Dumpster Size Calculator

Pick your project and you get a specific dumpster size, not a shrug. You also get the number rental pages bury: how much your debris weighs, how much weight your box actually includes, and what it costs per ton when you go over. For concrete, dirt and roofing the right answer is often a smaller box than the volume suggests, and this page will tell you when.

What are you working on? (the answer changes with the project, so start here)

How big a job is it? (small is a partial or a powder room, large is down to the studs)

What is most of it, by volume? (optional. Leave it on the default and we use what this project normally produces)

Show a rough cost range?

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Data reviewed: August 2026. Figures here come from published sources and change over time. How we verify

How dumpster sizing actually works

Ask a rental company what size you need and you will get a good answer. Ask the internet and you will get a shrug wearing a blog post: it depends on your project, every job is different, call us for a quote. You came here for a number, so here is how this page gets you one.

A roll-off dumpster has two limits, and only one of them is printed on the side. The number in the name is cubic yards, which is space. The other limit is weight, it is measured in tons, it is included in your price up to a point, and past that point it is billed per ton after the truck crosses a certified scale. Nobody hides this exactly. It just tends to appear on page four of the rental agreement rather than in the sentence where they tell you what a 20 yard box costs.

So this page works out both. It estimates the volume of your debris from the project you are doing, estimates the weight from what that debris is made of, and then tells you which of the two limits you are going to hit first. For a garage full of old furniture it is the space. For a bathroom, a roof, or a patio it is almost always the weight, and by a lot.

Everything rounds up. You cannot rent 60 percent of a dumpster, and being one cubic yard short does not cost you one cubic yard. It costs you a second delivery, a second pickup, and a day you were not planning to spend on this.

The formula

volume = project size × a published or derived cubic-yards figure
weight = volume × pounds per cubic yard for that debris
roofing instead = squares × layers × pounds per square, plus felt and nails once
hauls = weight ÷ 20,000 lb legal truck limit, rounded UP (never below 1)
size = the smallest standard box that holds one haul's volume
overage = (weight per haul − included tons) × the per ton rate

Volume is cubic yards, and a cubic yard is a cube three feet on a side: about 6 contractor bags, or four tenths of a full size pickup bed. Included tons is the weight allowance bundled into your rental price, which runs 1 to 2 tons on a 10 or 15 yard box, 2 to 3 on a 20, 3 to 4 on a 30 and 4 to 5 on a 40. The 20,000 pound line is not a fee, it is a wall: it is what a roll-off truck may legally carry on a public road, and no size of container changes it.

Notice that the third line has nothing to do with cubic yards. That is the part of this business that surprises people, and it is why the honest answer for concrete, dirt, or a big tear-off is often a smaller box than the volume suggests, taken away and brought back.

Worked example

A full bathroom remodel, typical size, down to the studs.

Published guidance puts a full bathroom gut at 7 to 9 cubic yards once the tile, tub, vanity, toilet and drywall are out, so we use 8 cubic yards. Mixed construction debris runs about 500 pounds a cubic yard, so that is 4,000 pounds, or 2.00 tons (1.60 to 3.20 tons across the published density range). Eight cubic yards goes into the smallest box that holds it, which is a 10 yard dumpster, and it lands about 80 percent full.

Now the half of the answer that other pages stop short of. A 10 yard box includes 1 to 2 tons. Filled to the rim it therefore pays for debris up to about 300 pounds a cubic yard, and yours runs 500. At the midpoint of the allowance you are 0.50 tons over, which at the published 2026 overage rate of $50 to $150 a ton is $25 to $75 you did not budget for. On a rental that runs $250 to $500, that is the difference between a quote and a bill.

The fix is not a bigger box, because a bigger box mostly sells you space you were not going to use. The fix is one sentence on the phone: ask for 3.5 tons, which is the next half ton above the heavy end of the estimate. Say "I have 8 cubic yards of bathroom demolition, how much weight is included and what is the rate over that," and book whoever answers it clearly.

For scale while you are standing in the driveway: 8 cubic yards is about 3.2 pickup loads level full, or roughly 49 contractor bags, and a 10 yard box is about 12 feet long, 8 wide and 3.5 tall.

