Dirty & Scrap Lead Prices in the US
Check the latest Dirty & Scrap Lead prices in the US and locate top-paying scrap yards near you. Current market data shows average rates around $0.11 per pound, depending heavily on the amount of attached waste.
Average Dirty & Scrap Lead Price
- Low (up to $0.10): Floor price, typically for small loads.
- Mid ($0.11): A fair deal for standard quantities.
- High ($0.12+): Top-dollar rate. Offered for large commercial loads or by the most competitive buyers.
Pricing verified from 5 live board rates today.
Top Paying Scrap Yards for Dirty Lead US
Don't let your heavy loads go for pennies. Compare local buyers in the US below to maximize your payout for dirty lead flashing, pipes, and mixed scrap. National averages are sitting at $0.11, but your actual ticket depends heavily on the percentage of non-lead attachments. Always call ahead to confirm their current rates and specific deduction policies for tar and steel.
Weiner Iron & Metal Corp
Scrap X
USA Scrap Metal & Recycling
S&S Recycling
Fowler's Auto Wrecking Inc - Belltown Recycling Center
Your competitors are already here. Is your yard missing from the list?
Hundreds of people search here every day for the best scrap metal prices. Start capturing ready-to-sell leads today.
🚀 List your scrap yard ⟶Dirty Lead vs. Upgraded Lead Grades
The #1 rule at scrap yards: if you mix grades, they’ll weigh everything at the lowest rate. See the price gap below — if you have higher-value metal, always sort and weigh each grade separately to avoid leaving money on the table.
Historical Price Trends for Dirty & Scrap Lead
This chart shows where the market is headed. If the line is climbing, prices are rising — you might get a better deal in a few days. If it’s dropping, don’t wait: sell today before yards lower their buy prices further.
Dirty & Scrap Lead: Scrap Yard Price vs. World Market (LME)
Avg scrap yard price
World market price (LME)
Dirty & Scrap Lead: Spread vs. Exchange — Monthly History
| Period | World price (per lb) | Scrap yard price (per lb) | Spread vs. exchange |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 (current) | $0.878181 | $0.39 | -$0.49 (55.4%) |
| February 2026 | $0.892971 | $0.41 | -$0.49 (54.4%) |
| January 2026 | $0.92151 | $0.55 | -$0.37 (39.9%) |
| December 2025 | $0.901455 | $0.54 | -$0.36 (40%) |
| November 2025 | $0.918033 | $0.55 | -$0.37 (40%) |
| October 2025 | $0.907758 | $0.44 | -$0.47 (52%) |
| September 2025 | $0.906913 | $0.54 | -$0.36 (40.2%) |
| August 2025 | $0.906455 | $0.54 | -$0.36 (40%) |
| July 2025 | $0.925719 | $0.52 | -$0.41 (44.2%) |
| June 2025 | $0.91682 | $0.55 | -$0.37 (39.8%) |
| May 2025 | $0.907029 | $0.55 | -$0.36 (39.9%) |
| April 2025 | $0.88155 | $0.53 | -$0.35 (40.1%) |
| March 2025 | $0.926848 | $0.56 | -$0.37 (40%) |
| February 2025 | $0.896882 | $0.54 | -$0.36 (40%) |
| January 2025 | $0.88191 | $0.53 | -$0.35 (40.1%) |
| December 2024 | $0.914952 | $0.55 | -$0.36 (39.9%) |
