Where the numbers come from

Store prices on the shopping lists

A shopping list line shows a price only when it counts the exact product priced here, in the same size and colour. Each price is the seller’s own posted price for one unit, before tax and delivery, as its product page showed it on the day shown. Prices are read again each week; when a page cannot be read, the last price stays with its date. A price you type in a calculator replaces the store’s.

A new roof at today’s prices

The roofing cost pages add up the parts of a re-roof that are priced today: shingles and underlayment from the store prices above, the posted price of a dumpster for the tear-off (200 lb of shingles a square a layer, from GAF’s Timberline HDZ declaration) and a permit where the city prints a flat fee for replacing a roof covering. Labor has no public price by the job. Roofers’ median hourly wages are from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; benefits make up 30.5% of what private construction employers spend an hour on pay and benefits (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026), so an employer’s cost of an hour is the wage ÷ 0.695. The estimate counts the crew’s time at 3 worker-hours a square, a common pace for tearing off one layer and laying new shingles on a roof a crew can walk on; it is an everyday trade figure, not a measured one, and the visitor changes it. Overhead and profit are a share of the price: what was left of roofing contractors’ 2022 receipts after materials, work they subcontracted and their construction workers’ pay and benefits, 39.4% (the crew’s benefits taken as the trade’s fringe benefits in proportion to the crew’s share of payroll), from the Census Bureau’s 2022 Economic Census, table EC2223BASIC. The total is our estimate from these inputs, never a roofer’s price.

Dumpster prices and permit fee schedules, read October 12, 2026:

• Roll-Off Dumpster Direct, New York City
• New York City Department of Buildings: permit fees
• ZTERS, Los Angeles
• Los Angeles County Public Works: permit fees
• Roll-Off Dumpster Direct, Chicago
• Cook County: permit fees
• ZTERS, Dallas
• City of Dallas: permit fees
• ZTERS, Houston
• Roll-Off Dumpster Direct, Philadelphia
• City of Philadelphia: permit fees
• Roll-Off Dumpster Direct, Washington DC
• Roll-Off Dumpster Direct, Miami
• City of Miami: permit fees
• Roll-Off Dumpster Direct, Atlanta
• Roll-Off Dumpster Direct, Boston
• City of Boston: permit fees
• ZTERS, San Francisco
• San Francisco Department of Building Inspection: permit fees
• ZTERS, Phoenix
• City of Phoenix: permit fees
• ZTERS, Riverside
• City of Riverside: permit fees
• Roll-Off Dumpster Direct, Detroit
• City of Detroit: permit fees
• ZTERS, Seattle
• Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections: permit fees
• Dumpsters.com, U.S. averages

A new water heater at today’s prices

The water heater replacement cost page adds up the parts of a tank replacement that are priced today: the tank, at one store’s posted price for two Reliance models, and a permit where the city or county prints a fee for a water heater on a house. Labor has no public price by the job. Plumbers’ median hourly wages are from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, raised to an employer’s cost of an hour by the same benefit share as on the roofing pages. The estimate counts 3 hours of a plumber’s time for a swap to a tank of the same size and fuel, an everyday trade figure the visitor changes, and takes overhead and profit as plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors’ share of their 2022 receipts, 37%, worked out the same way from the same Economic Census table.

• Reliance 6-40-NOCT 400 at Cole’s Hardware: $599.99 on October 13, 2026; Reliance’s specifications
• Reliance 6-50-EORT 130 at Cole’s Hardware: $549.99 on October 13, 2026; Reliance’s specifications

Water heater permit fee schedules, read October 12, 2026:

• New York City Department of Buildings: permit fees
• Los Angeles County Public Works: permit fees
• Cook County: permit fees
• City of Dallas: permit fees
• City of Philadelphia: permit fees
• City of Miami: permit fees
• City of Boston: permit fees
• City of Phoenix: permit fees
• City of Riverside: permit fees
• City of Detroit: permit fees

