Most residential excavation projects land between $1,658 and $6,707 total, according to Angi's 2026 pricing guide. The three ways you'll see it quoted: by the cubic yard ($10-$20 for standard soil), by the hour with operator ($100-$300), or as a lump sum for the whole dig. Pool and basement dig-outs typically run $3,000 to $8,000. What moves a job from the bottom of those ranges to the top is rarely the digging itself — it's the soil type, the haul-off, and what's in the way.
Per-yard pricing is the cleanest way to compare bids because it strips out equipment and mobilization. In normal soil — loam, clay, sand — contractors dig at $10 to $20 a cubic yard, and foundation work averages about $11.50. Rock changes everything: once a machine has to rip, hammer, or blast, per-yard costs jump to $40 and can pass $250 for hard rock. The table shows the 2026 landscape:
| Pricing basis | 2026 range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Soil, per cubic yard | $10–$20 | Depth, access, moisture |
| Foundation / basement dig, per yard | ~$11.50 avg | Basement depth, shoring |
| Rock excavation, per yard | $40–$250 | Hardness, blasting permits |
| Equipment + operator, per hour | $100–$300 | Machine size, region |
| Mini excavator rental (no operator) | $300–$400/day | Delivery to site extra |
| Full-size excavator rental | ~$719/day, $2,021/wk | Transport, insurance |
| Typical whole project | $1,658–$6,707 | Angi 2026, all project types |
Notice the gap between renting and hiring: a $350 day-rate mini looks cheap until you add trailer rental, fuel, a dumping destination, and your own two days of learning curve. The operator's $100-$300 an hour buys cycle-time efficiency and someone else's insurance certificate.
Medium projects — pool excavations and basement dig-outs — run $3,000 to $8,000. You can sanity-check any quote by breaking it into volume and trucking. The table below runs five common digs through the same math our excavation calculator uses: bank yards (the hole's volume ÷ 27), a 25% swell factor for common earth, 15-yard trucks at $150 a load:
| Project | Dimensions | Bank yd³ | Loose yd³ | Truck loads | Haul-off @ $150 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inground pool | 30 × 12 × 5 ft | 66.7 | 83.3 | 6 | $900 |
| Basement dig | 24 × 36 × 8 ft | 256 | 320 | 22 | $3,300 |
| Footing trench | 100 LF × 2 × 3 ft | 22.2 | 27.8 | 2 | $300 |
| Utility trench | 40 × 1.5 × 2 ft | 4.4 | 5.6 | 1 | $150 |
| Grading cut | 20 × 20 × 1 ft | 14.8 | 18.5 | 2 | $300 |
Now stack the pieces for that pool: 67 yards of digging at $10-$20 is $670-$1,340, plus $900 of trucking, plus machine mobilization (often $200-$500) — which is exactly how a $3,000 quote on a small pool makes sense and why the same hole in rock quotes at $8,000. The basement row shows why per-yard rates matter more as jobs grow: 256 yards dwarfs every fixed cost on the invoice.
Two properties of the dirt itself drive the bill. Swell — how much volume soil gains when dug — runs 20-25% for loam and topsoil, 25-35% for clay, and 50-70% for blasted rock. More swell means more loose yards, which means more trucks; rock's 70% swell turns one bank yard into 1.7 loose yards before it even leaves the site. Weight is the second: mixed loose soil runs about 2,400 lb a yard, but wet clay hits 3,200 lb, and overloaded trucks mean the same tonnage moves in more trips.
Moisture is the sleeper variable in every excavation contract. A dry clay pit at 2,200 lb/yd³ can jump past 3,000 after rain, saturated soil sticks to truck beds and effectively shrinks each load, and a wet access road can bog the haul route entirely. Experienced estimators add a weather contingency — haul while dry, or budget roughly one extra load per ten on wet ground.
The rental math works when the job is small, shallow, and open: a utility trench, a shed pad, stump holes. At $300-$400 a day for a mini (about $1,000-$1,300 a week), a weekend digger who already owns a trailer and has a free dumping spot can move 20 yards of soil for under $500 in materials-and-rental. Compare that to a $1,500 day-rate crew and the case makes itself.
Hire out anything that carries real risk. Trenches 5 feet deep or more trigger OSHA's protective-system rules — sloping, shoring, or a trench box — and trench collapse is still one of construction's deadliest events. Rock, groundwater, buried utilities (call 811 first, always), and septic or foundation work near an existing structure all justify the operator's rate. A pro also arrives with the haul-off priced, which DIYers routinely underestimate: those six pool trucks at $150 a load are $900 you'd otherwise arrange load by load.
Dimensions in, bank and loose yards, truck loads, tonnage, and haul-off cost out — with swell factors by soil type.
Excavation Calculator →Budget $10-$20 a yard for digging in normal soil, $100-$300 an hour for machine and operator, and never forget the trucks — haul-off alone can be a quarter of a pool dig's invoice. Typical projects finish between $1,658 and $6,707. Use the excavation calculator to turn your dimensions into yards and loads, then pair it with the concrete calculator for what fills the hole and the sonotube calculator if piers are part of the plan — our sonotube pier cost guide covers that stage in detail.
Standard soil excavation runs $10 to $20 per cubic yard, with foundation and basement digging averaging around $11.50 a yard. Rock is the budget-breaker: blasted rock excavation can run $40 to $250 per cubic yard depending on how hard it is to break and handle.
Equipment with an operator runs $100 to $300 an hour nationally, with most jobs quoted between $100 and $250. Mini excavators are cheaper to rent without an operator at $300 to $400 a day, and full-size machines average about $719 a day or $2,021 a week.
Pool and basement dig-outs typically run $3,000 to $8,000. A 30×12 foot pool dug 5 feet deep is about 67 cubic yards of soil, which at $10 to $20 a yard is $670 to $1,340 of digging plus haul-off: roughly 83 loose yards, 6 truck loads at $150 each, about $900 more.
Rock cannot be dug — it has to be hammered, ripped, or blasted first, and it swells 50 to 70 percent when broken instead of the 25 percent typical of soil, so the same hole produces far more truck loads. Combined with slower cycle times and specialized attachments, rock work can reach $250 per cubic yard.
Renting a mini at $300 to $400 a day wins on small, shallow, unobstructed digs where you have a weekend and a dumping plan. Hire out anything with a deadline, rock, groundwater, or a trench over 5 feet deep — OSHA requires sloping or a trench box at that depth, and pros price that risk in from the start.