| November 2024 | $0.91361 | $0.55 | -$0.37 (40%) |
| October 2024 | $0.938668 | $0.56 | -$0.38 (40.1%) |
| September 2024 | $0.926587 | $0.56 | -$0.37 (39.9%) |
| August 2024 | $0.920674 | $0.55 | -$0.37 (39.9%) |
| July 2024 | $0.971394 | $0.49 | -$0.48 (49.6%) |
| June 2024 | $1.000473 | $0.60 | -$0.40 (40%) |
| May 2024 | $1.020332 | $0.61 | -$0.41 (40%) |
| April 2024 | $0.979673 | $0.59 | -$0.39 (40%) |
| March 2024 | $0.939158 | $0.56 | -$0.38 (40%) |
| February 2024 | $0.946955 | $0.57 | -$0.38 (40%) |
| January 2024 | $0.962006 | $0.58 | -$0.38 (39.9%) |
| December 2023 | $0.937619 | $0.56 | -$0.38 (40.1%) |
| November 2023 | $0.998843 | $0.60 | -$0.40 (40%) |
| October 2023 | $0.954132 | $0.57 | -$0.38 (40.1%) |
| September 2023 | $1.00769 | $0.60 | -$0.40 (40%) |
| August 2023 | $0.975368 | $0.59 | -$0.39 (39.9%) |
| July 2023 | $0.959526 | $0.58 | -$0.38 (39.9%) |
| June 2023 | $0.94668 | $0.57 | -$0.38 (40.1%) |
| May 2023 | $0.948729 | $0.57 | -$0.38 (40%) |
| April 2023 | $0.96532 | $0.58 | -$0.39 (40.1%) |
| March 2023 | $0.954935 | $0.49 | -$0.46 (48.5%) |
| February 2023 | $0.947779 | $0.57 | -$0.38 (40.1%) |
| January 2023 | $0.995823 | $0.48 | -$0.51 (51.4%) |
| December 2022 | $1.006974 | $0.60 | -$0.40 (40%) |
| November 2022 | $0.954497 | $0.57 | -$0.38 (39.9%) |
| October 2022 | $0.900239 | $0.54 | -$0.36 (39.9%) |
| September 2022 | $0.851097 | $0.51 | -$0.34 (40.1%) |
| August 2022 | $0.940587 | $0.56 | -$0.38 (39.9%) |
| July 2022 | $0.89739 | $0.54 | -$0.36 (40%) |
| June 2022 | $0.943147 | $0.57 | -$0.38 (40%) |
| May 2022 | $0.979358 | $0.59 | -$0.39 (40.1%) |
| April 2022 | $1.085437 | $0.65 | -$0.44 (40.1%) |
| March 2022 | $1.067548 | $0.64 | -$0.43 (40%) |
| February 2022 | $1.041989 | $0.63 | -$0.42 (39.9%) |
| January 2022 | $1.055206 | $0.63 | -$0.42 (40.1%) |
| December 2021 | $1.033365 | $0.62 | -$0.41 (40%) |
| November 2021 | $1.04863 | $0.63 | -$0.42 (39.9%) |
| October 2021 | $1.051348 | $0.63 | -$0.42 (40%) |
| September 2021 | $1.00872 | $0.61 | -$0.40 (40%) |
| August 2021 | $1.045868 | $0.63 | -$0.42 (40%) |
| July 2021 | $1.060394 | $0.64 | -$0.42 (39.9%) |
| June 2021 | $0.994603 | $0.60 | -$0.40 (40.1%) |
| May 2021 | $0.991113 | $0.59 | -$0.40 (40%) |
| April 2021 | $0.915917 | $0.55 | -$0.37 (40%) |
| March 2021 | $0.893019 | $0.54 | -$0.36 (40.1%) |
| February 2021 | $0.94915 | $0.57 | -$0.38 (39.9%) |
| January 2021 | $0.918352 | $0.55 | -$0.37 (40.1%) |
| December 2020 | $0.919945 | $0.55 | -$0.37 (39.9%) |
| November 2020 | $0.876117 | $0.53 | -$0.35 (40%) |
| October 2020 | $0.809948 | $0.43 | -$0.38 (46.5%) |
| September 2020 | $0.86099 | $0.52 | -$0.34 (40%) |
| August 2020 | $0.884855 | $0.53 | -$0.35 (39.9%) |
| July 2020 | $0.833875 | $0.47 | -$0.37 (44%) |
Dirty & Scrap Lead Scrap Price History — Daily Data
A day-by-day market snapshot in exact numbers. Every day we aggregate buy prices from local scrap yards, recording the average, low, and high. Use this table to track real price movement over recent days.
