What it costs to dump in Ohio: 2026 landfill fees by city
Every scale house in Ohio has a price on the sign, and in most of them the sign isn't the whole price. The state charges $4.75 on every ton of trash that goes into the ground, and your county's solid waste district adds its own fee on top. Some sites fold all of that into the number they post. Others add it at the scale, after you've already driven out. So the first thing to ask at an Ohio gate isn't “what's your rate?” — it's “is that the all-in rate?”
2026 cost to dump in Ohio, city by city
| Where you are | Residents pay | Standard rate | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus — SWACO | $39.75/ton at the Franklin County Landfill; $5 minimum | $43.75/ton for waste from outside the district | Residents may not use either SWACO transfer station — landfill only. Untarped loads pay $25. Cards carry a 3% fee |
| Dayton Montgomery County | $30.50/ton + $4.75 Ohio EPA + $3.65 general fees ≈ $38.90 | $55/ton plus fees for waste from neighboring counties | Yard waste free for residents, plus 10 free tires a year. Construction debris is $60/ton plus fees. Cards carry a 2.3% fee |
| Toledo — Hoffman Rd | $16 a cubic yard, up to $80 for five; three free disposal days a year for Lucas County residents | Priced by volume, not weight. The City also collects up to 5 bulk items (under 40 lbs each) at the curb every week | Cash only. Rounded to the nearest cubic yard, so half a yard costs a full $16. No yard waste, electronics or anything holding Freon |
| Cleveland | Free, four drop-offs a year at Ridge Road (4 cubic yards each), plus 3 curbside bulk items a month | Residents only — no public city gate | Ridge Road takes trash on Saturdays only, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The City takes no construction debris at all |
| Akron | Free weekly curbside bulk pickup | No public drop-off rate | The curb covers furniture and mattresses. The City's contracted WM transfer station takes dump trailers and roll-offs only, no hand unloading. Hazardous waste goes to Summit ReWorks, Thursdays in season (June–September) |
| Cincinnati | No published rate | Rumpke Sanitary Landfill doesn't publish one — call (800) 828-8171 | Landfill open weekdays 8–4:30 and Saturday 8–11:30. No appliances with refrigerant. City customers can schedule curbside pickup of up to 5 bulk items through 311 |
| Canton | No published rate | American Landfill (WM) doesn't publish one — call (330) 866-3265. Citizen drop-off weekdays 7–4:30, Saturday 6:30–noon | Appliances, electronics and up to 10 tires a year go to the Canton Recycle Center instead — by appointment, Tuesdays and Fridays only |
| Bowling Green Wood County | $47.38/ton all-in (November 2026): $32.30 base + 25% fuel surcharge + $7.00 local fees | $18.75 minimum, up to 760 lbs | The fuel surcharge is reset every month. Cash unless you hold an account. Mattresses and appliances add $12.50 each |
| Findlay Hancock County | $41.75/ton, fees included | $20 minimum covers up to 1,000 lbs | $15 extra per mattress, box spring or sleeper sofa. Uncovered loads pay $25. No brush or yard waste |
| Sandusky Erie County | $52.00/ton all-in | Small vehicles: $10 up to 400 lbs, $20 up to 800 lbs | Untarped loads pay $10 more. Freon appliances $20 each; mattresses $10 each |
| Defiance County | By truck bed: $7 a car trunk, $14 a minivan or small pickup, $21 a full-size pickup | Charged by bed volume, full or not | Untarped loads pay $20 more. Clean fill dirt, concrete, asphalt and stone are free if kept separate |
Rates verified from each operator's own published fee schedule, September 2026. “No published rate” means the operator doesn't post one — we won't quote a figure from a listings site. Tires, appliances and construction debris are usually billed separately from household trash. Confirm with the facility before a big load.
Find a landfill near you
Enter your city or ZIP for the nearest disposal sites, then open your city's page for its exact hours, fees and what it accepts.
In Ohio, the posted rate is rarely the whole price
Ohio law puts a $4.75 fee on every ton of solid waste disposed in the state, collected at landfills and transfer stations alike. On top of that, your solid waste district adds its own fee — anywhere from nothing to about $10 a ton depending on the county — and some host townships add a little more.
None of that is hidden, exactly. It's just presented differently at every gate:
- Itemized and totaled. Erie County lays it all out: a $41.00 tipping fee, $4.75 to Ohio EPA, $6.00 to the district and $0.25 to the host township — $52.00 a ton. That's the honest way to post a rate, and it's why Erie looks expensive next to sites that don't.
- Posted low, added at the scale. Montgomery County advertises $30.50 a ton, then adds the $4.75 state fee and $3.65 in general fees. You pay about $38.90 — roughly a quarter more than the sign.
- Posted low, and it moves. Wood County starts at a $32.30 base, multiplies it by a fuel surcharge that's reset every month (25% in November 2026), then adds $7.00 in local fees. The all-in rate is $47.38 — 47% above the base, and next month it may be different.
- Folded in. Hancock County quotes $41.75 a ton and says plainly that it includes the fees. What you're told is what you pay.
