How much does tree removal cost in Tennessee?

Published 2026 cost guides put a typical tree removal at $400 to $1,200. HomeGuide puts a small, easy tree near $200 and a complex removal at $3,000. Around Chattanooga, the cost site homeyou lists $492 to $671 for one medium tree.

Those are market numbers pulled from cost guides, not our price list. Tree work gets priced off the tree and the ground around it. A 25 foot pine in an open side yard and an 80 foot oak over a driveway are different jobs. Use the ranges below to build a budget.

What drives the price of taking a tree down?

Height sets the starting point. Risk and access move it from there. A crew is pricing time on site, gear, and how carefully the tree has to come apart. HomeGuide notes that trunks over 24 inches across cost much more to cut than smaller ones.

Five things move the number most on a Hamilton County lot.

• Height and trunk diameter. Every guide sorts price by height first. Thick trunks slow the cutting down.
• Where the tree can fall. Open ground means it can be dropped in one piece. A tree over a roof has to come down in sections on ropes.
• Access for equipment. Angi puts the premium for a tight or hard to reach spot at 25% to 50%. LawnStarter says an inaccessible tree can raise the bill up to 50%.
• Species and wood. HomeGuide lists oak at $300 to $2,500 and palm at $200 to $1,200. Dense wood and heavy limbs take longer.
• What happens to the wood. Hauling everything off costs more than leaving the rounds stacked.

Our small tree and shrub removal service covers small trees, shrubs, and brushy tree lines. The work stays in the open parts of a property. Big removals against a house are a different trade.

What does tree removal cost by tree size?

Three national cost guides sort tree removal by height, and all three use the same brackets. Here is where the published numbers sit.

Sources: the HomeGuide (February 2026), Angi (July 2026), and LawnStarter (December 2025) tree removal cost guides.

Fixr cuts the brackets differently. It puts a small tree up to 30 feet at $150 to $400. A 30 to 60 foot tree runs $450 to $700. Its overall range is $400 to $1,100.

Tennessee companies often publish higher planning ranges than the national guides. Prees Trees, a Tennessee tree service, lists $250 to $800 for a small removal. A large one runs $1,500 to $3,800. It calls those planning ranges, not guaranteed prices.

What do the add-ons cost?

The base price usually covers dropping the tree and cutting it up. The extras are where a quote grows.

Stumps run a little higher in the Tennessee numbers. Prees Trees puts typical residential stump grinding at $150 to $500. Our post on what stump grinding costs in Tennessee breaks that out by stump diameter.

Why do two quotes on the same tree come back so far apart?

Because the two quotes rarely cover the same work. One price includes hauling every stick off the property and grinding the stump. The next drops the tree and leaves the wood in the yard. Read what each quote includes before you compare the totals.

Timing moves it too. HomeGuide says prices run 10% to 20% higher in summer and fall, when demand peaks. They ease off in winter and early spring. Crews also cut per tree cost by 10% to 25% when several trees come down in one visit.

Prees Trees lists the usual reasons a quote lands far under the rest. No debris hauling. Minimal rigging and property protection. A drop and leave approach near targets. No stump work. A company that carries no insurance. A low number is worth asking about.

Do you need a permit to remove a tree in Tennessee?

For a tree on your own residential lot, usually not. The Tennessee Division of Forestry states there are no laws and regulations on timber cutting in the state. The rules that do apply come from your city.

Inside Chattanooga, the rewritten tree ordinance passed in April 2025 as Ordinance No. 14217. Its tree removal article does not apply to any parcel currently used as a single-unit or two-unit dwelling. The city’s own announcement said the ordinance does not prohibit homeowners from removing trees on private property, including backyards.

Three exceptions apply.

• City trees and right of way trees. Chattanooga Urban Forestry says the tree ordinance bars removing or disturbing any public tree without a permit. A Tree Ordinance Permit covers removal, planting, or root zone work on City property.
• Clearing an acre or more inside city limits. The city’s Timber Removal Permit covers commercial timber harvests inside city limits. It applies to sites of one acre or more. The trigger is 5,000 square feet of canopy removed within a year. It runs $250 per acre.
• Towns write their own rules. Signal Mountain’s code bars cutting or removing any tree on town property or in town rights of way. That takes the town manager’s approval. Soddy-Daisy’s code carries no removal permit at all. Its tree rules cover limbs hanging over a street below 14 feet and anything blocking the view at an intersection.

Ordinances change, and much of Hamilton County sits outside any city limits. A Hixson or Ooltewah address can sit on either side of the Chattanooga line. Call your city or the county before you cut a tree near a street, a sidewalk, or a property line.

When does a job need an arborist or a crane crew?

When the tree can hit something. A tree leaning over a roof needs climbers and rigging. So does one hemmed in by a fence with no drop space, or growing near a power line. Sometimes the job needs a crane. Angi puts crane service at $250 to $600 a day.

Power lines have their own answer here. EPB says it will remove a tree growing directly under its power lines at no charge. It cuts the tree down, grinds the smaller limbs, and cuts the logs into fireplace lengths. The service line running from the transformer pole to the house is the property owner’s responsibility. EPB will lower that line for your tree contractor and reinstall it at no charge.

Three Crosses Land Services takes down small and mid-size trees, overgrown ornamentals, and brushy tree lines. The work happens in the open parts of a property. We grind the stumps and haul the debris off. A tree against a house, over a roof, or near a line goes to an arborist or a crane crew. Tree and shrub work on open ground is what our mini skid steer and stump grinder are built for.

What happens to the wood and the limbs?

You pick. Crews will haul all of it, chip the limbs into mulch, or cut the trunk into rounds for firewood. LawnStarter puts hauling at $50 to $90 and chipping at $65 to $125. Angi lists about $70 to haul the wood, $95 to chip it, and $70 to split it.

Leaving the rounds saves money and leaves you a pile to deal with. Say the limbs and brush are already down and you want them gone. Hauling the yard waste off with a dump trailer is its own job. The stump is separate again. Stump grinding takes it below grade so you can mow over the spot.

Getting a real number for your property

Cost guides give you a range. The tree gives you a price. A free estimate puts someone under the tree to look at the drop space and the access. The number comes from what is actually there.

Three Crosses Land Services is a veteran-owned family business based just north of Chattanooga, TN. We are licensed and insured, and we cover Chattanooga, Southeast Tennessee, and Northwest Georgia. For small and mid-size tree removal on your lot, call or text (423) 260-5675 and we will set up the estimate.