The weight trap, which is the whole point of this page

Here is the arithmetic that turns a vague warning into something you can act on. Take the included tonnage for each box, divide it by the box's cubic yards, and you get the heaviest debris that box can be filled to the rim with before you owe money. Using the middle of each published allowance:

10 yard: 1.5 tons over 10 yards = 300 pounds a cubic yard
15 yard: 1.5 tons over 15 yards = 200 pounds a cubic yard
20 yard: 2.5 tons over 20 yards = 250 pounds a cubic yard
30 yard: 3.5 tons over 30 yards = 233 pounds a cubic yard
40 yard: 4.5 tons over 40 yards = 225 pounds a cubic yard

Now compare that to what things actually weigh. Loose household junk and furniture is about 350 pounds a cubic yard. Yard waste is 550. Wood is 400. Mixed renovation debris is 500. Roofing shingles work out near 950. Broken concrete is 2,400 and dirt is 2,700.

Read those two lists together and the conclusion is blunt: a roll-off's included tonnage is priced for a box that is not full. Almost nothing you can put in a dumpster comes in under 300 pounds a cubic yard. That is not a scandal and it is not a trick, it is just how the product is priced, since disposal is charged to your hauler by the ton at the landfill and the rental is charged to you by the box. But it does mean the sentence "will it all fit" is the wrong question, and "how much weight is included" is the right one.

One oddity worth pointing at while we are here. A 15 yard box includes the same 1 to 2 tons as a 10 yard box while holding half again as much space, so those extra five cubic yards arrive with no extra weight allowance at all. If your debris is heavy, upgrading from a 10 to a 15 buys you room you cannot legally use. Upgrade for bulky and light, not for heavy.

What each size actually holds

Cubic yards mean nothing to most people, so here are the same boxes in units you can picture. A full size pickup bed is 8 feet by 5.33 by 1.5, which is 64 cubic feet, or 2.37 cubic yards level full. Call it 2.5 with a modest heap on top. A 33 gallon contractor bag is 4.41 cubic feet, so a cubic yard is about 6.1 bags.

10 yard (about 12 x 8 x 3.5 ft): 4 pickup loads, roughly 61 bags. One room stripped out, or a small bathroom down to the studs.
15 yard (about 16 x 8 x 4 ft): 6 pickup loads, roughly 92 bags. A large bathroom, or one room plus a packed garage.
20 yard (about 22 x 8 x 4.5 ft): 8 pickup loads, roughly 122 bags. A kitchen tear-out, or most of a two bedroom cleanout.
30 yard (about 22 x 8 x 6 ft): 12 pickup loads, roughly 184 bags. A whole house cleanout, or a good sized addition.
40 yard (about 22 x 8 x 8 ft): 16 pickup loads, roughly 245 bags. Commercial jobs, full demolition, and bulky light debris.

Two honest notes on that list. The dimensions vary by hauler and by manufacturer, so treat them as planning figures for your driveway rather than specifications. And if you multiply them out you will find they do not agree with the cubic yard rating: 22 by 8 by 4.5 feet is 792 cubic feet, which is 29 cubic yards, on a box called a 20. The rating is the payload, the dimensions are the steel, and the walls, rails and floor sit outside the number you are buying. Do not plan on the arithmetic winning that argument at the curb.

Concrete, dirt, and the rule that surprises everyone

Concrete weighs 150 pounds a cubic foot, which is 4,050 pounds a solid cubic yard. That single number is the reason heavy debris has its own rules.

Take a 400 square foot patio poured 4 inches thick. In the ground that is 4.94 cubic yards. Break it up and it swells to about 8.33 cubic yards, because rubble stacks with air between the pieces. Weigh it and it is exactly 20,000 pounds, which is 10.00 tons, which is the legal limit for one roll-off truck. A four inch patio the size of a two car garage is precisely one truck load, to the pound, and it fits inside a 10 yard box with room to spare.

Now make it a 500 square foot patio. The volume says 10.4 cubic yards, which is a 15 yard box. The weight says 12.5 tons, which is not one truck at any size. The real answer is two hauls of a 10 yard box, and that is the shape of every heavy debris job: the right dumpster is smaller than the volume suggests, and it goes away and comes back. Many haulers have a dedicated heavy debris container for exactly this, a low sided box priced by the ton, and if you are moving concrete, brick, dirt or asphalt you should ask for one by name.

