11% of Florida Dumpster Rental Companies Are Ghost Listings. Here's the Data.

11% of Florida Dumpster Rental Companies Are Ghost Listings. Here's the Data.

We scored every dumpster rental operator in America. All of them. 6,304 companies. 50 states. Real Google data, real reviews, real scores.

Florida's ghost listing rate is moderate compared to states like Arizona or Louisiana. But Florida's massive market means the raw number of ghost listings is the second-highest in the country — and certain South Florida and Central Florida cities are significantly worse than the state average.

The Headline Number

11.2% of Florida dumpster rental companies are ghost listings — Google Maps entries with zero reviews, a sub-3.0 star rating, or both. That's 18% higher than the 9.5% national average.

But the volume tells the real story: Florida has 63 ghost listings across 561 total operators. Only Texas (123) has more ghost listings by raw count. That's 63 fake or unverified companies sitting in Google Maps results across the Sunshine State, waiting for your call.

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What Is a Ghost Listing?

A ghost listing is a business listed on Google Maps that shows one or more of these red flags:

• Zero reviews — nobody has ever reviewed them publicly
• No star rating — Google has no rating data at all
• Sub-3.0 star rating — enough bad experiences to drag the average below 3 stars

In Florida, ghost listings concentrate in two zones: South Florida (the Broward/Palm Beach corridor) and Central Florida (the I-4 corridor between Orlando and Daytona Beach).

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The Data: Florida by the Numbers

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Worst Cities for Ghost Listings in Florida

Coral Springs and Daytona Beach tie for worst in Florida — half of all dumpster rental listings in each city are ghosts. Coral Springs is in Broward County, part of the densely populated South Florida corridor where lead-generation farms thrive on high search volume. Daytona Beach sits on the I-4 corridor and sees periodic demand spikes from storm cleanups and seasonal construction.

Kissimmee has a 40% ghost rate — 2 of 5 operators are ghosts. Kissimmee is in the Orlando metro, where rapid suburban growth attracts both legitimate operators and fly-by-night listings.

Boca Raton and Miramar — both in South Florida — round out the top 5. The Broward-Palm Beach corridor has the highest concentration of ghost listings in the state.

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Why Florida?

1. Year-round construction demand. Florida doesn't have a construction "off season" like Northern states. Year-round demand means year-round opportunity for ghost listings to capture calls. The steady flow of searches keeps phantom listings alive longer than in seasonal markets.

2. Hurricane-driven demand spikes. Like Louisiana, Florida's hurricane seasons create periodic surges in dumpster rental demand. Fly-by-night operators flood the market after every major storm, and their ghost listings persist on Google Maps long after the storm season ends.

3. South Florida's lead-farm ecosystem. Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties have an unusually high concentration of lead-generation companies across all service industries — not just dumpster rental. The ghost listings in Coral Springs, Boca Raton, and Miramar likely belong to the same lead-farm networks that plague plumbing, HVAC, and locksmith searches in the region.

4. Tourist-area seasonality. Cities like Daytona Beach and Kissimmee have seasonal population swings that create irregular demand patterns. Ghost listings target the high-demand seasons and sit dormant during low seasons — but they never get taken down.

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The Best-Rated Operators in Florida

These are the top 5 Florida operators by DCS Score. Every one has been independently scored on public data — none paid to be here.

Florida has five operators with perfect 100 DCS Scores — the strongest top tier of any state we've investigated. Dumpster Today leads in review volume with 905 reviews. Orlando dominates the top tier with 3 of the 5 top-scored operators. For the Tampa Bay area, Stand Up Guys Junk Removal in Clearwater is the standout. For the Gulf Coast north of Tampa, Affordable Hauling in Brooksville leads.

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How to Avoid Ghost Listings in Florida

1. Never hire a company with fewer than 10 Google reviews. Florida has 561 operators — five with perfect DCS scores. No reason to gamble on unknowns. 2. Check the DCS Score. Operators scoring below 40 are in the "Listed" tier — that's where the 63 ghost listings live. 3. Be extra cautious in South Florida. The Broward-Palm Beach corridor (Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Miramar) has the worst ghost concentration. Verify everything before you call. 4. Watch for post-hurricane pop-ups. After any major storm, dozens of new listings appear. Wait for the surge to pass, or stick with operators who had reviews before the storm. 5. Check area codes. If the listing says "Miami" but the phone number is from New Jersey or New York, you're probably looking at a lead farm, not a local hauler. 6. Use the [size estimator](/tools/size-estimator) to know what you need before you call, and the [cost calculator](/calculator) to benchmark quotes.

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Our Methodology

• Data source: Google Places API, pulled April 2026, across 50 US states and 200+ metros.
• Universe: 6,304 unique operators with at least one business detail field populated.
• Ghost listing definition: A Google Maps business listing with either (a) zero reviews, (b) no star rating, or (c) a rating below 3.0 stars.
• DCS Score: Our 100-point rubric measuring Rating Quality (25 pts), Review Volume (25 pts), Consistency (15 pts), Trust Signals (20 pts), and Data Completeness (15 pts).
• Independence: No operator paid for placement. No operator can pay to improve their DCS Score.

Data last updated April 2026. We re-score monthly.

[Browse the full Florida operator directory](/dumpster-rental/florida) | [Try the size estimator](/tools/size-estimator) | [Use the cost calculator](/calculator)