How Much Does Pool Excavation Cost in 2024?
Highlights
Swimming pool excavation is the first step in installing an in-ground swimming pool.
Pool excavation costs an average of $9.20 per cubic yard of ground excavated, but this price is influenced by several factors.
Excavating a pool out of rocky ground can easily triple or even quadruple the final price of excavation.
Labor is the main cost factor of pool excavation, taking up 70% to 80% of the total project cost.
Save money on pool excavation by repurposing soil instead of paying for disposal, hiring pool builders in the off-season, and choosing an accessible location on your property for the pool.
Swimming pool excavation costs $3,000 on average, or between $1,800 and $13,800. In-ground pool excavation costs vary depending on the particulars of your project.
For an easily accessible area in an urban center, you’ll usually come in under $2,500. However, if you own a remote home on a rocky hillside, you could be looking at thousands more in time, transportation, and labor fees, which can add up to $20,000 for the excavation alone. The same goes for particularly large or irregularly shaped pools, which can add up to $10,000 in excavation costs.
Your local swimming pool builder generally takes care of the excavation as part of the pool installation, but you might want to arrange it yourself if you’re acting as the general contractor, particularly if this is part of a larger outdoor remodeling project.
Average Swimming Pool Excavation Costs
| Average Cost | High Cost | Low Cost |
|---|---|---|
| $3,000 | $20,000+ | $1,800 |
In-Ground Pool Excavation Cost Factors
Excavation costs are almost entirely labor-related after minimal equipment and overhead fees. Here’s what you need to know about labor and material costs for in-ground pool excavation.
Materials
There are no material fees involved with excavation since you’re technically just removing material, not adding it. New pool costs usually cover equipment fees, which generally don’t exceed $200 per project, unless it takes multiple days to complete. It’s generally more cost-effective to hire a professional since renting equipment runs anywhere from $550 to $900 a day.
With that said, the type of material your team is excavating will greatly impact the final price of the project. You’ll pay quite a bit more to excavate a pool in rocky ground. In solid stone, you might consider using the stone as part of your project, although natural pool installation costs tend to be nearly double that of a traditional pool.
| Material Heading | Cost per Cubic Yard | Excavation Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rocky ground | $40–$100 | Higher cost if it includes blasting |
| Dirt | $8–$25 | Typical pricing for digging a hole for a pool |
| Sand | $8–$40 | Higher price if it requires shoring up the sides |
Labor
Labor makes up between 70% and 90% of in-ground pool installation costs, followed by permits and overhead which includes insurance, gas, and marketing fees.
Additional Pool Excavation Cost Factors
There are a few other factors involved in excavating your pool that you’ll want to consider before hiring a professional or taking on the project yourself. These factors include permits, site accessibility, the shape of your pool, time of year, and rerouting utilities.
Permits
The price for the permits you need to build your new pool will vary greatly by location. In some regions, you’ll need to secure a standard building permit, which can cost anywhere from $250 to $2,500. In other regions, however, you’ll be able to get a special permit specifically for swimming pools. Swimming pool permits cost $100 to $300 on average and typically include the entire project—both the excavation and building the completed pool.
Accessibility
One of the largest cost factors is accessibility—not only for the dig site, which may require careful transportation of equipment but also for the accessibility of your home in general. If the equipment can’t access your pool dig area, expect to pay significantly more to have it hand-dug. This may triple or quadruple the cost.
Also, accessing a home in an urban area costs far less than rural homes with difficult access issues, such as narrow mountain roads. Distance alone will add fuel costs, increasing your overall project estimate.
Pool Shape
Pool shape may affect the price only because the dig may take a little longer if your pro needs to move the equipment around to dig it properly. However, with some pool materials, the excavation can run large and then be backfilled, somewhat reducing the cost of an irregularly shaped pool.
Time of Year
Digging in the winter in northern climates tends to be a bit tougher since the ground can freeze. It’s not always a significant problem considering modern excavation equipment. Talk to your excavation pro or thoroughly research if the season will impact your costs and/or accessibility.
Buried Lines
If you need to move utilities or gas lines, you’ll pay extra for these services when building your new pool. This typically needs to happen in conjunction with the dig.
Moving a gas line costs $15–$25 per linear foot
Trenching for new wiring costs $400–$1,200
Moving a septic system costs $2,000–$20,000
Replacing a sprinkler system costs $2,500–$5,000
Pool Excavation Cost per Square Foot
You can expect to pay between $8 to $25 per cubic yard for pool excavation, though the cost to excavate for most projects is around $9.20 per cubic yard. With pools ranging from 64 to 178 cubic yards on average, expect to pay $510 to $4,500 for the average pool excavation. However, rocky soil can easily triple the work and the price.
Based on an average depth of six feet, here are some average pool excavation costs.
| Average Pool Size (Feet) | Cubic Yards of Dirt | Average Cost Range |
|---|---|---|
| 12 x 24 | 64 | $510–$1,600 |
| 16 x 32 | 114 | $910–$2,850 |
| 15 x 36 | 120 | $960–$3,000 |
| 20 x 40 | 178 | $1,420–$4,450 |
Budgeting for Swimming Pool Excavation
Excavating a pool can be an expensive project depending on your location, the material you’re digging into, and factors like the planned size and shape of the pool. Here are a few tips to help reduce new pool building costs:
Before hiring a professional to excavate the space for your pool, consult with a contractor to inspect the ground and determine what it’s made of (e.g., dirt, sand, rock, etc.) to help you better plan for excavation costs.
If possible (and if weather permits), hire swimming pool excavation contractors during the off-season to get a better labor rate.
Save money on dirt disposal by repurposing it for another landscaping project on your property.
Choose a smaller, traditionally shaped pool to reduce labor costs.
Choose a part of your property that will be accessible for heavy excavation machinery to reduce costs.
How HomeAdvisor Gets Its Cost Data
No place is more important than your home, which is why HomeAdvisor connects homeowners with local pros to transform their houses into homes they love. To help homeowners prepare for their next project, HomeAdvisor provides readers with accurate cost data and follows strict editorial guidelines. After a project is complete, we survey real customers about the costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We pair this data with research from reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Excavation generally takes four to eight hours, depending on site conditions, accessibility, and how far away from the pro you live. Excavation for natural pools carved into rock might take several days; it takes special equipment and explosives to carefully carve out the rock. Digging near a beach or other oceanfront property takes longer as well, due to added forms and supports needed to hold the sand back while digging and pumping out accumulating water from the pit.
Generally, you’ll remove anywhere from 64 to 178 cubic yards of dirt from your pool's hole. However, this can vary quite a bit depending on the pool size, how deep you dig it, and if you have an odd shape. Most oddly shaped pools tend to dig extra dirt from around the proposed structure.
To estimate the cost to excavate your pool, you’ll need to find its total volume. Multiply the width x depth x length of your pool to find the total volume (in cubic yards) and divide by 27. Multiply this number by the average cost of pool excavation ($8 to $27 per cubic yard) to get an estimate of the total cost. Remember that excavating rocky ground or in a hard-to-access location will add to this cost.