Three practical rules that come with it. Keep heavy debris clean and separate, because clean concrete often goes to a recycler at a much lower rate than mixed debris going to a landfill, and mixing one broken toilet into a load of concrete can reclassify the whole container. Expect a fill line, since plenty of companies will tell you to load a heavy box only halfway and mean it. And do not solve a weight problem by ordering a 30 yard box: you will fill a third of it, pay for all of it, and still be over.

Roofing, which is measured in squares and priced by the ton

Roofs get their own inputs on this page because roofers do not think in cubic yards. A square is 100 square feet of roof surface, so a 2,000 square foot roof is roughly 22 squares once you allow for pitch and overhangs. Layers matter just as much: two layers of shingle is two tear-offs, and you find out how many you have by looking at a cut edge at the eave and counting.

One square of tear-off takes about 0.4 cubic yards and weighs 225 pounds as 3-tab asphalt, 300 as architectural, 350 as wood shake, and 900 as slate or concrete tile. Add 75 pounds a square once, not once per layer, for felt, nails, flashing and the odd rotten sheet of decking, because those only come off the roof one time.

Run a normal job through that. A 25 square roof, single layer, architectural shingle: 10 cubic yards, 9,375 pounds, or 4.69 tons. It fits a 10 yard box on volume. The 10 yard box includes 1 to 2 tons. You are three tons over before you have swept the driveway. This is why a roofing dumpster is a conversation about weight and never about size, and why you should ask specifically what tonnage is included on a shingle-only load, since it is frequently different (and better) than the general rate.

Slate is a different animal again. Twenty-five squares of slate is 12.19 tons, which is two truck loads on a house where the same roof in asphalt is one. If your roof is slate or concrete tile, plan two hauls and tell the hauler before the tear-off starts.

What to sort out before you call

Where it will sit. The truck needs about 60 feet of straight approach to line up and lower a box, 10 to 12 feet of width to get in and out without collecting your fence, and 21 feet of overhead clearance. The clearance is the one that catches people: low branches, a power drop to the house, a basketball hoop, and the top of a garage door opening are all things that were not a problem until a truck arrived. Walk it and look up.

Protect the driveway. A loaded roll-off is heavier than anything else that will ever park there, and the wheels and rails can scar asphalt, especially in summer heat. Ask the company to set it on plywood, or lay a couple of sheets yourself. It costs almost nothing and it is the single most common regret in this whole transaction.

How long you get. A standard rental period is around 7 days in most markets, with extra days billed individually. If you are doing the work over two weekends, say so when you book rather than calling for an extension on day six.

Permits. On your own driveway you almost never need one. The moment the box sits on a public street, a sidewalk, or any public right of way, most municipalities require a permit, and permit conditions often add cones, reflective tape, or lights. Some rental companies will pull it for you and some will not, so ask, and ask early, because a permit office does not work at your pace.

What cannot go in it. Tires, wet paint and solvents, batteries of any kind, anything containing refrigerant (fridges, freezers, window air conditioners), asbestos, fuel, propane tanks, and medical waste. Mattresses and electronics are usually accepted as a surcharge item rather than banned outright. Dry latex paint in a sealed can is usually fine, and dry is the operative word. These are not fussy company rules: a forgotten propane tank is a fire at the transfer station, and a fridge with its refrigerant still in it is a federal problem for whoever tips the container. Ask the one question that covers all of it: what is on your prohibited list, and what do you charge for the things that are allowed but extra.

Load it low and flat. Nothing may sit above the top rail, because the driver has to tarp it and an untarpable load does not leave. Break down what breaks down, put the flat heavy things in first, and fill the corners. A box loaded badly can be 30 percent air, which is 30 percent of the money.

Rules of thumb, and the question each one is really answering

We read a lot of dumpster sizing pages to build this one. Several handy rules of thumb come up again and again, and every one of them is true of something. The trick is knowing which question each one answers, because a few of them answer the volume question when the thing that will actually decide your bill is the weight. Here is our working, since a rental company might well be embedding this calculator on its own site.