A new furnace at today’s prices

The furnace replacement cost page adds up the parts of a gas furnace swap that are priced today: the furnace, at one online seller’s posted price for a Goodman 80% model (the visitor can type the price of their own), and a permit where the city’s schedule prints one fee for a furnace on a house, from the same schedules as the heating and cooling page, except Philadelphia’s, from its mechanical permit page. Labor has no public price by the job. Heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics’ median hourly wages are from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, raised to an employer’s cost of an hour by the same benefit share as on the roofing pages. The estimate counts 8 worker-hours for a furnace swapped for one of the same type, an everyday figure the visitor changes; Lennox says a straight swap with ducts in good condition takes 4 to 6 hours on site, and a gas furnace closer to 6 to 10. Overhead and profit are plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors’ share of their 2022 receipts, 37%, from the same Economic Census table.

• Goodman GR9S800603AN at Budget Heating: $1,330 on October 18, 2026; Goodman’s description of the GR9S80
• Chicago: the permit fee added, read October 19, 2026
• Philadelphia: the permit fee added, read October 18, 2026
• Boston: the permit fee added, read October 19, 2026
• Seattle: the permit fee added, read October 12, 2026

Remodel permits on the metro pages

Each bathroom remodel page for a big metro restates, in one sentence, the permit fee schedule a remodel of a house falls under there, and links it. The building department decides which permit the work needs, so no fee is worked out. Schedules read October 12, 2026:

• Chicago
• Dallas
• Detroit
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• New York City
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Riverside
• San Francisco
• Seattle

Atlanta’s and Washington, DC’s schedules could not be read, so those pages say whom to ask.

What city permits declared

Some cost pages show what the city’s own building permits, issued from October 2025 to September 2026, declared for the same kind of job: the roofing pages for four big metros, and the Boston siding page, the Boston insulation page and the San Francisco bathroom remodel page. Each figure is the cost of the work as the applicant estimated it on the permit, never an invoice. We give the median and the middle half, and the count of permits. For Chicago we also give the declared cost a square foot of roof, from the 445 permits that state a roof area of 400 to 6,000 sq ft. Read by script from each city’s open data:

• City of Chicago, Building Permits: Express permits whose work description begins “SCOPE: ROOF REPLACEMENT” and names asphalt shingles as the roof covering, read October 20, 2026.
• City and County of San Francisco, Building Permits (DataSF): Issued permits on one- and two-family dwellings whose description begins “reroof” or “re-roof”, any roof covering, read October 20, 2026.
• City of Boston, Approved Building Permits (Analyze Boston): Short form building permits in the city’s roof work type (ROOF) on one- and two-family houses, read October 20, 2026.
• City of Detroit, Building Permits (BSEED): Alteration permits on one- and two-family houses whose scope of work is the roof, or the roof and its gutters, read October 20, 2026.
• City of Boston, Approved Building Permits (Analyze Boston): Short form building permits in the city’s siding work type (SIDE) on one- and two-family houses, read October 20, 2026.
• City of Boston, Approved Building Permits (Analyze Boston): Short form building permits in the city’s insulation work type (INSUL) on one- and two-family houses, read October 20, 2026.
• City and County of San Francisco, Building Permits (DataSF): Issued permits on one- and two-family dwellings whose description begins “in-kind remodeling of 1 bathroom(s)”, read October 20, 2026.

Los Angeles publishes re-roof permits too, but values them by the roof’s size, mostly at exactly $200 a square, so its figure is a fee valuation, not the owner’s, and is not shown.

On the Boston insulation page, what Mass Save takes off comes from its own pages: Mass Save, “The Smart Path to Energy Savings” (published December 3, 2025, read in the copy a search index took on May 21, 2026), Mass Save, “Insulation and Air Sealing” (published September 10, 2026, read in the copy a search index took on September 17, 2026), and Mass Save, “No-cost Home Energy Assessments for Landlords (1-4 units)” (read in the copy a search index took on May 18, 2026). Mass Save’s live pages refuse an automated read, so we read those copies.

