2025 data). Checked Nov 11, 2026.
- Forbes Home, tree removal cost (audited and verified Oct 1, 2024). Checked Nov 11, 2026.
- Thumbtack, tree removal cost guide (updated Oct 23, 2026) and Baton Rouge tree removal (removal ranges not labeled local or national; trimming range labeled national). Checked Nov 12, 2026.
- LSU AgCenter, Water Oak Warning; USDA soil series, Colyell and Satsuma; Waste Pro, Denham Springs; City of Walker, city flyer. Checked Nov 11, 2026.
- City of Denham Springs, Landscape Ordinance and fire department Various Permits; DOTD, Vegetation Maintenance Permit; La. R.S. 45:143, 29:732, 22:1337 and 3:4278.1 (FindLaw copies). Checked Nov 11, 2026.