"A 20 yard dumpster holds 40 to 50 squares of shingles." By volume that is exactly right, at about 0.4 cubic yards a square. By weight those same shingles are 7.5 to 9.4 tons in a box whose included allowance is 2 to 3, and they crowd the 10 ton legal limit for the truck. So the volume answer is 40 to 50, and the answer that keeps your invoice flat is about 13 squares of architectural tear-off. Both are real numbers about the same box. Only one of them shows up on the bill.

"Roofing shingles weigh 2,400 to 2,600 pounds a cubic yard." That is the density of shingles stacked tight with the air pressed out, which is a genuinely useful figure for a pallet on a truck. A dumpster does not fill that way: tear-off goes in loose, in broken pieces, at angles. Counted per square as it actually lands, an architectural tear-off works out to roughly 940 pounds a cubic yard. Same material, different packing, and the packing is what your container sees.

"A 20 yard dumpster is 6 pickup truck loads." That works out to a bed holding 3.33 cubic yards. A full size 8 foot bed measures 8 by 5.33 by 1.5 feet, which is 64 cubic feet, or 2.37 cubic yards level full, so the rule is picturing a heaped bed rather than a level one. Level full, the figure is 8 loads, and 8 is the one to plan your weekend around.

"Divide your deck's square footage by 15." There are two conventions in circulation, one dividing by 15 and one by 50, and on a 300 square foot deck they give 20 cubic yards and 6. That gap is really a question about how you demolish: boards pulled up whole trap a lot of air, boards cut down as you go stack tight. So we worked it from the wood instead. A 20 by 15 deck holds roughly 64 cubic feet of actual lumber across decking, joists, beams, posts and railing, which is 2.4 cubic yards solid, and full length boards thrown in whole carry three to four times that in air. That puts a 300 square foot deck at 7 to 10 cubic yards. We quote the top of that range; if you cut as you go, you will land nearer the bottom.

One more that surprised us. The EPA publishes a volume-to-weight conversion table for construction and demolition debris, updated April 2016, and a lot of waste reporting runs on it. It puts concrete at 860 pounds a cubic yard and roofing at 731. Those figures trace to a 2006 California waste characterization study and they describe material as sorted for a study, not as loaded into a roll-off. Solid concrete is 4,050 pounds a cubic yard and broken concrete in a container is about 2,400. Size a container from the federal table and you would be under by nearly three times. It is an excellent table answering a different question, which is exactly why we do not use it here.

Sources

Where the numbers on this page come from. We go to the body that publishes the figure, not to another calculator. Figures on this page were checked against these sources in August 2026. See how we verify.

