Cost to Level a Yard in Detroit [2025 Data]

Yard leveling costs in Detroit average $2,023, and most projects total between $1,059 and $2,988. The size of the area you’re leveling and how severe a slope you need to remove will largely determine your project cost. On average, you can expect to pay $1 per square foot for minor corrections to slope and up to $2 per square foot for more severe fixes.

Yard Leveling Cost Factors

The cost of yard leveling in Detroit, Michigan, can range anywhere from $450 up to $5,000, and determining where in that range your total will fall requires that you consider a few important cost factors.

Size

You can expect to pay between $1 and $2 per square foot to level your yard in Detroit, so you can get a good estimate for your project by measuring the area you need to smooth out.

If you’re looking to level larger areas, you may get more accurate pricing if you go based on acreage. The average property size in Detroit is 0.129 acres, and regrading an entire property of this size would cost between $5,600 and $11,200. However, Detroit has a flat topography, so most homeowners will pay far less for smaller jobs.

Type of Project

The part of the outdoor space you’re regrading and why plays a big role in calculating the final cost to level your yard. Check out these common regrading projects below to get a better idea of what size project you’ll need to account for and what it will cost. You can also ask your grading contractor how big an area you need leveled for your project.

Severity of Slope

The slope of your existing lawn will help dictate the overall price tag for this project. If you have a very steep slope on one side of your yard that you need to level, that will cost you more than a slight slope. Contractors typically charge based on the elevation change; the more significant the change, the bigger the price tag.

Detroit has minimal variation in terms of topography, so in most cases, you’ll be dealing with small slopes that need little work to level out. This is one reason why the average cost of yard leveling is below the national average.

Land Clearing

Your land needs to be clear before you can start correcting the slope, so you may need to account for land clearing costs before regrading. You could pay as little as $100 to remove light brush or debris, but costs could climb to $1,000 or more if you need to remove larger shrubs or trees. Only 24% of the City of Detroit is covered by tree canopy, though, so most homeowners will pay closer to the lower end of that range, if anything, for land clearing.

Land Surveying

If your land leveling project involves excavation, you may also need to budget for a land survey, which will show you the location of underground utility lines on your property. A land survey can cost anywhere from $800 to $5,500, so this can drastically increase your total.

Most homes in Detroit have gas heat and natural gas lines extending from the service line in the street to their homes. Water lines and sewer lines are a concern, too, and electric lines that DTE Energy is working on burying can also create some danger for excavation projects. A survey can also show you property boundaries, so you may need one if you’re leveling land to put up a fence around your property line.

Fill and Topsoil

Fill dirt is a rocky material that’s ideal for packing in pockets during a regrade. It costs between $5 and $30 per cubic yard. How much you need depends on the scope of your project and how much soil is available to relocate from elsewhere in your yard.

Topsoil goes down over the fill dirt. You’ll pay between $12 and $55 per cubic yard. Topsoil costs more than fill dirt because it’s full of nutrients to help nurture a lush landscape.

Yard Leveling Pro Costs

Labor will account for between 90% and 95% of your total costs when you go to level land, as fill dirt and even topsoil are relatively inexpensive, but moving it into place and tamping it is very labor-intensive. That means an average of between $1,800 and $1,900 will go toward labor. The cost of living in Detroit is slightly below the national average, so your per-hour costs for labor will be a bit lower than you’d pay in most other cities.

While labor for yard leveling is expensive, it’s well worth hiring a landscaping pro in Detroit to get the job done. Not only will it save you time and potential injury, but you’ll end up with a perfectly flat lawn, a minor slope to help with drainage from rainfall and snowmelt, and a much lower risk of hitting an underground utility line and causing property damage.

The City of Detroit doesn’t require permits for yard leveling, although you may still need to consider permit costs depending on why you’re leveling your yard. You will need to pay permit fees for things like installing a fence and putting in a concrete patio or driveway.

Does Leveling a Yard Increase Home Value?

Leveling a yard will normally only add value to your home if the slope of the land makes it unusable. This is very rare in Detroit, as most of the city is flat, so your property value likely won’t change due to yard leveling.

However, if you’re leveling to redo the landscaping around your home foundation, you could see a return on investment (ROI) of up to 200% on the landscaping costs. You could also see an ROI from other projects, like installing a deck or putting in a new fence.

How Angi Gets Its Cost Data

Home is the most important place on earth, which is why Angi has helped more than 150 million homeowners transform their houses into homes they adore. To help homeowners with their next project, Angi provides readers with the most accurate cost data and upholds strict editorial standards. We survey real Angi customers about their project 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. 

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