Short answer: in the Denver metro, clean fill dirt costs $15 per cubic yard delivered, screened topsoil $22 per cubic yard, and structural or select fill $25 per cubic yard. Delivery is included in all of those numbers — no separate haul fee, no fuel surcharge. The minimum order is 10 cubic yards, one tandem dump truck load. A 10-yard load of clean fill delivered anywhere in the Denver metro is $150.
Colorado runs about $5 per yard above our DFW pricing across every grade. That gap is hauling distance and Front Range material sourcing, not a markup on the customer. Below are the per-load tables, the volume tiers, the city breakdown, and a fully worked project so you can budget an actual job.
Colorado Fill Dirt Prices Per Cubic Yard (2026)
Every price below is the delivered price in the Denver metro.
| Material | Price Per Cubic Yard | What It Is | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Fill Dirt | $15/yd | Screened subsoil with rocks, roots, and debris removed | Grade raises, general backfill, low spots, basement backfill |
| Screened Topsoil | $22/yd | Dark, organic growing layer, screened to under 1 inch | Lawns, sod beds, gardens, the final 4–6 inches |
| Structural Fill | $25/yd | Low-clay engineered material that drains under load | Foundations, driveway subbase, building pads, retaining wall backfill |
| Select Fill | $25/yd | Tested material with a specified plasticity index | Engineered pads and inspected commercial work |
| Sand | $27/yd | Construction, masonry, or washed play sand | Paver base, pipe bedding, under-slab bedding, drainage layers |
| Gravel & Crushed Rock | $30/yd | Crushed granite, road base, pea gravel, #57 stone | Driveway surface, French drains, parking areas |
| Dirt Removal & Hauling | $20/yd | We haul your excavation spoils off site | Basement excavation, foundation dig-out, excess grading material |
The grade matters more in Colorado than it does in Texas, and not only for cost. High-clay fill that performs acceptably in DFW holds water along the Front Range, and water that freezes under a slab or driveway heaves it. Paying $25 instead of $15 for low-clay structural fill under anything load-bearing is not an upsell here — it is the difference between a driveway that survives its third winter and one that does not.
Fill Dirt Cost Per Load (Truckload Pricing)
Dirt is quoted per yard but arrives per truck. Here is what a full load of each material costs delivered in the Denver metro.
| Truck Type | Capacity | Clean Fill ($15/yd) | Topsoil ($22/yd) | Structural / Select Fill ($25/yd) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tandem dump truck | 10 cu yd | $150 | $220 | $250 |
| Tri-axle dump truck | 16 cu yd | $240 | $352 | $400 |
| End dump trailer | 18 cu yd | $270 | $396 | $450 |
| Side dump trailer | 18 cu yd | $270 | $396 | $450 |
Because delivery is already inside the per-yard price, a larger truck reduces the number of trips rather than the rate. Tandems are the right default for Denver residential streets and older neighborhoods with narrow alleys. Side dumps are worth requesting on long grading runs where material needs to be laid out in a line rather than piled.
Delivery Fees: What the Market Charges vs What We Charge
Most published fill dirt prices are pit prices that exclude haulage, which is why quotes vary so wildly. National cost guides including HomeGuide and Angi report delivery fees separate from material in the range of $50 to $150 per trip for loads up to about 15 cubic yards, with a typical delivered dump truckload of fill dirt landing between $150 and $400. HomeGuide and Angi also report topsoil at roughly $10 to $55 per cubic yard nationally, with most homeowners paying $15 to $30 per yard.
| Cost Line | Typical Market Practice | Our Denver Metro Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery / haul fee | ~$50–$150 per trip (HomeGuide, Angi) | $0 — included |
| Fuel surcharge | Varies by supplier | None |
| Delivered truckload of fill dirt | ~$150–$400 (national cost guides) | $150 per 10-yard tandem load |
| Topsoil per yard | ~$10–$55/yd, most pay $15–$30 (HomeGuide, Angi) | $22/yd |
| Spreading & rough grading | ~$200–$400 (national cost guides) | Not included — we deliver, you place |
Those market ranges are figures reported by third-party cost guides for the industry generally — they are not our prices, and they are national rather than Front Range specific. The reason to know them is negotiating leverage: when a Denver supplier quotes you a per-yard number, ask whether delivery is inside it.
