The single-item jobs
These are the most common bookings in the city and they cluster tightly. A queen mattress is $103. A sofa is $126. A standard refrigerator is $164. A washer is $133. A treadmill is $115. A 42-to-65-inch TV is $68, which bills at the $75 visit minimum on its own.
Single-item jobs are also the ones where people most often add something at the last minute, because the truck is already coming and the marginal cost of a second item is just that item's price.
The two-and-three-item jobs
This is the bulk of what gets booked in Los Angeles. A bed cleared completely — queen mattress, box spring and a standard metal frame — is $103 + $92 + $68 = $263.
A living room refresh, sofa and loveseat, is $126 + $119 = $245. A laundry pair swapped out is $133 + $128 = $261. A media corner with a 42-to-65-inch TV and the entertainment center under it is $68 + $96 = $164.
Nothing in those numbers changes if you are on the third floor of a courtyard building in Koreatown or at the bottom of a thirty-step run in Highland Park.
End-of-lease clear-outs
A studio in East Hollywood or Mid-City: sofa, full mattress and a nightstand is $126 + $94 + $57 = $277.
A one-bedroom in Silver Lake or Mar Vista: sofa, queen mattress, box spring and a standard dresser is $126 + $103 + $92 + $126 = $447. Priced as volume instead, the same apartment is usually a half truck at $431, so volume wins and that is the number to take.
A furnished two-bedroom is generally three-quarters of a truck at $587 to a full truck at $732, depending on closets, the balcony and whether there is a storage cage in the garage.
Garages
The Valley two-car garage is the biggest single-job category in Los Angeles. A Reseda, Van Nuys or Woodland Hills garage after fifteen or twenty years is three-quarters of a truck at $587 to a full truck at $732, and sometimes two loads.
A detached single garage behind a Highland Park or Eagle Rock bungalow is typically a half truck at $431 to three-quarters at $587. A tuck-under dingbat stall in Palms is smaller — a large junk pile at $208 or a quarter truck at $241.
Fitness equipment is the most common specific line: a treadmill at $115, a weight set at $93 and a weight bench at $69, or a full multi-station home gym at $241.
Backyards
A hot tub is $390, or $501 for a 6-to-8 person unit. That is usually not alone — a backyard reset with the spa, a patio table and a patio chair is $390 + $89 + $30 = $509.
Patio furniture on its own is a small job: a patio table at $89, a patio chair at $30, an umbrella with base at $53. West-facing balconies in Hollywood and Marina del Rey destroy this stuff in about three summers, which is why it turns over so often here.
The big ones
Estate cleanouts in Pasadena craftsmans and Valley ranches are typically two to three full loads at $732 each, quoted load by load. Heavy-accumulation cleanouts run the same or more and are usually multi-day.
Storage lockers are priced by size: a 5x10 is $397, a 10x10 is $587, a 10x15 is $880 and a 10x20 is $1174. Those come up constantly here, because LA rents an enormous amount of storage and a lot of it has been paid for far longer than anyone intended.
Specialty items stand on their own: an upright piano is $364, a baby grand is $438, a pool table is $603 and a slate-bed pool table is $706.
What Angelenos are not paying
No stair charge, which matters in a city where most pre-1980 rental stock has no elevator. No long-carry fee, which matters on Venice walk streets and hillside lots where a truck cannot come to the door. No hillside or canyon surcharge. No same-day surcharge. No refrigerant fee on a fridge or an AC. No separate dump fee.
The number quoted before the truck leaves is the number on the invoice. That is the whole model, and it is the reason these totals are printable at all.
How to get your own number
Write the list. If it is four items or fewer, item pricing is almost always cheaper. If it is a room, a garage or a locker, price it as volume and compare. Photographs resolve any ambiguity in about a minute.
The only other thing worth mentioning is parking — which side of your street is clear on your day, whether there is an alley, whether the building needs a certificate of insurance. That does not change the price, but it shortens the appointment, and in a county this wide a shorter appointment is easier to schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average junk removal cost in Los Angeles?
Most single-item bookings land between the $75 minimum and about $164. Two-or-three-item jobs commonly land around $182 — a sofa at $126 plus a loveseat at $119. A one-bedroom clear-out is typically a half truck at $431, and a full garage is $587 to $732.
Is it cheaper to itemize or buy volume?
Four items or fewer, itemize. A whole room, garage or locker, buy volume — a quarter truck is $241, a half is $431 and a full truck is $732. Take whichever number is lower.
Do prices change by neighborhood?
No. Santa Monica, Pasadena, Boyle Heights, the Valley — same published prices. There is no distance, hillside or access surcharge anywhere in the county.
What does a mattress cost on its own?
A twin is $82, a full is $94, a queen is $103 and a king is $114. A box spring is $92. All of those are above the $75 visit minimum, so they stand alone.
Will the price change when the crew sees my stairs?
No. The quoted total is the invoiced total. Carry-out from any floor is included, and stairs are the normal case in most of LA's housing stock.