Tree removal permit fees by city

Cost-comparison table across 19 verified U.S. cities. Each row is the application fee published in the city's ordinance — replacement fees and ratios are listed separately because mitigation cost scales by tree count, not application fee.

Lowest fee

$35

Tampa

Median fee

$96

across 19 verified cities

Highest fee

$575

San Francisco

Browse by state

All verified cities, ranked by permit fee

Sorted ascending. Click a city for the full ordinance page or the ordinance link for the underlying municipal code.

Tree removal permit fees by city, sorted ascending. Includes replacement fee per tree, replacement ratio, processing time, and a link to the municipal code.
City State Permit fee Replacement fee/tree Replacement ratio Processing Code
Tampa Florida $35 — Inch-for-inch replacement; enhanced ratios for grand trees 2-3 weeks Ordinance
St. Petersburg Florida $40 — Inch-for-inch replacement; enhanced ratios for heritage trees 2-4 weeks Ordinance
Gainesville Florida $45 — Inch-for-inch mitigation; enhanced ratios for heritage trees 3-6 weeks Ordinance
Orlando Florida $45 — Inch-for-inch replacement with native or approved species; enhanced mitigation for specimen trees 2-4 weeks Ordinance
Denver Colorado $50 — 1:1 to 2:1 for street tree removal; on-site landscape replacement for development 2-4 weeks Ordinance
Fort Lauderdale Florida $50 — Inch-for-inch replacement; enhanced mitigation for specimen trees 2-4 weeks Ordinance
Jacksonville Florida $50 — Inch-for-inch mitigation (1:1 replacement DBH) for standard protected trees; 2:1 or greater for heritage trees 2-4 weeks Ordinance
Tallahassee Florida $50 — Inch-for-inch replacement; enhanced ratios for patriarch/heritage trees 3-6 weeks Ordinance
Miami Florida $75 — Mitigation based on DBH: typically inch-for-inch replacement with native species; specimen trees require enhanced mitigation (2:1 or greater) 2-4 weeks Ordinance
Portland Oregon $96 — 1:1 to 3:1 depending on tree size and reason for removal; in-lieu fees to Tree Planting and Preservation Fund available 2-6 weeks Ordinance
Dallas Texas $200 — Inch-for-inch caliper replacement or mitigation payment 4-6 weeks Ordinance
Sacramento California $200 — 1:1 based on DBH of tree removed 3-6 weeks Ordinance
Lake Oswego Oregon $220 — Based on tree size category and reason for removal 3-6 weeks Ordinance
Palo Alto California $250 — Per Table 3-1 in Technical Manual Section 3.02 4-8 weeks Ordinance
Seattle Washington $250 — Tier-based replacement (2:1 to 3:1 depending on tree tier) 4-8 weeks Ordinance
San Jose California $310 — 1:1 (one 15-gallon tree per permitted tree removed) 4-6 weeks Ordinance
Austin Texas $347 — Inch-for-inch mitigation based on diameter removed 4-8 weeks Ordinance
Los Angeles California $356 — 2:1 for protected trees (varies by size) 6-8 weeks Ordinance
San Francisco California $575 — 1:1 minimum for street trees 4-6 weeks Ordinance

How permit fees work across cities

Which city has the lowest tree removal permit fee?
Tampa, Florida has the lowest verified tree removal permit fee in the verified city corpus at $35. The highest is San Francisco, California at $575. Median across 19 verified cities is $96.
What's the typical replacement obligation when a permit is issued?
Most cities in the verified corpus require tree replacement under a stated ratio (typically 1:1) but don't publish a flat in-lieu fee per tree — replacement is satisfied by replanting. Check each city's row for its replacement_ratio.
Do tree removal permit fees vary by tree size or DBH?
No. Across every verified U.S. city in this corpus, the permit_fee is flat per application — independent of tree size. What scales with size is the replacement obligation: cities apply a ratio (often 1:1, with 2:1 or 3:1 for heritage trees) to each protected tree removed, so a larger canopy area or more trees on a removal application drives mitigation cost, not the application fee itself.

Next steps

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