Cost guide

Tank Removal Cost: State Homeowner Guides

Last reviewed November 2026. Primary sources were accessed November 7, 2026. Dates are Mountain Standard Time (Phoenix).

Browse tank removal contractors with a license on record

The ranges below come from state environmental agencies. They are not one national price and not a bid for your tank.

What the data shows

Primary sources first. These are heating-oil tanks at homes, which is the residential tank job state agencies write about. We did not find a government price for removing a commercial fuel tank.

New York DEC homeowner guide

Government · Undated page, accessed 2026 · Accessed Nov 7, 2026

Removal can cost from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the size of the tank, its condition, and how easily it can be reached. The page says to get a written estimate and a contract that outlines the services before work begins. The page does not show a revision date.

Confidence: Medium

Massachusetts tank removal guide

Government · Revised spring 2008 · Accessed Nov 7, 2026

Removal contractors generally charge between $1,000 and $2,500 or more, depending on the size of the tank, its condition, and how easily it can be reached. Usually not included: a replacement tank, sampling and testing, cleanup if a leak is found, and landscaping.

Confidence: Low

New Hampshire DES Safetank

Government program cap · Page accessed 2026; the page does not print a revision date · Accessed Nov 7, 2026

The Safetank program can reimburse up to $4,000 to upgrade or remove and replace an aboveground home heating-oil tank, and up to $4,500 to remove an underground home heating-oil tank. These are reimbursement caps for income-qualified homeowners, not a published market price. Work is pre-approved.

Confidence: Medium

New Jersey DEP UST Fund Cost Guide

Government fund schedule · Jun 8, 2010 · Accessed Nov 7, 2026

Flat rates the fund used for underground storage tank removal or closure, including excavation, cutting, cleaning, removal, and disposal. 550 gallons or less: $2,000. 1,000 gallons: $2,500. 2,000 gallons: $3,200. The guide is version 1.0, dated June 8, 2010. These are fund amounts, not a 2026 bid.

Confidence: Low

Typical range for homeowners

New York DEC, underground heating-oil tank

$1,000 to $5,000 (New York DEC homeowner guide)

How it was derived

We did not calculate it. New York DEC states that sentence on its homeowner guide. We did not average it with Massachusetts, which published $1,000 to $2,500 or more in a 2008 revision (Massachusetts tank removal guide).

What Massachusetts says is extra

A replacement tank, sampling and testing, cleanup if a leak is found, and landscaping (Massachusetts tank removal guide). New York's page does not itemize those exclusions in the same sentence.

Program money is not a price

New Hampshire's caps are up to $4,000 and up to $4,500 (New Hampshire DES Safetank). New Jersey's 2010 fund schedule lists $2,000, $2,500, and $3,200 for three tank sizes (New Jersey DEP UST Fund Cost Guide). Neither document is a contractor's current bid.

Confidence

Medium for the New York sentence. Low for the 2008 and 2010 documents.

New York's page does not show when the $1,000 to $5,000 sentence was last revised, so this is not marked high confidence. Get a written scope before comparing one removal price with another.

What the state pages say changes the cost

  • Tank size, condition, and access. Both New York and Massachusetts name those three (New York DEC homeowner guide, Massachusetts tank removal guide).
  • A leak. Massachusetts says cleanup is usually outside the removal price. New York says a leak cleanup can cost tens of thousands of dollars and that many homeowner policies have a pollution exclusion. It does not print a cleanup range on that page.
  • Closing a tank in place instead of removing it. Massachusetts says that path, when the fire department allows it, costs somewhat more than removal, and a later sale can still require the tank to come out (Massachusetts tank removal guide).
  • Which document you are reading. A 2010 fund schedule and a reimbursement cap are not the same kind of number as a removal range.

FAQ

How much does underground heating-oil tank removal cost?

New York DEC says removal can cost from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on size, condition, and access (New York DEC homeowner guide). Massachusetts, in a guide revised in spring 2008, says contractors generally charge between $1,000 and $2,500 or more (Massachusetts tank removal guide).

Why not one combined range?

The two ranges share a floor and not a ceiling, and the Massachusetts guide is from 2008. Averaging them would invent a third range. The headline uses New York's sentence because that is the current agency page.

What is usually left out?

Massachusetts lists a replacement tank, sampling and testing, cleanup if a leak is found, and landscaping as usually not included (Massachusetts tank removal guide).

Are the New Jersey amounts what I will be charged?

They are flat rates in a June 8, 2010 fund cost guide: $2,000 for 550 gallons or less, $2,500 for 1,000 gallons, and $3,200 for 2,000 gallons (New Jersey DEP UST Fund Cost Guide). That is a fund schedule, and it is old.

What is the New Hampshire figure?

A program cap, not a sticker price. Safetank can reimburse up to $4,000 for certain aboveground tank work and up to $4,500 to remove an underground home heating-oil tank, for income-qualified homeowners, with pre-approval (New Hampshire DES Safetank).

What if the tank has leaked?

Cleanup is outside the removal ranges above. The soil remediation cost guide cites a 2001 Massachusetts survey of heating-oil spill cleanups. Confirm current requirements with the state environmental agency before you hire. A directory listing is a license on record.

How we built these numbers

  • Source order: we start with government sources (EPA, HUD, state agencies), then public bid or contract unit prices (state contracts, school districts, cities), then industry survey data. Angi, HomeAdvisor, This Old House, HomeGuide and Fixr are shown only in a separate consumer-reported section and are not used to set the headline ranges.
  • Each figure in the tables is one we read on the cited page or document, with the source type, year, link, confidence and the date we accessed it (Mountain Standard Time, Phoenix). Where we found nothing, the table says Not found.
  • Typical ranges are our own arithmetic, with one sentence on how each was derived. We do not average bids of different scope, and a range is only as good as the sources it rests on, which is why each one carries a confidence rating.
  • Public bid prices are unit prices from institutional buyers, and they may include prevailing-wage rules and larger project sizes. They are examples of what contractors bid, not residential averages.
  • We do not use proprietary estimating databases such as RSMeans, Xactimate or HomeWyse, and we do not quote them.
  • We plan to add quotes collected from contractors in our directory later, and will label them as a separate source type.
  • Confidence key: High means a government source states the figure directly or two independent primary sources agree. Medium means one primary source read in full, or primary sources that agree only loosely. Low means dated before 2022, unclear scope, a program budget estimate or a single source. Consumer-reported rows are capped at Medium.
  • We refresh figures at least twice a year and show the last-reviewed date. Where a contractor listing is mentioned, the directory's phrase is license on record.

Sources

Contractors by state

These links go only to states where the directory currently lists tank removal contractors. The figures above stay national.

Before you hire

Red flags before hiring · Compare quotes

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Related guides

If the tank leaked, cleanup is a different bill. See the soil remediation cost guide for an old Massachusetts homeowner survey of heating-oil spills.