Junk Removal in Madison, WIGet Your Space Back
Furniture, appliances, student move-outs and whole-house cleanouts, priced before anything is loaded.
Updated
Junk removal in Madison, in short
What it costs, and what the city does for free
Short answer
If you do it yourself (2026)
- Madison large item pickup
- Free by work order
- Madison fee items, private recycling
- $35 / $15
- TV left at a Madison curb
- $30
- Dane County Landfill, up to 500 lb
- $15.03
- Dane County Landfill, per ton
- $60.10
- Clean Sweep, fridge or AC
- $35
- Clean Sweep, TV or monitor
- $15
From the City of Madison, Dane County Landfill and Clean Sweep.
Pricing
What junk removal costs in Madison
Junk is priced by how much of the truck it fills, not item by item. The ranges here come from Angi, HomeAdvisor, HomeGuide and LawnStarter, all updated in 2026. A single couch or appliance usually falls under a minimum charge of $60 to $150. Heavy material like plaster or shingles costs more per load because it weighs more, and appliances and TVs can add a handling fee because Wisconsin keeps them out of landfills.
Full 2026 price tables and local fees- Minimum or 1/8 load$70 to $125
- 1/4 load$100 to $200
- 1/2 load$200 to $400
- 3/4 load$400 to $600
- Full truckload$400 to $800
Services
What gets hauled away
One item or a whole house. Most jobs are a mix: a garage with an old fridge in it, a basement with a treadmill, a campus apartment with a futon and a TV left behind. Each service page has the price range and the Madison or Wisconsin rule that applies.
How a job works
- STEP 1
Tell us what's going
Call or send the address and a rough size: one couch, half a garage, a whole house. Photos help.
- STEP 2
Get a price first
A local crew quotes by how much of the truck it fills. Nothing is loaded until you agree.
- STEP 3
Point, and it's gone
They carry it out from wherever it is, sweep up, and sort the load into the streams Wisconsin requires.
Work is performed by a partnered local junk removal company. Details on how it works.
City program
Madison's free large item pickup, and who can't use it
Madison is the only Dane County community that collects large items with its own crews. Homes the Streets Division collects recycling from file a Large Item Work Order online, pick a Sunday, and set items out that day; crews collect during the following work week. Items must be under 8 feet long and 4 feet clear of trees, cars, poles and mailboxes, and metal and appliances go in their own pile because a different crew recycles them.
The catch is the calendar and the curb. Nothing is collected until your Sunday comes around, fall leaf collection and winter storms can delay it, and everything has to be carried to the terrace first. See how the work order works.
Since 2025
Buildings over 8 units are on their own
On January 1, 2025 the city stopped large item collection for apartments, condominiums and every property with more than 8 units. The city says it added about 10,000 homes in buildings of more than 9 units between 2019 and 2023, and could not grow its crews to match.
43.6% of Madison's housing units are in buildings of five or more units, by the Census count. Those residents now go through their building's dumpster company, a drop-off site, the county landfill or a hired hauler, which the city itself lists as an option. See what changed.
Every August
The student move-out
Around August 15 each year, well over 30,000 Madison residents move out on roughly the same day, clustered on the isthmus and near campus; the city compares it to the whole City of Sun Prairie moving at once. Many leases near campus end the afternoon of August 14 and the next ones start August 15, the turnover locals call Hippie Christmas.
In 2026 the city ran daily cart pickup and roving furniture crews from August 3 to August 21, from the Yahara River to N Allen St. Appliances still needed work orders, electronics still could not go to the curb, and anything after the window was back to the normal rules. See the move-out guide and student move-out cleanouts.
Where it goes
Where your junk goes after it leaves
A load from a Madison house does not all go to one place. Wisconsin law splits it into streams, and the Dane County Landfill enforces the split at the scale house. That sorting is a large part of what you pay a crew for, and the part that is hardest to do yourself with one car and one afternoon.
- 01
Donation
Usable furniture and household goods to groups that state their terms: Habitat ReStore (two Madison stores) and St. Vinny's both offer free pickup.
- 02
Appliance and metal recycling
Washers, dryers, stoves and scrap metal are recycled. Madison collects them in a separate pile for exactly that reason.
- 03
Refrigerant recovery
Fridges, freezers, ACs and dehumidifiers need certified refrigerant recovery under NR 488. The county landfill refuses them.
- 04
Electronics recycling
TVs, monitors and computers to an E-Cycle Wisconsin recycler. Madison's go to Universal Recycling Technologies in Janesville.
- 05
Brush, wood and C&D
Brush to compost and mulch; clean wood, metal, cardboard and brick to the county's C&D recycling facility.
- 06
Landfill
Whatever is left goes to the Dane County Landfill on Maahic Way, weighed at the scale house.
What Wisconsin keeps out of the landfill
State law bans major appliances and lead-acid batteries (s. 287.07), waste tires (since January 1, 1995), yard waste (since January 3, 1993) and, since September 1, 2010, TVs, computers and other electronics under E-Cycle Wisconsin. Read the bans explained.
Dane County Landfill and Clean Sweep
The county landfill at 7102 Maahic Way charges by weight: $15.03 up to 500 pounds of mixed trash in 2026. Next door, Clean Sweep takes paint and chemicals ($15 a trip), TVs ($15) and fridges ($35). See landfill rates and Clean Sweep.
Madison
Historic districts and ZIP codes
Madison has five local historic districts where the Landmarks Commission must approve demolitions and exterior changes, so tearing down a garage or porch during a cleanout needs a Certificate of Approval; carrying out the contents does not. The housing changes block by block too: across Madison 54% of households rent, but the tract at the center of Mansion Hill is almost entirely renters. Each area has its own page.