Roll Off Dumpster Sizes and A Guide to Roll Off Dumpster Weight Limits, Dumpsters.com. REPORTED, and one of the two independent sources behind the included tonnage table this page treats as a data contract. Published limits: 10 yard 1 to 2 tons, 12 yard 1 to 2, 15 yard 1 to 2, 20 yard 2 to 3, 30 yard 2 to 4, 40 yard 4 to 5, with a stated maximum of 10 tons (20,000 pounds) on any container. Also the source of the pickup truckload equivalents this page corrects (their 20 yard is quoted at 6 pickup loads, which implies a 3.33 cubic yard truck bed) and of the project size guidance for kitchen, bathroom and whole house cleanouts.
What Is the Weight Limit of a Roll Off Dumpster?, Budget Dumpster. REPORTED, the second independent source for the tonnage table, and it agrees row for row: 10 yard 1 to 2 tons, 15 yard 1 to 2, 20 yard 2 to 3, 30 yard 3 to 4, 40 yard 4 to 5, all capped at a 10 ton maximum. Their companion weight calculator is also the source of several material figures used here: solid concrete 4,050 pounds a cubic yard, broken concrete and asphalt about 2,025, solid asphalt 3,960, scrap metal about 225, a three-tab shingle bundle 60 to 80 pounds and a square 180 to 240, architectural bundles 70 to 80, slate bundles 250 to 350, and a half inch sheet of drywall at nearly 50 pounds.
Debris Weight Guide, Roll-Off Dumpster Direct. REPORTED, the fullest single published density table we found, and the anchor for most of the debris bands on this page: bricks 2,500 to 3,500 pounds a cubic yard, concrete and asphalt 3,500 to 4,200, dirt 2,000 to 3,000, drywall 500 to 750, general household debris 150 to 400, sand 3,000 to 3,200, stone 2,600 to 2,800, wood 300 to 500, yard waste without dirt 400 to 700. Two entries in this table are the ones we do NOT use as printed. Their concrete and asphalt figure is essentially the density of solid concrete rather than of broken rubble loose in a container, so we publish 2,400 as the working figure with a 2,000 to 2,800 band. Their asphalt shingle figure of 2,400 to 2,600 is discussed at length on the page: it is irreconcilable with the roofing capacity tables the same industry publishes, and we count roofing per square instead.
How Many Asphalt Shingles Fit in a Dumpster, and Best Dumpster Sizes for Shingle Roof Replacements, Green Bay Dumpster Rental and Hometown Dumpster Rental. REPORTED, the two sources behind the roofing model. Capacity: 25 squares in a 10 yard, 50 in a 20, 70 in a 30, which all sit within a rounding error of 0.4 cubic yards per square, and that figure also falls out of the geometry (100 square feet of shingle about three eighths of an inch thick is 0.12 cubic yards solid, and tear-off debris carries roughly three times its solid volume in air). Weight: one square weighs 250 to 400 pounds depending on type, with a further 50 to 100 pounds a square for felt, nails and damaged decking, and an average roof running 3,750 to 8,000 pounds. A 10 yard box is quoted at a 4,000 to 6,000 pound allowance for roofing. We add the tear-off allowance once rather than once per layer, because the felt and decking only come off the roof one time.
Dumpster Weight Limits and Overage Fees Explained, ZTERS. REPORTED, one of several sources for the overage band. Published 2026 per ton overage rates gathered across guides run $50 to $100 (Keystone Container), $50 to $150 (Dump Express), $65 (McDumpsters), $75 pro rated (Discount Dumpster), $100 to $125 for roofing specifically, and $200 in one national home services estimator. We publish the band $50 to $150 and say plainly that it is regional, because it tracks what your local landfill charges by the ton rather than any national figure. This source also states the industry rule that pre-purchasing extra tonnage at booking is normally cheaper than paying the overage rate afterwards.
Dumpster Rental Prices 2026 and Roll Off Dumpster Prices, HomeGuide, Angi, and Dumpsters.com. REPORTED, the basis of the optional cost band, which is OFF by default so that a rental company can embed this page without publishing a price range on its own site. Published 2026 figures for a standard 7 day rental: 10 yard $250 to $450, 20 yard $330 to $550, 30 yard $380 to $650, 40 yard $450 to $800 in one guide, with a second guide running $250 to $400, $500 to $800, $450 to $700 and $550 to $850. We widen to the union of the two. The 15 yard band is EDITORIAL, interpolated between the 10 and the 20, because 15 yard boxes are priced far less often. National average rental around $385 to $500.
Volume-to-Weight Conversion Factors, April 2016, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery. MEASURED, and deliberately NOT used for sizing, which is the point of citing it. The federal C&D table (extracted from the primary PDF, since it does not render as text) gives concrete at 860 pounds a cubic yard, asphalt paving 773, composition roofing and other asphalt roofing 731, other aggregates 860, clean dimensional lumber 169 and clean engineered wood 268. Every one of those traces to footnote 18 or 19, the California Integrated Waste Management Board's Targeted Statewide Waste Characterization Study: Detailed Characterization of Construction and Demolition Waste, June 2006. Those are sorting-study densities for waste reporting, not as-loaded densities for a roll-off: solid concrete is 4,050 pounds a cubic yard and broken concrete in a container is about 2,400, so sizing a container off the federal figure would put you under by nearly three times. It is a good table answering a different question.
What Items Can't Go in a Dumpster, and What Can and Can't Go in a Roll-Off Dumpster, Dumpsters.com, ZTERS, and Angi. REPORTED, and consistent across all three: tires, wet paint and solvents, batteries of every chemistry, appliances containing refrigerant, asbestos, fuel, propane tanks and medical waste are banned nearly everywhere, while mattresses and electronics are commonly accepted as surcharge items rather than refused. Dry latex paint in a sealed can is usually acceptable. The underlying reasons are regulatory rather than commercial: the EPA classifies leftover paints, cleaners, oils, batteries and pesticides as household hazardous waste, and refrigerant requires certified recovery before disposal.
Driveway dumpster placement, clearance and permits, Discount Dumpster, Frontier Waste Solutions, and Dumpsters.com. REPORTED. Delivery needs roughly 60 feet of straight approach for the truck to line up, 10 to 12 feet of clear width, and 21 feet of overhead clearance (one municipal guide states 18 to 25 feet). Permits are essentially never required for a box on your own driveway and are required in most municipalities the moment it sits on a street, sidewalk or public right of way, often with conditions attached such as cones, reflective tape or lights. Standard rental periods run about 7 days in most markets with extra days billed individually.

