How Much Does a Cord of Wood Cost? What Affects Pricing and How to Know You're Getting a Fair Deal
Short answer: A full cord of wood usually runs anywhere from $250 to $600 in the United States, depending on wood type, moisture content, your zip code, and delivery fees. The catch is making sure you're actually getting 128 cubic feet of stacked wood, because plenty of suppliers cut corners on volume and call it good.
If you've ever bought a cord of firewood and felt like the truck bed looked a little light, you're not imagining it. The wood industry has gotten loose with terms like "cord," "face cord," and "rack," and a lot of buyers end up paying full cord prices for half the volume. For wood headed to a fireplace in winter, a wood stove for home heating, or a barbecue pit out back, knowing what you're buying matters more than the sticker price.
Here's how cord pricing actually works, what drives the cost up or down, and how to spot a fair deal versus a ripoff.
What a Cord of Wood Actually Is
By weights and measures in the United States, a cord is 128 cubic feet of stacked wood. That's the number. Length times width times height, no fluff, no funny business. As Austin Butler, Co-Owner of ButlerWood put it during a recent yard tour:
"A cord is 128 cubic feet, length times width times height of a stack of wood, straight stacked, no criss cross, no laying crooked, has to all be stacked. That's how our great grandfathers bought and sold wood."
Stack a cord properly and it measures four feet high, eight feet long, and four feet deep, totaling 128 cubic feet. Whether the logs are cut to 16 inches or 18 inches, the stack can be configured different ways, but the volume always lands at 128 cubic feet.
The terms get confusing fast, so here's the quick reference:
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Full cord: 128 cubic feet of stacked wood
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Half cord: 64 cubic feet
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Quarter cord: 32 cubic feet
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Face cord: Roughly 96 cubic feet at most, sometimes far less
The face cord is the most abused term in the industry. Some suppliers call any pickup load a "cord" and deliver 80 cubic feet of loose wood. If a price seems too good, that's usually the reason.
What Drives Cord Pricing
A handful of factors push the cost up or down on any cord of firewood, and understanding them helps you compare apples to apples.
1. Wood type
Hardwood costs more than softwood because it burns longer, puts out more heat, and produces a better cooking smoke profile. A cord of post oak, hickory, or mesquite will run higher than a cord of douglas fir or pine. Fruit woods like apple and cherry sit at the premium end because they're harder to source in volume.
Heat output matters too. Hardwoods like oak, maple, and hickory pack more heat value per piece of wood than softwoods, which means you burn less wood to heat the same space. The higher upfront price often pays off over a long winter.
2. Moisture content
Green wood, freshly cut, can be 40 to 50 percent moisture. It doesn't burn well, smokes dirty, and weighs a ton because of all the water. Properly aged firewood targets 10 to 15 percent moisture, which is what you want for clean burns and strong heat output.
A lot of cheap firewood on the market is actually green or partially seasoned. Suppliers move it fast, the customer ends up burning damp logs, and the heat value drops off. Kiln-dried wood costs more for a reason.
3. Location and zip code
Where you live affects the price as much as anything. A cord of firewood in a major metro is going to cost more than the same cord in a rural area with abundant timber. Hauling a long log load across multiple states adds fuel, labor, and trucking costs. The surrounding area of your firewood supplier matters.
Delivery fees, lift gate access, and whether the truck can pull onto your property all factor in. Some suppliers add an additional fee for tight driveways or for hauling wood past a certain distance from the truck.
4. Quantity
Buying a smaller quantity always costs more per cubic foot than buying a full cord. A box of cooking wood at a barbecue store will run three or four times the per-pound price of buying a pallet direct. A half cord or quarter cord lands in the middle.
For home heating through a long winter, a full cord is the right move. For occasional fire pits or a Christmas tree season fireplace, a quarter cord or smaller stack of wood usually does the job.
5. Permits and special forest products
Some buyers cut their own from public land using firewood permits, which are a special forest product permit issued in many western states. The wood is cheap if you handle the labor yourself, but transport, splitting, and storage take real time. For most buyers, paying a firewood supplier comes out cheaper once labor is factored in.
Average Price Ranges
Here's a rough breakdown of what you should expect to pay for a cord of firewood, depending on the type of wood and location:
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Mixed softwood (douglas fir, pine): $150 to $300 per full cord
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Mixed hardwood (oak, maple, hickory blend): $250 to $450 per full cord
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Premium single-species hardwood (post oak, mesquite, pecan): $400 to $700 per full cord
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Specialty cooking wood: $500 to $900 per full cord, depending on species and delivery
Add 10 to 25 percent for delivery, more if you need lift gate service or live far from the supplier. Out-of-state shipping for a full truckload pushes prices higher because of fuel costs and USDA compliance for hauling wood across state lines.
Red Flags When Buying
Run through this checklist before you hand over the money:
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The supplier won't quote in cubic feet. If they only talk about "a load" or "a truck," ask them to define it. A real firewood supplier knows the volume.
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The price seems unbelievably low. Cheap wood is usually green, undersized, or both.
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They show up with criss cross stacking or loose piles. That's how suppliers fake volume.
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No load ticket provided. Reputable yards include a delivery slip with the volume and wood type listed.
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They can't tell you the moisture content. Anyone serious about quality knows where their product sits.
Why Vertical Integration Affects What You Pay
Most online firewood retailers don't actually produce their wood. They buy it from regional suppliers, mark it up, and ship it. ButlerWood operates differently. The company controls the whole process, from land clearing on thousands of acres of active contracts, to in-house trucking, to USDA-compliant heat treatment in the kiln at 160 degrees for 75 minutes per USDA schedule T314-c. That control is what keeps quality steady all 12 months of the year and what allows the company to supply major BBQ restaurants alongside a fast-growing wholesale base shipping to all 50 states.
It also means cubic footage is honest. A half cord pallet from ButlerWood is 64 cubic feet stacked on a 48 by 40 inch pallet, 58 inches tall, every time. No matter the wood type or split size, the volume holds.
About ButlerWood
ButlerWood has been producing premium cooking wood and firewood out of Central Texas for over 21 years. The company runs two yards, one in Seguin and one in Gonzales, with a full lineup of post oak, pecan, mesquite, hickory, apple, and cherry available in boxes, pallets, half cords, and full cords. Wood is naturally aged in the Texas sun and heat treated to USDA spec, which keeps the smoke clean and the burn consistent.
Ready to stop guessing on cord volume and quality? Browse cooking wood and firewood on the ButlerWood site, or call 830-205-1035 to talk through wholesale and full truckload options. Shipping is available across the United States.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a cord of wood last? +
For home heating with a wood stove as a primary source, expect a full cord to last roughly six to ten weeks in a northern winter. For occasional fireplace or fire pit use, a quarter cord or half cord can last a full season.
How much wood fits in a standard truck bed? +
A standard short-bed pickup truck holds about half a cord stacked properly, sometimes less if the bed is loose. Long-bed trucks can fit closer to a full cord with a high stack, but most pickups will not legally haul a full cord at once.
What's the difference between a face cord and a full cord? +
A full cord is 128 cubic feet. A face cord is typically a stack four feet high and eight feet long, but only as deep as the logs are long, usually 16 inches. That works out to about one third of a full cord. Some suppliers misuse the term, so always confirm cubic footage.
Can I burn any type of wood in a fireplace? +
Most hardwoods work fine in a standard fireplace. Avoid softwood like pine for regular indoor use because it creates more creosote buildup. For outdoor fire pits, almost any aged wood with low moisture content will burn cleanly.
