Ballpark what your scrap is worth before you hit the scale. We run daily numbers from more than 220+ real scrap yard buy lists—the same pool as our homepage—so your estimate lines up with how sellers actually price loads across the U.S.
Estimate your payout range before you roll onto the scale. Pick grades, enter weight in lb or ton (U.S. short ton = 2,000 lb), and optionally narrow to your state to see what yards in our network are paying.
Use it as a negotiating guide—final dollars depend on how clean and sorted your material is. Yards pay mixed loads at the cheapest grade in the bucket; strip insulation, separate brass from copper, and keep ferrous separate from non-ferrous to max out scrap metal prices.
Local prices by state & city
At the scale house, buyers grade on cleanliness, alloy, and weight. Small mistakes can drop you from bare bright to a lower copper number—or from prepared steel to unprepared.
Our ranges skew retail—think pickup loads and side-hustle sellers. A commercial load is usually much more of one clean grade; the yard saves on labor and sort, so your best per-pound scrap metal prices come from clean, sorted metal at or above the ballpark weight for that commodity. Every yard sets its own threshold—tell them you’re bringing a large, straight load of one grade.
| Scrap category | Typical commercial threshold (lb) |
|---|---|
| Aluminum | 500 |
| Aluminum Rims & Wheels | 1,000 |
| Batteries | 500 |
| Brass | 250 |
| Copper | 100 |
| E-Scrap & Compressors | 500 |
| Electric Motors | 500 |
| High Temp & Specialty | 50 |
| Insulated Copper Wire | 250 |
| Lead | 500 |
| Radiators | 250 |
| Stainless Steel | 500 |
| Steel & Iron (Ferrous) | 2,000 |
| Zinc & Die Cast | 500 |
Use the table to compare categories and call ahead if you’re above those weights with clean material.
Magnet sticks → iron/steel (ferrous)—lower $/lb. No stick → copper, aluminum, brass, stainless (non-ferrous). Pick the right family in the calculator so you’re not comparing apples to HMS.
Yards pay the lowest grade in the bucket. Mix bare bright with painted #2 and you’ll get #2 on the whole lot. Use separate barrels or totes.
Often yes. Hand-stripped or machine-stripped copper sells as bright; burned wire sells cheap. Cut brass valves off copper pipe; peel plastic off extrusion—small prep steps can move you up a full price column.
Call first: “What do I need to remove off this radiator/pipe so it grades higher?” Use our calculator as a ballpark before you negotiate at the window.
No. Each scrap yard sets its own buy prices. We give a market anchor from aggregated lists. For live numbers near you, search by ZIP or city on the homepage.
It varies by commodity—see the threshold table above. Above those lb marks, yards are more open to volume pricing. Tell the scale you’re bringing a big straight load. Yard owners: list your buy prices free.
The map shows regions where we track scrap metal prices from yards. Click your state to see local copper, aluminum, and steel prices. Want nationwide stats? View U.S. price overview →