| Date | Avg price (per lb) | Change | Range (Low/High) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/17/2026 | $0.09 / lb | -$0.03 | $0.05 - $0.12 |
| 10/9/2025 | $0.12 / lb | -$0.28 | $0.12 - $0.12 |
| 7/23/2025 | $0.40 / lb | +$0.20 | $0.40 - $0.40 |
| 7/29/2024 | $0.20 / lb | -$0.05 | $0.20 - $0.20 |
| 3/13/2023 | $0.25 / lb | +$0.10 | $0.25 - $0.25 |
| 1/22/2023 | $0.15 / lb | -$0.13 | $0.15 - $0.15 |
| 10/22/2020 | $0.28 / lb | +$0.18 | $0.28 - $0.28 |
The Reality of Selling Dirty & Scrap Lead
Lead is one of the heaviest metals you will haul, meaning even small price differences add up fast on the scale in the US. Dirty & Scrap Lead generally consists of lead materials that still have foreign attachments—think roof flashing caked in heavy tar, lead pipes with brass fittings still attached, or lead joints cast around iron. Because the yard has to account for the weight of that non-lead garbage and the labor to process it before smelting, buyers offer penalized rates. Our data shows national pricing ranging from $0.10 for heavily contaminated scrap up to $0.12 for mostly clean loads that just missed the cutoff.
Stop Bleeding Profits: The Mixing Trap
If you take nothing else away from this, remember the golden rule: yards price mixed loads based on the lowest common denominator. If you have a bucket of pristine Soft Lead (Clean) and you throw in a couple of dirty lead pipes with heavy iron joints, the scale master will downgrade the entire tub to the dirty rate. You are looking at a brutal loss of roughly $0.36 per pound on your pure lead. Keep your clean, bendable lead strictly separated from your contaminated scrap.
The Scrapper's Guide to Upgrading Dirty Lead
Most dirty lead is just a few minutes of work away from being clean. If you want to stop leaving money on the table US, you need to know how to process your material:
- Lead Flashing: Often pulled from old roofs, it usually comes covered in thick roofing tar or nails. Heavy tar means heavy weight deductions at the scale. Scrape off the worst of it.
- Plumbing Scrap: Old lead drain lines frequently have brass or copper fittings sweat onto the ends, instantly downgrading the whole piece.
- Mixed Alloy Lead: Items like Wheel Weights (Hard Lead) or Range Lead have their own distinct categories and should not be tossed in with standard dirty soft lead.
Yard Pro Tip: If you pull old lead plumbing pipes with brass valves or fittings still attached, do not sell them as-is! The yard will buy the entire heavy piece as Dirty Lead. Take a Sawzall and cut the pipe an inch or two below the fitting. You instantly upgrade the bulk of the pipe to Soft Lead (Clean), and you can throw the brass end into your dirty brass bucket. That one ten-second cut drastically increases your overall payout.
Frequently Asked Questions
What determines the price of Dirty & Scrap Lead?
Prices are heavily influenced by the LME markets, often trading about 87.1% below spot lead. Currently, the national average is sitting at $0.11. However, the yard will heavily adjust your final payout based on how much "tare" or trash weight (like tar, steel, or brass) is attached to your metal.
Can I melt down dirty lead myself to clean it?
While some scrappers melt dirty lead into ingots to remove impurities, many commercial scrap yards will not buy homemade "muffin" ingots because they cannot verify the purity without an expensive chemical analyzer. It is almost always safer and more profitable to simply cut off the attachments mechanically.
What is the difference between dirty lead and hard lead?
Dirty lead is typically soft lead (like pipes or sheet lead) that has non-lead garbage attached to it. Hard lead, such as wheel weights or bullet scrap, actually has antimony or tin mixed directly into the lead alloy to make it rigid. Yards grade and price these differently, with hard lead fetching its own specific rate based on the alloy content.
Dirty & Scrap Lead scrap prices — find in your state on the map
The map shows states where we have Dirty & Scrap Lead scrap prices. Click a state on the map or use the links below to see current Dirty & Scrap Lead prices in that region.