North Carolina timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in North Carolina — published stumpage values by species, and a free calculator that turns them into a figure for your own land.
Quick answer
These are stumpage prices for North Carolina — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for oak sawtimber is $48.96 per ton, reported by NC State Extension for Q2 2026. Delivered or mill log prices are a different and much higher number, because they include the cost of cutting and hauling the wood. TimberClear lists 770 North Carolina foresters, buyers, loggers and mills who work this timber. What a particular stand brings is settled by a timber cruise, not by a price list.
If you own woodland in North Carolina and you are wondering what it is worth, the number you want is the stumpage price — what a buyer pays you for timber while it is still standing. The most recent published figure for oak sawtimber in North Carolina is $48.96 per ton, reported by NC State Extension for Q2 2026. The full table is below.
Two prices get quoted in this business and they are not the same. Stumpage is what reaches you. Delivered, sometimes called the mill or log price, is what a mill pays once the wood has been cut, limbed and hauled to the yard — and the difference between them is the cost of doing all that work. Delivered prices are easier to find online, they are a good deal higher, and a landowner who mistakes one for the other walks into a sale expecting money that was never on the table. Everything on this page is stumpage.
North Carolina stumpage prices by species
NC State Extension, Q2 2026
| Timber | per ton |
|---|---|
| Pine sawtimber | $27.66 |
| Pine chip-n-saw | $20.34 |
| Pine pulpwoodpulp | $7.02 |
| Oak sawtimber | $48.96 |
| Mixed hardwood sawtimber | $28.03 |
| Hardwood pulpwoodpulp | $5.15 |
Source: NC State Extension, Q2 2026. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
Compare pine prices per ton across the Southern states
What is an acre of timber worth in North Carolina?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $1,490 to $2,980 for pine and other softwood and $1,540 to $3,090 for hardwood. Smaller trees, a thinner stand or a partial cut bring less. It's a ballpark, not an appraisal.
What is your timber worth?
The table above is the price. The calculator turns it into a figure for your land — it asks your acreage, your species, how big the trees are and how thick they stand, then works the estimate from the prices above. About a minute, and no email needed to see it.
What are my trees worth in North Carolina?
A price list cannot answer that on its own, and any site that tells you otherwise is guessing. Three things decide what an acre brings, and only you can see them: how big the trees are, how thickly they are growing, and what species they are.
Size matters more than anything else on that list. In North Carolina the best sawtimber on this page tops out at $48.96 while pulpwood tops out at $7.02 — the same tree, grown on, is worth several times more. That is the whole argument for knowing what you have before anybody makes you an offer.
Our free timber value calculator asks those three questions and works an estimate from North Carolina's own published prices, the ones in the table on this page. It gives you a range rather than a single figure, because a range is the honest shape of the answer. It takes about a minute and it does not ask for your email to show you the number.
How much forest North Carolina has, and who owns it
North Carolina has 18.0 million acres of timberland. 82% of forest land is in private ownership.
The wood itself: Oak/hickory (37.9%) and loblolly/shortleaf pine (32.3%); loblolly alone is 25.9% of volume, yellow-poplar 13.6%. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
In North Carolina a written plan signed by a registered forester does more than qualify you for a tax break — it legally switches off county and city forestry ordinances on that tract.
Sources: srs.fs.usda.gov · ncleg.gov
Do I need a permit to cut timber in North Carolina?
There is no statewide permit to harvest timber on your own land in North Carolina, but several rules still apply: the Forest Practices Guidelines for water quality, local county and municipal ordinances that can regulate harvesting, and sedimentation rules where a stream is involved. Requirements vary by county, so check with the county before work starts.
Counties and cities are barred from regulating forestry on land taxed at present-use value as forestland, or managed under a plan prepared or approved by a North Carolina registered forester. A local government can still withhold building or subdivision approvals for up to three years after a harvest that removed protected trees.
Source: ncleg.gov
Present-Use Value: what North Carolina charges to hold woodland
Forestland is taxed on what it earns growing timber instead of what a developer would pay for it. Deferred taxes for the previous three years plus interest become due if the land is disqualified.