Historic districts
ZIP code areas
Service area
Every Dane County community, with its own rules
Outside Madison, bulk pickup depends on the hauler each community contracts with. Fitchburg residents prepay Pellitteri per item ($50 for a sofa in 2025), Stoughton households book one Johns Disposal bulk pickup a month, DeForest allows one item under 50 pounds a month, Verona includes non-metal furniture, and Waunakee and McFarland run free clean-up weeks. Across the county 32.1% of 251,529 households moved in since 2020.
- 38.8%
- of Madison households moved in since 2020
- 29.4%
- of Sun Prairie households moved in since 2020
- 37.1%
- of Fitchburg households moved in since 2020
- 35.2%
- of Middleton households moved in since 2020
Full table with each community's numbers: service area. Compare bulk rules in one table.
Through the year in Madison
The calendar changes what the free options can do. These are the dates and limits the city and county publish, and they are the reason the same couch can be easy to get rid of in June and stuck on the porch in January.
Spring
Brush collection starts in April or late March, with five Sunday set-out chances a year per home. Waunakee and McFarland hold free curbside clean-up weeks; in 2026 they started May 11 and March 23.
Summer
The August student move-out takes over the isthmus. In 2026 the city ran daily cart pickup and roving furniture crews from August 3 to 21, and work orders for every property in the area from July 26 to August 14.
Fall
Fall leaf collection can delay large item pickups, by the city's own warning. Brush collection wraps up in September or early October, and McFarland's second large-item week ran August 31 to September 4.
Winter
From December 4 the Madison drop-off sites drop to weekdays only, 7:30am to 2:30pm, closed Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Dane County Landfill keeps Saturday mornings, 8am to 10:45am, and winter storms can delay work orders.
By the numbers
Why Madison generates so much junk
By the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 estimates, Madison has 128,261 households, and 54% of them rent, against 42.9% for Dane County as a whole. 38.8% moved into their current home in 2020 or later. Every one of those moves left something behind: a mattress that did not fit the truck, a desk that did not fit the new room, a basement that was never cleared.
The housing is a mix of ages. The median home in Madison was built in 1980, but in the census tracts at the center of Fourth Lake Ridge and the Marquette districts the median is 1938 and 1947, while in ZIP codes 53717, 53718 and 53719 it runs from 1992 to 2006. Older houses tend to mean basements and narrow stairs, which is labor time on a cleanout.
Outside the city
The suburbs work differently
No other Dane County community collects large items with its own crews. Most contract the whole service to a private hauler, and the hauler sets the bulky-item terms: a prepaid per-item pickup through Pellitteri in Fitchburg, Middleton, Monona, Oregon and many of the towns; one item a month under 50 pounds through GFL in DeForest; a monthly booked pickup through Johns Disposal in Stoughton.
Rural towns lean on drop-off sites instead: the Mazomanie transfer site on Highway 14, Saturday mornings in the towns of Dane, Perry and York, and Medina's site where garbage is a dollar or two a bag. Each community page lists what we could confirm and links the source.
Who runs this site
This site is owned and published by N5 Studio, a one-person web studio near Rockford, Illinois. Jobs are performed by a partnered local junk removal company. Every rule and fee on these pages comes from the City of Madison, Dane County, the municipality or hauler concerned, or a Wisconsin statute, and each page links its sources. There are no reviews here, because there aren't any yet. More on the about page.
Common questions
Junk removal in Madison: questions
How much does junk removal cost in Madison?
National cost guides put a minimum or 1/8 load at $70 to $125, a half truckload at $200 to $400 and a full truckload at $400 to $800. Single bulky items usually carry a $60 to $150 minimum. Every job is priced on what is actually there.
Does the City of Madison pick up furniture for free?
Yes, for homes whose recycling the city collects: file a Large Item Work Order, set items out on your chosen Sunday, and crews collect them that week. Properties with more than 8 units have been excluded since January 1, 2025.
Why do some Madison residents pay $35 for appliance pickup?
Homes with private recycling collection don't pay the Resource Recovery Special Charge on the municipal services bill, so the city charges them per item: $35 for refrigerators, washers, dryers, water heaters, ACs and hot tubs, $15 for microwaves, grills and mowers.
Can I put a TV on the curb in Madison?
No. Electronics may not go to the curb under city ordinance, and the city may remove them and charge $30. Madison residents recycle them free at the city drop-off sites.
What does the Dane County Landfill charge?
In 2026, $15.03 for up to 500 pounds of mixed trash, $30.05 up to 1,000 pounds and $60.10 per ton above a ton. It is at 7102 Maahic Way, open weekdays 6:30am to 3:15pm and Saturdays 8am to 10:45am, for Dane County residents.
When is student move-out in Madison?
Around August 15. In 2026 the city ran its move-out operation from August 3 to August 21 in the area from the Yahara River to N Allen St, with roving crews collecting furniture without a work order.
Do you serve Sun Prairie, Fitchburg, Middleton and the rest of Dane County?
Yes. Requests are welcome from every Dane County community, and 58 of them have a page here with their own Census numbers and trash and bulk-item rules.
How do I get a price?
Call or use the quote form with the address and a description of what needs to go. A local crew replies with a price and may ask for a couple of photos to size the load. Nothing is loaded until you agree to the price.
What needs to go?
Call (608) 999-9363 or tell us the address and what needs to go. A local crew replies with a price, and nothing is hauled until you agree to it.