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• Dam removal cost estimation tools are vital as the pace of removals increase worldwide • We develop a predictive cost model that enables screening of dam removal costs in the United States, and apply it to forecast removal costs for aging dams under multiple scenarios • We find conservative estimates of long-term dam removal costs to be on the order of $20B to $40B through 2075. • The scale of economic investment demonstrates the need for strategic cost considerations in managing aging dam infrastructure. • This model can further complement other multi-criteria dam removal decision-support tools As the pace of dam removals increases worldwide, tools to estimate their monetary costs remain scarce. We extend recent cost-estimation methods to include readily available covariates, which allows for predicting order-of-magnitude dam removal costs across the United States. We apply this model to forecast the monetary investments required to remove aging dams in the United States based on scenarios related to dam age, condition, and hazard to provide a range of plausible and relevant scenarios for planners and policymakers. Decommissioning just 20% of National Inventory of Dams structures over 75 years in age is projected to incur a mean cost of $6.4B by 2025 (n=3,935) and $22.4B by 2075 (n=15,165). Projected mean removal costs for dams in poor condition (n=7,475), and in poor condition and posing a high hazard (n=3,621) are $10.6B and $6.5B respectively. We also assess standardized cost estimates across states to examine state-specific cost trends. We conclude with a discussion of the economic challenges of managing aging dam infrastructure considering recent policies and funding allocations.