The objective of this study was to carry out a field survey of the solid waste generation profile in parts of Makurdi, a rapidly growing urban city in north central Nigeria. The areas surveyed covered low, medium and high-density residential quarters, representing high/medium/low income groups in the area. Results of the survey show that the bulk (∼82%) of the solid waste generated in the area originates from households, rather than from commercial, institutional or industrial premises. Of the waste from households, a substantial proportion consists of various putrescible materials (36–57%), with ash, dust and sand (combined) forming another significant proportion (21–41%). From the non-household sources, putrescible matter is also significant (23–45%), as is the combined ash/dust/sand fraction (32–36%). The quantity of plastics/cellophane materials from household and non-household sources was, however, comparable (6–10%). There was more paper from commercial and institutional premises (9–12%) than from household or small/medium scale industrial premises (2–4%). Glass (0.1–6.9%), metals (mostly cans and bottle corks, 0.7–3.4%) and textiles (0.3–6%) form only a minor proportion of the waste across generators. Waste generation rates were for households, 0.54kg/cap/day; for commercial, 0.018kg/m2/day; institutional, 0.015kg/m2/day while for small and medium scale industries, the rate was 0.47kg/m2/day. As there is no previous study of this kind in the Makurdi urban area, what is reported here may be taken as baseline for the entire area. The implications of the findings for solid waste management planning are discussed.