Say you need 60 feet of drain line to carry water from a soggy side yard out to the street. At HomeGuide's rate for a yard drainage system, that's $480 to $900 of pipe and trench. But the quote you get back may say $1,400, or it may just say "per foot" with a few extra lines below it. Neither is wrong. A per-foot price only covers the linear part of the job: the pipe, the ditch, the trench. The inlets, the outlet, the permit and anything else at the ends are priced one at a time. This guide gives the per-foot rates for the common yard drainage systems, lists what isn't priced by the foot, and shows how to put the two together into a budget you can check a quote against.
Quick answers
- Typical per-foot rate: HomeGuide puts a yard drainage system at $8 to $15 per linear foot and HomeAdvisor at $10 to $25; Angi's broader range across all system types is $10 to $50.
- The system sets the rate: a grass swale sits at the low end, and buried downspout lines and curtain drains cost more per foot.
- Not everything is per foot: regrading is priced per square foot or per project, and permits, inlets, outlets and emitters are priced per unit.
- Budget formula: feet of line times the per-foot rate, plus each fixed item.
Yard drainage cost per foot, by system
Here are the per-foot rates published by national cost guides for the common linear systems. They're installed prices for typical residential work, not quotes, and your site can land above or below them.
| System | What it is | Cost per linear foot | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yard drainage system | Buried pipe that collects water through inlets and carries it to an outlet | $8 to $15 | HomeGuide |
| Drop-inlet subsurface system | Backyard piping fed by drop inlets placed at low spots | $8 to $10 | Landscaping Network |
| Underground downspout line | Solid pipe carrying roof water from a downspout away from the house | $15 to $35 | HomeGuide |
| Swale | A shallow, graded channel that moves surface water | $5 to $15 | HomeAdvisor, HomeGuide |
| Curtain drain | A gravel-filled trench that intercepts water before it reaches the house | $10 to $25 | Bob Vila, HomeGuide |
Looking for other systems? French drain rates are in our French drain cost guide, and channel or trench drains across a driveway are covered in our storm drain installation cost guide. If you only need the digging priced, our trenching cost calculator breaks that out by the foot.
Swales have the widest spread of any line, because the finish matters as much as the digging. Fixr splits swale pricing by surface: "$4.50 and $8.50 per linear foot" for a seeded swale and "$15 to $20 per linear foot" for sod. HomeGuide also prices swales by area, at "$0.50 to $1.00 per square foot," which is useful when the swale is wide rather than long.
If you're not sure which system your yard needs, start with our yard drainage solutions guide, which walks through two simple tests and matches each problem to a fix. The per-foot rate only matters once you know what you're buying.
Why the ranges are so wide
You'll see three guides give three different numbers for what sounds like the same thing. Part of that is scope. Angi's landscape drainage guide says "most systems fall in the $10 to $50 per linear foot range," and that range covers everything from a simple swale to a deep French drain. HomeGuide's $8 to $15 is for one kind of system. The other part is what's inside the number. Some per-foot prices include the inlets and the outlet spread across the run; others are pipe and trench only, with everything else listed separately. In our experience, a per-foot number is only comparable to another per-foot number once you know what each one includes.
What isn't priced by the foot
Some of the most important parts of a drainage job don't have a length at all. These are the items to look for as separate lines on a quote:
- Regrading. Reshaping the ground so water runs away from the house is priced by area or by project, not by the foot. Bob Vila notes that resloping the ground where a drainage ditch lets out "shouldn't add more than $0.50 to $1 per square foot," and HomeAdvisor lists grading as site prep at $1,025 to $3,300 per project.
- Permits. HomeGuide says "Drain permits cost $100 to $375 on average." It also lists $400 to $500 in permits where a public curb has to be cut to create a new street drain outlet. That's a fee for the outlet, not the cost of building curb.
- Pop-up emitters. A pop-up emitter (also called a bubbler) lets piped water surface in the yard. HomeGuide says a bubbler system "costs $30 to $85 to add."
- Buried downspouts, per downspout. HomeGuide also prices burying a downspout underground at $150 to $350 per downspout, a handy check when the run is short.
- Catch basins and dry wells. These are priced per unit and can outweigh the pipe on a short run. Catch basin prices are in our storm drain installation cost guide, and dry well pricing is in our French drain cost guide.
