How Much Does Junk Removal
Cost in DC?

The short answer

Most DMV households spend somewhere between $75 and $350 on a single-item or few-item pickup, and between $325 and $985 on a basement, garage, estate or move-out clear that fills part of a truck. The number depends on what you have, not on how long the crew is there or how many stairs are involved — labor, the drive, the stair-carry and the disposal are all inside the flat price. You get that number from a photo, before anyone drives out.

Sofas, chairs and sectionals

Upholstered seating prices by what it actually is — a futon and a reclining sofa are not the same job. Sectionals climb by piece count:

Mattresses and box springs

Tables, dressers and case goods

Appliances

Anything with refrigerant — fridges, freezers, wine coolers, window and portable AC units — needs EPA-certified recovery before disposal, and that's already in the price:

Electronics

Exercise equipment

The pandemic home-gym era left a lot of this in DMV basements and 12th-floor condos. Both are the same flat price:

Heavy and specialty items

These are the jobs that need extra hands, dollies and sometimes disassembly — and they're the ones where a volume-priced hauler is most likely to revise the number on arrival. Ours don't move:

Bags, piles and debris

Renovation and construction debris is worth flagging: DC DPW bulk trash won't take it at all, so it's a paid haul no matter who does it.

Truck-fill — all seven tiers

Once it's a room, a basement or a whole home, volume is the cheaper way to price it. Every rung of the ladder, published:

Whole-home and estate jobs may take more than one truck; each additional truck prices on the same ladder.

Storage units

Stopped paying rent on a unit in Rockville, Alexandria or Northeast DC? Storage clears are priced by unit size, contents and all:

$75 minimum for any pickup. Loading, stair-carry and disposal always included.

What the other DMV haulers charge

Worth knowing before you decide anything, because the comparison isn't apples to apples. Per HomeGuide's 2026 pricing research:

• 1-800-GOT-JUNK? — roughly $100–$150 for a 1/8-truck minimum, about $400–$600 for a half truck, and $700–$1,000 for a full truck.
• College HUNKS Hauling Junk — from around $150, with half loads $350–$500 and full loads $600–$800+.
• Junk King — about $600 and up for a full truckload.

All three price by volume, and all three require an on-site or phone estimate before you have a firm number — the price is confirmed when the truck is already parked outside your building. 123JUNK, the DMV's strongest regional local (17-plus years, based in Chantilly, covering DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia), deserves credit for publishing transparent truck-space pricing with labor, fuel and disposal included and no weight or time charges — but it's still a volume model, and you still need an estimate to know your exact number.

That's the contrast, stated precisely: they price the space your stuff occupies in a truck, after seeing it. We price the items themselves, from a photo, before we come. If you have one sofa, a volume model has to round you up to a fraction of a truck; a flat per-item price doesn't.

Why disposal costs what it does in the DMV

Here's the part nobody else writes down, and it explains most of the price. Getting rid of the stuff isn't free for the hauler either — the DMV has some of the more expensive tipping in the country.

Fairfax County charges commercial haulers about $90 per ton to tip at the I-66 Transfer Station and the I-95 Landfill and Energy Recovery Complex in FY2026 (Fairfax County DPWES). On the Maryland side, Montgomery County's Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station in Derwood/Rockville and Prince George's Brown Station Road Landfill in Upper Marlboro both charge collectors by the ton as well.

A sofa and a mattress together can run a couple of hundred pounds; a packed basement is measured in tons. That tipping fee, plus fuel, plus the Beltway drive time, plus insured labor, is what sits underneath every number on this page — and it's already included, not added later. It's also the honest reason "I'll just rent a truck" saves less than people expect: after the rental, the fuel, the deposit, a helper and the scale fee, a Saturday of your own labor is frequently a wash.

5 ways to get rid of junk in the DMV, and what each really costs

Will the city take it for free instead?

Sometimes — and if it will, you should let it. But the rules are different in all three jurisdictions, and one of them has a hole big enough to matter.

District of Columbia. DC DPW runs free Bulk Trash Collection, requested through 311 or dpw.dc.gov. It serves single-family homes and buildings of three units or fewer, allows up to 7 items per appointment, is curbside-only, and does not accept renovation or construction and demolition debris. And critically: condos, co-ops and apartment buildings of four or more units are excluded — District rules require those residents to have bulk items removed by a private, licensed hauler. If you live in a Navy Yard, NoMa, West End, Wharf or downtown condo, the free option is not slow for you, it simply doesn't exist.

Maryland. Montgomery County and Prince George's County each run their own scheduled or on-call bulk program, each with its own item cap and its own exclusion list. Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, Takoma Park and Potomac follow one set of rules; College Park, Hyattsville and Langley Park another. Check your county before you plan around it.