Two things to check before you apply: it takes 20 acres — at least one tract in the forest unit must be 20 acres or more, and a written forest management plan is required. Programmes like this usually carry a claw-back — take the land out of forest use early and the state wants the deferred tax back — so read the terms before you sign rather than after you have cut.
Source: ncagr.gov
What the North Carolina Forest Service will do for you, free
Every county has a forest ranger you can call for on-the-ground advice, and the agency runs several cost-share programs plus a published list of consulting foresters. It will also prepare a written woodland plan, though that service carries a fee.
Worth taking. A state service forester does not bid on your timber and does not take a commission, so the advice comes without a stake in the outcome. They will not run your sale for you — that is a consulting forester's job — but they will tell you what you have before anybody makes you an offer.
Source: ncagr.gov
Getting the best price for your timber
The single biggest lever is competition. One buyer who turns up and makes an offer has no reason to bid against himself. A sealed-bid sale, run by a consulting forester who invites several buyers to price the same marked timber, routinely moves the final number by a wide margin — and it costs you a share of the sale rather than money up front.
Before any of that, have the timber cruised. A cruise is a forester walking your land and measuring what is actually standing, so you are selling a known quantity instead of taking somebody's word for it.
Because North Carolina timber is sold by weight, the load tickets are your receipt. Every truck that leaves is weighed at the mill, and those tickets are what your payment is calculated from. Ask to receive copies as the job runs rather than a single figure at the end — a sale you cannot check is a sale you have to take on trust.
And put the terms in writing before anybody starts: what gets cut, what stays, what the land looks like when they leave, and when you get paid.
TimberClear lists 770 North Carolina foresters, buyers, loggers and mills. Every listing is free and complete, including the phone number the business already publishes. We have not vetted, verified or endorsed any of them — the listing tells you who they are and what counties they cover, and the choosing is yours.
770 North Carolina timber businesses
Foresters, buyers, loggers and mills, with the counties each one covers. Free and complete.
Compare states side by side
Pick any states and see their prices next to each other.
Timber price questions in North Carolina
What are timber prices in North Carolina right now?
NC State Extension reports oak sawtimber at $48.96 per ton for Q2 2026. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in North Carolina are listed on this page, and they move every quarter.
What is stumpage value?
Stumpage is the price paid for timber while it is still standing — the money that reaches the landowner. It is not the same as a delivered or mill log price, which is what a mill pays once the wood has been cut, limbed and hauled to the yard. The gap between the two is the cost of doing that work, and it is large. A delivered price quoted as though it were stumpage will make timber look worth far more than it is.
How much is an acre of timber worth in North Carolina?
It depends on three things the price list cannot tell you: how big the trees are, how thickly they are growing, and whether they are sawtimber or pulpwood size. Sawtimber is worth several times what pulpwood is worth per ton. TimberClear's free timber value calculator asks those questions and works the estimate from North Carolina's own published prices. It gives a range, never a single figure, because only a cruise settles what a stand is really worth.
Do I need a permit to cut timber in North Carolina?
North Carolina has no statewide permit and no state notification requirement for harvesting timber on your own land. What you must do is follow the state's Forest Practice Guidelines Related to Water Quality. Counties and cities are barred from regulating forestry on land taxed at present-use value as forestland, or managed under a plan prepared or approved by a North Carolina registered forester. A local government can still withhold building or subdivision approvals for up to three years after a harvest that removed protected trees.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in North Carolina?
North Carolina runs Present-Use Value. Forestland is taxed on what it earns growing timber instead of what a developer would pay for it. Deferred taxes for the previous three years plus interest become due if the land is disqualified. It takes 20 acres — at least one tract in the forest unit must be 20 acres or more. A written forest management plan is required.
Who can help me manage my timber in North Carolina for free?
The North Carolina Forest Service. Every county has a forest ranger you can call for on-the-ground advice, and the agency runs several cost-share programs plus a published list of consulting foresters. It will also prepare a written woodland plan, though that service carries a fee.
How do I get the best price for my timber in North Carolina?
Get more than one offer. A sealed-bid sale run by a consulting forester puts buyers in competition with each other, and that is the single biggest lever a landowner has. Have the timber cruised first so you know what you are selling, and put the terms in writing before anybody starts cutting. TimberClear lists 770 North Carolina businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.