Turning a per-foot rate into a budget
The formula is simple: measure the run, multiply by the per-foot rate for your system, then add each fixed item once.
Budget = (feet of line × per-foot rate) + inlets + outlet + permit + restoration
Here's the 60-foot example from the top, using only the published figures above:
| Line item | Basis | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Yard drainage line | 60 ft × $8 to $15 per foot (HomeGuide) | $480 to $900 |
| Drain permit | Per job (HomeGuide) | $100 to $375 |
| One pop-up emitter at the outlet | Per unit (HomeGuide, above) | $30 to $85 |
| Total | $610 to $1,360 |
This is an illustration of the math, not a quote. A real job may need a catch basin at the low spot, a different outlet, or lawn and hardscape repair, and each of those is another line. Whether a permit is needed depends on your city and the scope, so check before you count it. The value of the exercise is that it tells you which part of a quote is driven by length and which part isn't. If a contractor's number is far above your estimate, ask which line accounts for the difference.
What pushes the per-foot rate up
The published ranges assume ordinary conditions. These are the things sources name that move a job to the high end or past it:
- Length, pipe and inlets. HomeGuide notes that "Costs depend on the length of the run, pipe material, and number of inlets."
- Obstacles. HomeGuide adds that "Prices increase for working around obstacles such as root or sprinkler systems, swimming pool pipes, and utility lines."
- Access. HomeAdvisor says "if your yard is hard to access, expect higher costs due to extra demolition, excavation, and other work."
- Hard ground. Landscaping Network flags "Problem soil types such as caliche, hardpan and bedrock."
- Concrete in the way. The same source lists "saw cutting a driveway" as added demolition, along with "Removal of excavated soils and other debris such as broken concrete."
- Putting the yard back. Landscaping Network also counts repairing plants and cleanup after the system goes in.
Our trenching cost per foot guide covers the digging side in more depth.
Depth matters too, since a deeper trench means more digging and more hauling. In our experience, a side yard too narrow for a mini excavator is the single most common reason a per-foot price climbs, because every foot gets dug and backfilled by hand.
Reading a per-foot quote
When a quote comes in priced by the foot, a few questions make it comparable to others:
- What does the per-foot price include? Pipe, gravel, fabric, trenching, backfill?
- What's priced per unit? Inlets, catch basins, the outlet, emitters, cleanouts, the permit.
- Where does the water go? The outlet choice can change the job more than the length does.
- Who restores the surface? Lawn, planting, and any concrete or pavers that get cut.
- Is there a minimum charge? In our experience, short runs are often priced as a minimum job rather than by the foot.
Two quotes that answer these the same way can be compared line by line. Medici Construction Group is one licensed option for yard drainage work, holding California A, B and C-10 licenses under CSLB #1114433.
Frequently asked questions
How much does yard drainage cost per foot?
HomeGuide puts a yard drainage system at $8 to $15 per linear foot and HomeAdvisor at $10 to $25. Angi's range across all system types is $10 to $50. Inlets, outlets and permits are usually extra.
How much does a swale cost per linear foot?
About $5 to $15 per linear foot, according to HomeGuide and HomeAdvisor. Fixr prices a seeded swale at $4.50 to $8.50 per foot and a sodded one at $15 to $20.
How much does a curtain drain cost per foot?
Bob Vila and HomeGuide both put curtain drains at $10 to $25 per linear foot.
How much does it cost to bury downspouts per foot?
HomeGuide lists underground downspout lines at $15 to $35 per linear foot, or $150 to $350 per downspout.
How much does yard drainage cost per square foot?
Area pricing applies to surface work. Bob Vila puts resloping at a drainage ditch outlet at no more than $0.50 to $1 per square foot, and HomeGuide prices a drainage swale at $0.50 to $1.00 per square foot. Buried pipe systems are priced per linear foot instead.
Is regrading priced per foot?
No. Regrading is priced by the square foot or by the project. HomeAdvisor lists grading at $1,025 to $3,300 as site preparation.
What costs extra besides the per-foot price?
Usually permits, inlets and catch basins, the outlet, pop-up emitters, and restoring lawn or concrete. HomeGuide lists drain permits at $100 to $375 on average and a bubbler at $30 to $85.
How many inches per foot should yard drainage slope?
It depends on what's sloping: the ground near the house, a swale, or a pipe each has its own guidance. Our yard drainage solutions guide covers how much the ground should fall away from a foundation.
