Background: In developing countries, the solid waste management system is poor and not well planned. Sound solid waste management requires determining of generation rate of solid wastes and assessing subsequent activities from generation till disposal practices of solid wastes. Debre Markos town has no data on generation rate of solid wastes, practices related with handling and disposal of solid wastes, and associated factors at household level. Thus, this study was conducted to fill the gap. Objective: To determine household solid waste generation rate, to assess handling and disposal practices and associated factors in Debre Markos town. Methods: A community based cross sectional survey was conducted to estimate households' solid waste generation rate in Debre Markos town from February to March, 2013. A total of 591 households were selected using multi-stage sampling. Structured questionnaire and weighing scale were the data collection tools. Solid waste was collected and measured for seven consecutive days. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Descriptive statistics were used to describe data. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were used. Results: The study showed that the per capita waste generation rate of the household was 0.197kg/cap/day. Among 591 households, 87.8% households had temporary storage. The study found that 60.4% of households reused solid wastes; 56.2% of sold their solid wastes; only 51.3% of households used house to house solid waste collection services; 76.8% of households burn their solid wastes and 43.1 % open dump their solid wastes. Linear regression analysis indicated that family size, energy source and family income had statistically significant association with household solid waste generation rate. Family size with selling solid wastes, educational status with using house to house waste collection service; and education and job with open dumping found to have significant association. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the per capita generation rate of Debre Markos town (0.197 kg/cap/day) was low. Family size, family income and energy source were factors associated with household solid waste generation rate. In this study many households practiced improper solid waste handling and disposals. Educate the community about the consequences of improper disposal of wastes. Further studies should also be done on other waste streams. Key words: solid waste, generation rate,