The 2026 program in brief
Akron's leaf collection for 2026 began on Monday, November 9. City trucks work through all ten wards, one after another, collecting the loose leaves that residents have raked out.
Two things are new this year. The city no longer publishes a start date for each ward. And the leaves go in a different place.
The ward order
The trucks take the wards in this sequence:
5, 3, 9, 7, 6, 4, 8, 1, 2, 10.
Each ward takes several days. Since there are no posted dates, you have two ways to know when your turn is near. Signs go up in a ward about 48 hours before collection is expected to start there. And the city keeps a progress map, reached from akronohio.gov/leaves, that shows which streets are finished and which ward the trucks are in.
Where the leaves go now
In past years Akron asked people to rake leaves into the street, close to the curb, the day before pickup. For 2026 the instruction is the opposite. Keep leaves out of the street and pile them on the devil strip, the grass between the sidewalk and the curb.
You do not have to wait for the signs. Leaves can go out on the devil strip at any time before the trucks arrive. The city says the change should keep piles from blocking traffic and help the work move faster with fewer delays.
What to keep out of the pile
- No branches, sticks or other yard waste. The collection takes leaves only.
- No bags. Bagged leaves are not part of the regular collection.
- No cars parked on a pile or tight against one.
- No children playing in piles near the road.
If you still have leaves afterward
Oaks do not read the schedule. Plenty of Akron yards are still dropping leaves after the trucks have gone by. The city offers two options.
You can bag what is left and book a bulk pickup through 311. Akron households get three free bulk pickups a year. Or you can rake the extra leaves to the devil strip and ask 311 for a return visit.
The second choice comes with a warning. Return visits do not start until all ten wards have had their first pass, and the city says the wait could be several weeks or longer. If you live in Ward 10, the last on the list, your first pass may come late in the season.
What the program does not touch
All of this deals with the leaves on your lawn. The roof is outside its scope, and roof leaves are the expensive ones.
A gutter packed with wet leaves cannot carry water. Rain runs over the front edge and falls beside the foundation, or it backs up under the lowest shingles. When the weather turns cold the soaked mass freezes into a block, and its weight pulls on the hangers all winter.
The new rule has a small side effect as well. A pile on the devil strip sits in the open for days, sometimes weeks, and every gust lifts part of it back toward the houses. Some of what you raked on Saturday is on the porch roof again by Wednesday.
When to clean gutters around the pickup
If your gutters are open, two conditions tell you it is time for the fall cleaning. Your own trees are bare, and the piles on your street have been collected. For most of the city that falls somewhere between late November and the middle of December.
Under oaks it may be later. Oak leaves come down slowly and keep coming after the maples have finished. Cleaning too early means doing it twice.
One rule overrides the calendar. If water is pouring over a gutter in an ordinary rain, it is blocked now. Do not wait for the ward schedule.
What changes with guards on
The appeal of gutter guards in Akron is that the timing puzzle goes away. Once fine mesh covers the trough, whatever falls stays on the surface until it dries and the wind takes it. It no longer matters when the oaks finish or when the trucks come. Nobody has to climb a ladder in December.
A guard is not a way to ignore the roof altogether. Fine debris and pollen can coat the mesh, and a rinse with a hose once or twice a year keeps water passing through it.
Getting guards on during leaf season
People sometimes assume they have missed the window once the leaves start to fall. They have not. Every install begins with a full cleaning by hand and a flush of each downspout, so the gutters are emptied on the day no matter what is in them. The steps are on the installation page.
The only real limit is weather. Ladder work stops for rain, ice and high wind, so late fall dates sometimes shift by a day or two.
If this is the year you would like to stop cleaning gutters around the city's schedule, the home page explains how Akron Gutter Guard fits and prices gutter guards. The FAQ answers the common questions in a few lines each.