The practical rule: compare all-in numbers, never base rates. A $30.50 sign and a $41.75 sign are about $3 apart once the fees land, not $11.
Construction debris is the one place the stack works in your favor. The state fee on it is $1.60 a ton instead of $4.75, and several counties price it well below household trash — Erie charges $30 a ton for in-district construction debris against $52 for trash. The catch is that it has to be clean. Wood County says it outright: any construction load containing garbage is charged as solid waste. A few bags of kitchen trash on top of your drywall can turn a $30 load into a $52 one. Our construction debris guide covers the rest of Ohio's C&D rules.
Where your trash came from sets the price
Ohio's fees follow the waste, not the driver. A landfill charges one rate for trash generated inside its own district and a higher one for trash from anywhere else — and it asks where your load came from.
The Montgomery County transfer station in Moraine shows how big that gap can get. Waste from Montgomery County pays $30.50 a ton plus fees. Waste from Butler, Clark, Greene, Warren or any of the other surrounding counties it lists pays $55.00 a ton — plus that county's own district fee, which is $10 a ton for Greene County. A Greene County load works out to about $69.75 a ton, against roughly $38.90 for the same trash from across the line.
The gap is smaller elsewhere but just as real. The Franklin County Landfill charges $39.75 a ton inside SWACO's district and $43.75 outside it. So the nearest landfill isn't always the cheapest one if it sits in a different county. If you live near a county line, price the facility in your own county first.
The cheapest and most expensive places to dump in Ohio
Cheapest, if you qualify: not a landfill at all. Cleveland residents get four free drop-offs a year at the Ridge Road Transfer Station, up to 4 cubic yards each — about a full-size pickup filled to the height of the cab. Akron goes further and collects furniture, mattresses and other large items at the curb every week, free. If you live in either city, start there.
Cheapest gate for a small load: the Franklin County Landfill, where the minimum charge is just $5. Defiance County will take a car-trunk load for $7, and Erie County charges $10 for anything up to 400 pounds. Hancock County's $20 minimum covers up to 1,000 pounds, which is most of a pickup load of household junk.
Most expensive per ton: Erie County, at $52.00 all-in — though that's partly because Erie shows you every fee. Out-of-county trash at Montgomery County can run well past it, at around $70 a ton.
Most expensive small load: anything that trips a minimum it didn't need. Defiance County charges $21 for a full-size pickup bed whether it's full or not, and Wood County's $18.75 minimum covers up to 760 lbs. Flat and minimum pricing reward a heaped load and punish a light one, so if you're paying the minimum anyway, fill the vehicle.
The catches that cost people money
The rate is rarely the only charge. These are the ones that catch people out in Ohio:
- Tarp it or pay for it. Uncovered loads cost extra almost everywhere: $25 at the Franklin County Landfill and in Hancock County, $20 in Defiance County, $10 in Erie County. The Franklin County scale house sells tarps for $10 or $15, which is still cheaper than the fine.
- Cash only. Toledo's Hoffman Road Landfill takes no cards and no checks. Wood County is cash too, unless you have an approved account. Where cards are taken, they can cost you: 3% at SWACO sites and 2.3% at Montgomery County.
- You pay for space you don't use. Toledo rounds to the nearest cubic yard with a $16 minimum, so half a yard costs a full $16. Defiance County charges by the size of your truck bed whether it's full or not. If you're close to the line, fill the load rather than making two trips.
- The site you drive to may not be for you. Columbus residents are barred from both SWACO transfer stations — only the landfill is open to the public. Cleveland's Ridge Road station is residents-only and takes trash on Saturdays only; on weekdays it's recycling.
- Mattresses and couches cost extra. On top of the weight charge: $10 each in Erie County, $12.50 in Wood County, $15 per mattress, box spring or sleeper sofa in Hancock County.
- Freon has a price. A fridge, freezer or air conditioner needs its refrigerant recovered first: $20 each in Erie County, a $30 evacuation fee in Wood County. Our appliance guide covers cheaper routes.
What Ohio landfills can't take at any price
Ohio's landfill rule (Ohio Administrative Code 3745-535-620) lists what no licensed landfill may accept. The ones a household is likely to run into:
- Scrap tires, whole or shredded. They go to a tire recovery program instead. Montgomery and Stark counties each take 10 free a year from residents; beyond that, Montgomery charges $280 a ton. See our tire disposal guide.
- Yard waste collected on its own — grass, leaves, brush. It goes to a compost site, and Montgomery County takes it free from residents.
- Liquids and hazardous waste, including paint, solvents and chemicals. These go to a household hazardous waste collection; see our paint disposal guide.
- Lead-acid batteries are banned by a separate state law (Ohio Revised Code 3734.911), and the store that sells you a new car battery has to take the old one back. See our battery guide.
What's not on the list matters just as much. Furniture, mattresses, appliances and electronics are all legal to landfill in Ohio. Hancock County, for one, accepts televisions of every type, including old tube sets. The one condition on appliances is federal rather than state: anything holding refrigerant has to have it recovered first, which is why fridges carry a fee.