Frequently asked questions

What size dumpster do I need for a bathroom remodel?

A 10 yard dumpster for a typical full bathroom taken down to the studs, which runs about 8 cubic yards of debris. A powder room needs half that and still gets a 10 yard, since nothing smaller is standard. The catch is weight, not space: 8 cubic yards of bathroom demolition is about 2 tons and a 10 yard box includes 1 to 2, so ask for 3.5 tons of allowance when you book. Tile and a cast iron tub are what push it over.

How much does a 20 yard dumpster hold?

Twenty cubic yards, which is about 8 full size pickup loads level full or roughly 122 contractor bags. In project terms that is a kitchen tear-out or most of a two bedroom cleanout. It is usually around 22 feet long, 8 feet wide and 4.5 feet tall, and it includes 2 to 3 tons of weight. That last figure is the one that matters: filled to the rim a 20 yard box only pays for debris up to about 250 pounds a cubic yard, and almost everything weighs more than that.

What happens if I go over the weight limit?

Your load is weighed at a certified scale after pickup and you are billed per ton over the included tonnage, typically $50 to $150 a ton in 2026 depending on what your local landfill charges. It is a real charge rather than a penalty, and it shows up after the box is gone. Two ways to avoid the surprise: tell your rental company what the debris actually is and buy extra tonnage at booking, which is normally cheaper than the overage rate, or split a heavy load across two hauls. What you cannot do is exceed the truck's legal limit of about 10 tons, since that load simply will not be taken.

What can I not put in a dumpster?

Tires, wet paint and solvents, batteries of any kind, anything with refrigerant in it such as fridges, freezers and window air conditioners, asbestos, fuel, propane tanks and medical waste. Mattresses and electronics are usually allowed as a surcharge item rather than banned. Dry latex paint in a sealed can is generally fine, and dry is the operative word. Ask your hauler for their prohibited list and their surcharge list in the same phone call, because the second one is where the unexpected money is.

What size dumpster do I need for a roof tear-off?

Count squares, not square feet: a square is 100 square feet of roof, so a 2,000 square foot roof is about 22 squares. A 25 square single layer architectural tear-off is 10 cubic yards and weighs about 4.7 tons, which fits a 10 yard box on space and blows past its 1 to 2 ton allowance on weight. Order for the weight. Two layers doubles it. Slate or concrete tile at 900 pounds a square makes the same roof a two truck job, so say so before the tear-off starts.

Can I put concrete in a dumpster?

Yes, but in a small one, and often in a dedicated heavy debris box. Concrete is 4,050 pounds a solid cubic yard, so a 400 square foot patio 4 inches thick weighs exactly 20,000 pounds, which is the legal limit for one roll-off truck. Anything larger is more than one haul no matter what size container you order. Keep it clean and separate from other debris, because clean concrete often goes to a recycler at a much lower rate than mixed debris going to a landfill, and expect the hauler to give you a fill line and mean it.

Do I need a permit for a dumpster?

Almost never on your own driveway, and usually yes the moment it sits on a public street, sidewalk or right of way. Permit conditions often add requirements such as cones, reflective tape or lights. Some rental companies pull the permit for you and some do not, so ask when you book rather than the day before delivery, because a permit office runs at its own speed. Check with your HOA too, since plenty of them have their own rules about how long a container can sit and when it may be delivered.

How long do you get a dumpster for?

About 7 days is the standard rental period in most markets, with extra days billed individually. If your work spans two weekends, book the longer period up front rather than calling for an extension partway through, because availability, not price, is what runs out first in the busy season. Delivery also needs about 60 feet of straight approach, 10 to 12 feet of width and 21 feet of overhead clearance, so walk the route and look up before delivery day.