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Last reviewed 2026-10-20

California Tree Removal Cost and Rules

In California, the permit often costs more planning than the cut. HomeGuide's February 2026 national figures put most removals at $400 to $1,200, but a protected oak, sycamore or 12-inch tree can add a County permit, an arborist report and replacement planting before the saw comes out, and most urban air districts ban burning the debris.

Fire and storms shape the work. FEMA's declarations data list 100 weather-related major disasters for California, including 39 floods, 27 fire declarations and 23 severe storms; the most recent covered the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires and straight-line winds.

Below are the rules Californians share. The Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa and Mono County pages go deeper into local permits, fees, soils and storms.

Cost at a glance

California tree removal cost at a glance
Item	Typical cost	Source
Typical single tree	$400-$1,200	HomeGuide, Feb 2026 (national)
Palm	$200-$1,200	HomeGuide, Feb 2026 (national)
Oak	$300-$2,500	HomeGuide, Feb 2026 (national)
Ventura County ministerial tree permit	$167	Ventura County Planning
San Mateo County protected tree removal permit	$670	San Mateo County Planning
LA County Oak Tree Permit, Type I (2025)	$1,847	LA County Planning

Permits

No state permit is needed to cut a tree on your own lot, but counties and cities protect many trees. Los Angeles County's Oak Tree Permit ordinance covers oaks the County code sizes at 8 inches or more in unincorporated areas, with a Type I permit priced at $1,847 in 2025. Ventura County protects oaks and sycamores of 9.5 inches girth or more and charges $167 for a ministerial permit for one tree. Santa Clara County's Division C16 sets a $5,000 civil penalty per protected tree removed without a permit, and San Mateo County charges about $670 for a protected tree removal permit.

Fire clearance is state law. Under Public Resources Code Section 4291, a home in a designated fire hazard area needs 100 feet of defensible space, so statewide, crews limb up and thin about as often as they fell whole trees.

Burning is mostly out in the cities. South Coast AQMD Rule 444 and the Bay Area Air District's Regulation 5 prohibit burning residential yard waste, and Ventura County APCD Rule 56 allows only agricultural and other permitted burns. In the Eastern Sierra, the Great Basin Unified APCD allows dry vegetation pile burns with a fire agency permit on permissive burn days.

Step 1: check whether your city or County protects the tree by species and size. Step 2: get the permit and any arborist report before cutting. Step 3: plan chipping or haul-off, since burning is banned in most urban areas. Step 4: compare itemized written bids. Step 5: call 811 before stump grinding.

Local conditions

Rock and slope along the coast ranges: NRCS soil survey data show bedrock within about 39 inches on 77.5% of the Eastern Santa Clara Area (CA646), 50.1% of the San Mateo Area (CA637) and 37.1% of the Ventura Area (CA674), with 15%-plus slopes on most of each; hillside trees often need rigging.

Oak woodland: the Forest Service's 2024 FIA evaluation puts western oak at 78.0% of Santa Clara County's forest land, 52.7% of Los Angeles County's and 27.4% of Ventura County's, which is why oak permits come up so often.

Mountain forest: the FIA count for Mono County, roughly 744,700 forested acres, is mostly pinyon/juniper, lodgepole and ponderosa pine, where snow load and wildfire drive the work.

Winter storms and wind: Santa Ana gusts in the south and atmospheric-river storms in the north bring down eucalyptus, pine and oak most winters.

What drives local prices

Species: across HomeGuide's chart, palms are cheapest ($200-$1,200), pines next ($250-$1,600), and oaks the widest range ($300-$2,500).
Height: eucalyptus, redwoods and Jeffrey pines grow past 60 ft all over the state; HomeGuide's 60-80 ft row is $850-$2,000.
Permits: County permits run from $167 (Ventura ministerial) to $1,847 (LA County Type I oak permit, 2025), before arborist reports.
Access: canyon lots and crane days add up fast at HomeGuide's $100-$400+ hourly crew rate, and grinding a stump is another $100-$500+.
Fire-zone parcels: whole-lot brush work is bid per acre; HomeGuide's acre range runs $1,200-$8,000.
Method: species, height, hourly, stump and acreage figures are HomeGuide national ranges (Feb 4, 2026); permit rules from Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties; burning from South Coast AQMD, the Bay Area Air District, Ventura County APCD and Great Basin Unified APCD; fire clearance from PRC 4291. These are not quotes from California crews. Reviewed October 19, 2026.

Common jobs

Oak and sycamore work under a County or city permit
Eucalyptus, pine and palm removal
Defensible-space thinning
Storm and snow damage cleanup

Service area

County pages on the site: Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Clarita, Pasadena), Ventura (Oxnard, Ventura, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley), Santa Clara (San Jose, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto), San Mateo (San Mateo, Redwood City, Half Moon Bay), Contra Costa (Walnut Creek, Concord, San Ramon) and Mono (Mammoth Lakes, June Lake, Bridgeport). Los Angeles borders Ventura, and Santa Clara borders San Mateo.

If your county isn't listed, ask your county Planning office about protected trees, your air district's Air Quality office about burning, and your local Fire agency about defensible space.

Want a price for a California tree? Fill out the free form below with species, height and what's underneath. Answers go out by email; anything touching a power line is for Electric Utilities crews.

Communities: Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Clarita, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, San Jose, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Redwood City, Mammoth Lakes

When something can’t wait

Whether it's SCE, PG&E or a city utility, the line owner (or 911) gets the first call when a tree hits wires. Expect storm pricing of 2 to 3 times normal (HomeGuide); for a damaged protected tree, ask your county about emergency exemptions before or right after removal.

Questions about California

How much does tree removal cost in California?

HomeGuide's 2026 survey puts an ordinary tree at $400 to $1,200; permits, cranes and slopes push past that.

Do I need a permit to remove a tree in California?

Not from the state, but many counties and cities protect oaks, sycamores, redwoods and trees over a set trunk size.

Can I burn tree debris?

Not in most urban areas: South Coast AQMD and the Bay Area Air District prohibit burning residential yard waste.

How much defensible space do I need?

100 feet around structures in designated fire hazard areas, under PRC 4291.

Which county pages border each other?

Los Angeles and Ventura share a border, as do Santa Clara and San Mateo.

Sources

County pages in California

Tree problems

Local fees and rules change. Confirm with the county or state office named above before you clear. For published price ranges, see land clearing cost per acre or follow the worked estimate. Estimate your clearing cost.