Volume Discount Tiers
| Order Size | Tier | How It Is Priced |
|---|---|---|
| 10–49 cu yd | Standard | Published list price, delivery included |
| 50–99 cu yd | Multi-load | List price with coordinated multi-load scheduling to one site |
| 100–499 cu yd | Volume | Custom per-yard rate — text us the scope for a quote |
| 500+ cu yd | Builder / contractor program | Contract pricing with staged deliveries across the project timeline |
Front Range projects often stage across a short building season, and that works in your favor on pricing — a known 400-yard schedule booked in April prices better than 400 yards needed on three days' notice in September.
Fill Dirt Cost by Denver Metro City
Pricing is flat across the Denver metro. There is no zone surcharge for living in Longmont instead of Lakewood. Here are 20 of the 73 Front Range cities we deliver to.
| City | Clean Fill | Topsoil | Structural Fill | 10-Yard Load of Fill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Aurora | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Lakewood | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Arvada | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Westminster | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Thornton | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Northglenn | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Commerce City | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Broomfield | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Brighton | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Centennial | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Littleton | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Parker | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Golden | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Highlands Ranch | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Englewood | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Longmont | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Castle Rock | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Boulder | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
| Wheat Ridge | $15/yd | $22/yd | $25/yd | $150 |
Our Front Range service radius runs roughly 60 miles from central Denver, which also covers Frederick, Firestone, Dacono, Erie, Loveland, Greeley, Fort Collins, and Windsor. Addresses beyond that are quoted individually.
Worked Example: Leveling a 1,500 Sq Ft Denver Backyard
The project: a 1,500 square foot backyard sitting about 10 inches below where it needs to be, being brought to grade and re-sodded.
Step 1 — bulk fill. The bottom 6 inches gets clean fill: 1,500 x 0.5 ft = 750 cubic feet, divided by 27 = 27.8 cubic yards.
Step 2 — compaction allowance. Add 12% for settlement: 27.8 x 1.12 = 31.1 yards. Round to 32 yards, which is exactly two 16-yard tri-axle loads.
Step 3 — the growing layer. The top 4 inches gets screened topsoil: 1,500 x 0.333 ft = 500 cubic feet, divided by 27 = 18.5 yards. Round to 20 yards, two tandem loads.
Step 4 — the bill.
| Line Item | Quantity | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clean fill dirt | 32 cu yd | $15/yd | $480 |
| Screened topsoil | 20 cu yd | $22/yd | $440 |
| Delivery (4 loads) | — | Included | $0 |
| Total material delivered | 52 cu yd | — | $920 |
Not included: a plate compactor, which rents locally for roughly $75 to $150 per day and which you genuinely need here — uncompacted fill on the Front Range heaves the first winter. Also not included is sod or seed on top.
Colorado-Specific Cost Factors
Drainage requirements raise the average grade purchased. The Front Range freeze-thaw cycle punishes water-retentive fill. Projects that would use $10 clean fill in Texas frequently specify low-clay structural fill in Colorado, so the effective average price per yard on a Denver job tends to sit higher than the headline $15.
The building season is short. Practical working months run roughly April through October. Demand compresses into that window, which is why booking material three to four weeks ahead in peak season is worth more than any discount you would negotiate.
Spring runoff. March through May, sites hold water from snowmelt. Placing and compacting fill in saturated ground does not work, and rescheduling a delivery because the site is mud costs you a day.
Permits. Denver requires permits for moving 10 or more cubic yards or for altering drainage patterns. Since our minimum order is 10 yards, effectively every Denver job needs one checked. Denver Community Planning is at 720-865-2705. That is a real cost line people forget to budget.
How to Spend Less on Fill Dirt in Colorado
Split your grades by depth. On the worked example above, buying topsoil for all 52 yards would have cost $1,144 instead of $920. Topsoil belongs in the top 4 inches, not the bottom 6.
Reserve structural fill for what actually bears load. Under a driveway or foundation, pay the $25. Out in the middle of the lawn, $15 clean fill is the correct material and the cheaper one.
Round to full loads. 31 yards and 32 yards are both two tri-axle trips.
Book ahead of the season. Material and truck availability in June is the real constraint on the Front Range, not price.
Building near the foothills, or backfilling a retaining wall? The pricing above is metro-wide. Our Denver soil & site guide covers how foothills vs. plains soil changes which grade you need, and a worked retaining-wall backfill example.
Get an Exact Quote
Text us at (720) 577-5016 or email support@filldirtnearme.net with what you are doing, your delivery address, and roughly how many yards you think you need. We will confirm the material grade, check the math, and quote a delivered price, usually within minutes during business hours. We are open Monday through Saturday, 7 AM to 5 PM. Same-day delivery is available on orders placed before 10 AM. We accept Zelle and Venmo.