The short answer

You cannot put a mattress out with your regular garbage in Minneapolis. It is a bulky item, which means it needs a scheduled pickup request and normally a per-item charge, or it needs to go to a facility that takes mattresses.

Putting one on the alley apron without an approved pickup is illegal dumping. It gets traced to the nearest address, which is yours, and you can be cited and billed for the removal.

The flat alternative, priced and carried out from any floor: twin $82, full or double $94, queen $103, king or cal king $114, box spring any size $92, mattress and box spring set $143. Minimum $75 per visit.

How the rules actually work, without the parts we cannot verify

We are not going to quote you a fee, a fine, an ordinance number or a program name, because those change and they differ across the metro. What we can describe is the shape of the rules, which is consistent.

  • Mattresses are classified as bulky items, separate from cart collection. Your regular hauler will not take one off the apron.
  • A request is required. Most municipal programs in this metro schedule bulky pickups on request, with a charge per item and a lead time of days to weeks.
  • The city you are in matters. Minneapolis proper, Richfield, St. Louis Park, Edina, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale and Columbia Heights all run their own arrangements. They do not match.
  • Timing is enforced. Items normally go out the night before or the morning of the scheduled collection, not a week early.

Check your own city's bulky-item page for the current charge, the lead time and the set-out rules. That is a five-minute job and it is the only reliable source.

Why encasement and bagging get asked about

The expectation you will run into is that a mattress should be wrapped or bagged before it goes out, and it is a reasonable one whether or not your city requires it.

The reasons are practical. A mattress left uncovered absorbs rain and snow and becomes enormously heavier. A wet mattress is harder for a collection crew to handle and it is also harder to recycle, because the materials have to be dry to separate cleanly. And if there is any bed bug history, covering the mattress before it leaves the bedroom is the responsible thing to do regardless of what any rule says.

Disposal bags sized for mattresses are sold at hardware stores across the metro. If you are going the municipal route, wrap it. If a crew is coming to collect it, tell them about any pest history and they will handle it accordingly.

Why leave-it-in-the-alley goes wrong here specifically

Minneapolis has alleys behind nearly every residential block, and that creates a genuine confusion: collection happens in the alley, so an alley seems like the right place for a mattress.

Three things go wrong, in order.

Nobody comes. It is not in the system. It sits.

The weather gets it. Rain, then snow. Between roughly December and March the plow pushes a ridge around it and it freezes to the pavement. At that point neither you nor the city can move it, and it is obstructing a public right of way that the neighbors need to get cars out of.

It gets reported. It is large, it is white, and it is visible from every garage on the block. Complaints follow quickly, and the citation plus removal charge goes to the address it is behind.

Do not put a mattress in the alley between December and March under any circumstances. Not even with a request pending, unless the collection date is confirmed for that week.

The Minneapolis complication: where the mattress actually is

Every legal route above assumes the mattress is at ground level. In this housing stock it usually is not.

In a story-and-a-half bungalow through Nokomis, Standish, Hiawatha, Field or Bancroft, the main bedroom is up a narrow staircase into the half-story, frequently with a knee wall on both sides and a hard turn at the top. In the walk-up fourplexes around Whittier, Lowry Hill East and Uptown it is on the second or third floor with no elevator.

A mattress will flex around those corners. A box spring will not — it is rigid, and a queen box spring is the single most common thing that gets stuck on a Minneapolis staircase.

None of that changes the price. $143 for the set is $143 from the half-story or the third floor. There is no stair charge, no walk-up fee and no per-floor fee.

Worked totals

  • Queen set and the frame. Mattress and box spring set $143 + bed frame $68 = $211.
  • Two kids' beds out of a Longfellow half-story. Two twin mattresses at $82 each ($164) + bunk bed $123 = $287.
  • Main bedroom downsize in Kenwood. King mattress $114 + box spring $92 + large dresser $148 = $354.
  • Student apartment near campus. Twin mattress $82 + desk $83 = $165.
  • Guest room in Fulton. Set $143 + bed frame $68 + nightstand $57 = $268.

Plain addition of published rates. If the room is going out entirely, compare against a quarter truck at $241 — you get quoted both and pay the lower.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put a mattress in the alley in Minneapolis?

Only with a scheduled bulky pickup, put out on the day they give you. An unrequested mattress on the apron is illegal dumping and gets traced to the nearest address.

Do I have to bag or wrap it?

Check your city's page for whether it is required. Either way it is worth doing — an uncovered mattress soaks up rain and snow, gets far heavier, and becomes harder to recycle.

What does mattress removal cost here?

Twin $82, full $94, queen $103, king $114. A box spring on its own is $92, and a mattress and box spring set together is $143 rather than $103 + $92.

Will a charity take a used mattress?

Almost never. Most Twin Cities charities decline used mattresses outright, and those that do not apply condition rules that exclude nearly everything.

What if it is in the attic bedroom?

It comes down and the price does not change. Box springs are rigid and the half-story stairs in Minneapolis bungalows are tight, which is exactly why people call rather than wrestle with it.

What if I have bed bugs?

Say so when you book. The mattress gets wrapped before it leaves the room. Treat the property with a pest control company as well — removing the mattress alone does not resolve an infestation.