Raleigh pros
Leaf removal in Raleigh
A one-time leaf cleanup in Raleigh runs about $160 to $580 for a typical yard. By the hour, raking help is $25 to $50 nationally.
Posting is free. You and the pro agree on the price, and nothing is added to it.
Does Raleigh still pick up leaves?
The city changed the rules this fall
Not from a pile at the curb. Since September 8, 2026, the city takes leaves from the yard waste cart or from paper bags, weekly on your trash day.
- The 95-gallon yard waste cart
- Up to 15 paper bags, 25 pounds each
- Weekly, on your regular trash day
- A hired crew hauls its own leaves
City of Raleigh and WRAL, September and October 2026.
Not from a pile at the curb. Loose-leaf vacuum collection ended after the 2025 to 2026 season. Since September 8, 2026, leaves go in the 95-gallon yard waste cart or in up to 15 paper bags of 25 pounds each, plus 5 bundles of sticks, picked up weekly on your regular trash day.
Set them out from noon the day before and by 6 a.m. on pickup day. Plastic bags are refused. A second cart can be ordered at 919-996-3245, and five paper bags per resident are free at 630 Beacon Lake Drive.
A hired crew has to haul its own leaves away: the city does not collect yard waste from contracted jobs. A post that says haul, not curb, gets the right price.
City of Raleigh, leaf collection options and yard waste preparation pages, read October 5, 2026; WRAL, September 7, 2026.
One post for the whole yard
You don't search or call around
Describe the yard once. It goes to yard pros near you in Raleigh, and one of them takes it.
What it costs
You put in what you'd pay. The pro sees it before calling, and you settle the price on the call.
See Raleigh pricesOne pro takes it and calls you
There is no list of profiles to compare. If a pro accepts your job, they're asked to call within 30 minutes. If they don't, it goes to the next one.
How it worksYou settle it on the call
Read the questionsFree to post
What leaf cleanup costs in Raleigh, by yard size
- Average cleanup, Raleigh
- $189
- Lawn Love's Raleigh average, October 2026
- A local company's range
- $163 to $579
- Leaf Removal Specialists, Raleigh, October 2026
- Quarter-acre yard
- $160 to $290
- LawnStarter guide, national, October 2026
- Raking by the hour
- $25 to $50
- LawnStarter and Angi guides, national, October 2026
Bagging and haul-away cost extra (Angi, October 2026).
Bagging and haul-away add $5 to $10 a bag (Angi, October 2, 2026). One Raleigh homeowner on just under an acre was quoted $800 for cleanup and haul (r/raleigh, November 2023).
What moves the price
- Bagging
- Hauling
- How deep
- Gutters
- The date
Angi and Lawn Love, October 2026.
- Bagging
- paper bags cost $5 to $10 each to fill and haul
- Hauling
- a hired crew cannot leave the leaves for the city
- How deep
- oaks drop for weeks, so one cleanup may not be the last
- Gutters
- a separate job, posted separately
- The date
- 29% of Raleigh leaf jobs on Lawn Love happen in December, 19% in November
Angi leaf removal guide, October 2, 2026; Lawn Love Raleigh page, read October 5, 2026.
How a leaf cleanup gets booked
1 / 4
Describe the yard
Give the lot size, how deep the leaves are, and whether bags go to the curb or leave with the pro. A shot from the back door says more than a long note.
A yard pro nearby says yes
Lawn and yard pros covering your ZIP are offered the cleanup one at a time, until one accepts it. A cleanup posted late at night goes out in the morning.
One yard pro calls
The yard pro who accepts it is asked to call within 30 minutes, to talk through oaks, gutters and beds. No call in that time, and a different yard pro gets the job.
Settle curb or haul on the phone
Pin down the date and the cost, and whether the leaves end up in paper bags at the curb or hauled off by the pro. Then pay them directly.
Swipe to see the steps
Drag or use the arrows
Who gets paid for the cleanup
When to post
Peak color in the Piedmont comes late October to early November (NC State, 2026 outlook). The leaves come down in the weeks after.
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
- Jan
- Feb
Lawn Love Raleigh page and NC State, 2026.
Lawn Love Raleigh page: 19% of its leaf removals in November, 29% in December, read October 5, 2026. NC State College of Natural Resources fall color outlook, August 26, 2026. Bar heights are those two months against the rest, not a measured curve.
No browsing
Nobody reads profiles here
You post the job once. A Raleigh yard pro takes it and calls you.
What to put in the post
- Yard size, or the lot size from your tax record.
- Curb or haul. The city only takes leaves from the cart or from paper bags, so say which you want.
- Beds and gutters, if they are part of it.
- A photo from the back door. Depth matters more than area.
- When, and your budget.
Rake and bag the leaves in a quarter-acre back yard
North Hills · This weekend · Budget $220
Questions
Yes, in the yard waste cart or in paper bags on your weekly trash day, since September 8, 2026. The loose-leaf vacuum trucks stopped after the 2025 to 2026 season (City of Raleigh, read October 2026).
$163 to $579 for a one-time cleanup at a local company, and Lawn Love's Raleigh average is $189 (both pages read October 2026). The yard's size and how deep the leaves are set the price.
For a small yard with a mulching mower, most replies in a Raleigh thread said no, mulch them (r/raleigh, 2023). For a yard under big oaks that drop for weeks, the choice is about 25 paper bags of your own time (a Raleigh Magazine reader, January 2026) or one post.
Mulching is one of the city's own three options. The other two are the cart and paper bags (City of Raleigh, October 2026). A thin layer can be mulched in; a deep layer is the job this page is for.
Yes, as a one-time cleanup or as part of a monthly plan. Here you post one cleanup, and a Raleigh yard pro calls with a price for that visit.
If you do this work: Raleigh cleanups run $163 to $579 and raking pays $25 to $50 an hour (Leaf Removal Specialists and LawnStarter, October 2026). Jobs near you are in the pro app.
The yard is already ankle deep
Post it tonight. A Raleigh yard pro calls you and names a price for the cleanup.