Which city has the lowest tree removal permit fee in Washington?

Seattle, Washington carries the only verified tree removal permit fee in Washington at $250.

What's the typical replacement obligation when a permit is issued?

Most cities in Washington 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?

Permit fees in Washington are flat per application across the verified corpus — they don't scale with DBH or canopy area. Replacement obligations DO scale: most cities apply ratios to each protected tree removed, and heritage-designated trees typically carry higher ratios (2:1 or 3:1) than standard protected trees.

Tree removal permit fees in Washington

Ranked across 1 verified Washington city, ascending by permit fee. Numbers come directly from each city's published ordinance — replacement fees and ratios shown separately because mitigation cost scales by tree count, not application fee.

Lowest fee

$250

Seattle

Median fee

$250

across 1 verified city

Highest fee

$250

Seattle

Fee comparison

Sorted ascending by permit fee. 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	Permit fee	Replacement fee/tree	Replacement ratio	Processing	Code
Seattle	$250	—	Tier-based replacement (2:1 to 3:1 depending on tree tier)	4-8 weeks	Ordinance

How Washington permit fees work

Which city has the lowest tree removal permit fee in Washington?: Seattle, Washington carries the only verified tree removal permit fee in Washington at $250.
What's the typical replacement obligation when a permit is issued?: Most cities in Washington 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?: Permit fees in Washington are flat per application across the verified corpus — they don't scale with DBH or canopy area. Replacement obligations DO scale: most cities apply ratios to each protected tree removed, and heritage-designated trees typically carry higher ratios (2:1 or 3:1) than standard protected trees.

Next steps

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