Virginia. Arlington County, the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County likewise each set their own caps and exclusions, and each serves only the households on its own collection route — many McLean, Vienna, Great Falls and Falls Church addresses are on private trash contracts and aren't covered at all.

Anything over the cap, off the schedule, made of renovation debris, or sitting in a fourth-floor condo is a paid haul no matter who does it. That's where these prices come in.

The one thing that changes: sales tax

This is where the DC area is unusual — the same job costs differently depending on which side of a border you're on:

• District of Columbia — the service carries a 6.5% sales tax, added to your quote. A $170 sofa becomes about $181 with tax.
• Maryland (Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, Potomac, Takoma Park, Chevy Chase, Langley Park) — no sales tax on the service. The quote is the price.
• Virginia (Arlington, Alexandria, McLean, Tysons, Falls Church) — no sales tax on the service. The quote is the price.

Wherever you are, we show the tax line (or the lack of one) up front — no surprises at the curb.

What's included in every price

• Labor — we carry it out; you don't lift anything.
• Stair-carry & walk-ups — rowhouse basements and no-elevator walk-ups included.
• High-rise access — Certificate of Insurance filed 48–72 hours ahead naming your building's management, freight elevator and dock window booked, no high-rise surcharge.
• Disposal & donation routing — usable items donated, the rest disposed responsibly.
• Broom-clean finish — the space swept before we go.

What happens to it after pickup

Usable furniture goes to donation first — Goodwill of Greater Washington, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, which furnishes homes for families leaving homelessness and issues donation documentation. Metal frames, shelving and appliance shells go to scrap. Electronics go to the county e-waste programs DC, Montgomery, Prince George's, Arlington and Fairfax all run. Refrigerators, freezers, wine coolers and AC units get EPA-certified refrigerant recovery first. Only what's genuinely finished goes to the transfer station — and that's the part you're paying the per-ton fee on.

When people come looking for a price

• Before a move — sorting what's worth paying movers to carry, especially in a summer PCS relocation.
• May university move-out — UMD, Georgetown, GWU, Howard, American and Catholic households clearing mattresses, futons and desks on a deadline.
• Listing a home — the basement has to be empty before the photographer arrives.
• Estate and downsizing — an executor pricing a whole-home clear against the estate-sale calendar.
• Condo turnover — a landlord or manager budgeting the flip between tenants.
• A single stubborn item — the fridge, the hot tub, the piano nobody else will touch.

Why the price you're quoted is the price you pay

• Per item, not per truck fraction. One sofa costs sofa money, not a rounded-up eighth of a truck.
• Quoted from a photo. No estimator appointment, no negotiating with someone standing in your doorway.
• Disposal is inside the number. The DMV's per-ton tipping fees are ours to absorb, not a surprise line at the end.
• No access surcharges. Basement stairs, third-floor walk-ups, freight elevators and COIs are all included.
• Tax shown honestly. DC's 6.5% appears in the quote; Maryland and Virginia jobs have no service tax line at all.

Cost questions, answered

What's the cheapest possible job?

$75 — the minimum for any pickup, which covers labor, loading and disposal for a single small item or two.

How much to take a couch?

$170 flat for a standard sofa; $160 for a loveseat, $200 for a sleeper, $150 for a futon, and sectionals from $190 (2-piece) to $365 (5-piece).

Is per-item or truck-fill cheaper?

Whichever is lower for you — we quote both. A few pieces price better per item; a room's worth or more usually prices better on the truck-fill ladder starting at $325.

Does it cost more for a basement, a walk-up or a high-rise?

No. No stair fee, no high-rise surcharge, no charge for filing the COI or booking the freight elevator.

How does it compare to the franchises?

HomeGuide's 2026 research puts 1-800-GOT-JUNK at about $100–$150 minimum to $700–$1,000 full truck, College HUNKS from $150 to $600–$800+, and Junk King around $600+ for a full load — all volume-priced after an on-site estimate. Ours is per item, from a photo, before we drive out.

Why is DMV junk removal pricier than in a Sun Belt metro?

Mostly disposal. Fairfax County's commercial tipping runs ≈$90/ton in FY2026, and the Maryland facilities charge collectors per ton too. That's a real cost, and it's already inside the flat price.

Can I just use free city bulk pickup?

If you're in a DC single-family home or a ≤3-unit building, yes — 7 items per appointment, curbside, no renovation debris. If you're in a condo of four or more units, no: District rules require a private licensed hauler. MD and VA counties each run capped programs of their own.

Do I pay sales tax?

In DC, yes — 6.5% on the service, so a $170 sofa lands around $181. In Maryland and Virginia there's no sales tax on the service at all.

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