Why there's no fixed scrap price
Scrap yards don't set prices in a vacuum — they track global commodity markets. Copper is priced off COMEX, while aluminum and other base metals follow the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world's benchmark market for industrial metals since 1877. When those markets rise, yard payouts tend to rise; when they fall, buy prices soften, often within days.
A yard also pays you a margin below the benchmark — enough to cover sorting, processing, transport and profit. And prices vary by location: a competitive metro yard may pay more than a rural one. That's why the prices you see published online are reference-only; no yard is obligated to match them. Always get a current quote from the yard you plan to use.
What pays the most: non-ferrous vs ferrous
The single biggest factor in value is whether a metal is ferrous (contains iron, magnetic — steel and iron) or non-ferrous (copper, brass, aluminum, lead — not magnetic). A simple magnet tells them apart, and non-ferrous metals are worth far more per pound.
The usual ranking of common scrap, highest to lowest: copper leads, followed by brass (often around half of copper's per-pound rate), then aluminum, with steel and iron lowest — ferrous is frequently priced per ton rather than per pound. Catalytic converters are a special case: they contain platinum, palladium and rhodium and can be worth a lot, which is also why their sale is tightly regulated.
Copper grades — and why stripping wire pays off
Copper isn't priced as one thing. Yards grade it by purity and cleanliness, using standards set by the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA, formerly ISRI): Bare Bright (clean, uncoated wire around 99%+ purity) pays the most; #1 copper (clean but oxidized) slightly less; #2 copper (with solder, paint or fittings) noticeably less; and insulated wire is paid on its recoverable copper content, not gross weight.
Because of that grading, stripping the insulation off heavy copper wire to reach bare bright can meaningfully raise your rate — one industry source estimates up to around 50% more on suitable wire. For thin wire the labor may not be worth it. One rule: never burn insulation off — it's illegal and degrades the copper.
What changes your specific payout
Beyond the metal type and the day's market, the price you personally get depends on:
Grade and purity — cleaner, higher-purity metal needs less refining and pays more. Preparation — sorting by type, and removing paint, attachments and other metals, can bump material into a higher-paying grade. Cleanliness — oil, dirt and contamination lower the grade. Quantity — larger, clean, sorted loads can earn better per-unit rates. The yard — local competition and demand move the number.
How to find today's price (and do the math)
Because rates move daily, check a live source before you haul: tools like the iScrap App list reference prices and local yards, but the reliable number is a direct quote from the yard you'll sell to — call ahead and ask for today's rate for your specific grade.
To estimate a load's value, the math is simply weight × the yard's current per-pound rate for that grade. So for, say, 100 lbs of copper, you'd multiply 100 by the yard's current per-pound price for that copper grade (bare bright more than #1, #1 more than #2). There's no honest way to give a fixed dollar figure in advance — the per-pound rate has to come from the yard that day.
Before you go to the yard
Bring a government-issued photo ID — most states require yards to record it for metal purchases. If you're selling a catalytic converter, expect more scrutiny: many states regulate these sales to curb theft, require proof the part came from a vehicle you own, and prohibit cash payment (paying by check or electronic transfer instead). Rules vary by state, so ask the yard what it needs before you make the trip.
Aluminum is the most valuable everyday metal in your bin — our aluminum recycling guide explains how to handle it.