Dates and attribution

A Checked date is the last day we read that survey, wage, price or license source. Product specifications, manuals and unit definitions do not change once published, so they carry their source and no date. The survey year remains attached to every historical figure; a new calendar year does not turn it into a current price. We do not increase an old project cost using wage changes.

The Census Bureau, HUD, BLS and NIST material used here is U.S. federal government work. Manufacturer facts and the American Wood Council reference are cited for context; their artwork and installation instructions are not reproduced.

Our illustrations are original. Site fonts are Archivo Narrow and Source Sans 3, used under the SIL Open Font License.

Metropolitan project spending

The project spending tables preserve the Census categories, metro names, medians and published margins of error. Combined categories remain combined; a withheld value has no individual answer page.

U.S. Census Bureau and HUD, 2023 American Housing Survey, Table 16. Official interactive table · Census data service · Census data policy · Checked October 13, 2026.

An annual source review checks the pinned survey and the availability of a newer release. A changed category, geography or publication flag requires review before the replacement appears here. A failed check leaves the last accepted observations in place.

A new central air conditioner at today’s prices

The central air installation cost page adds up the parts of replacing a central air conditioner’s outdoor unit and coil that are priced today: the pair, at one online seller’s posted prices for a Goodman 2.5-ton R-32 outdoor unit and the Goodman coil of the same size (the visitor can type the price of their own), and a permit where the city’s schedule prints one fee for an air conditioner on a house, from the same schedules as the heating and cooling page, except Philadelphia’s, from its mechanical permit page. The seller’s page for the outdoor unit also holds a second, higher price in the data it publishes for search engines; we use the price the page shows. Labor has no public price by the job: the same mechanics’ wages, benefit share and overhead share as the furnace estimate. The estimate counts 12 worker-hours for a matched pair swapped for one of the same size on working ducts, an everyday figure the visitor changes; Trane says the installation itself takes 4 to 8 hours on average.

• Goodman GLXS5BA3010 outdoor unit at Budget Heating: $1,980 on October 19, 2026; Goodman’s description of the GLXS5B
• Goodman CAPTA3022B3 coil at Budget Heating: $930 on October 19, 2026; Goodman’s description of the CAPTA coils
• Chicago: the permit fee added, read October 19, 2026
• Philadelphia: the permit fee added, read October 19, 2026

A tile floor at today’s prices

The tile installation cost page adds up the parts of a tile floor that are priced today: the tile, at one store’s posted price for a box of a 12 × 24 in porcelain tile (the visitor can type the price and coverage of their own), and the thinset and grout the tile calculator counts, at the stores in the table above. Labor uses the BLS wage of tile and stone setters in the visitor’s metro, raised by the same benefit share as the other estimates; BLS publishes none for the Houston or Atlanta area, which take the U.S. figure. No tile maker or public body publishes the hours a tile floor takes, so the estimate adds labor only for the installer’s time the visitor types, and otherwise shows what one worker-day adds. The overhead share is tile and terrazzo contractors’ in the 2022 Economic Census.

• Montalcino Fairbanks II Gray matte porcelain floor and wall tile, 12 × 24 in at Floor & Decor in Hilliard, OH: $31.57 a box of 7 on October 28, 2026; its size, box count and coverage are the seller’s, and Montalcino is the store’s own line

Rooms painted at today’s prices

The interior painting cost page adds up the paint for the rooms the visitor lists, counted the way the paint calculator counts it: each room’s walls less its doors and windows, the ceilings when they are painted, the coats over the coverage on Benjamin Moore’s data sheet, in whole gallons, and the baseboard in quarts of semi-gloss. The two paints are the ones the paint calculator prices, at the store in the table above; the visitor can type their own price and coverage. It counts no primer, which a repaint of sound walls in a similar color does not need. Labor uses the BLS wage of construction and maintenance painters in the visitor’s metro, raised by the same benefit share as the other estimates. No paint maker or public body publishes the hours a room takes to paint, so the estimate adds labor only for the time the visitor types, and otherwise shows what one worker-day adds. The overhead share is painting and wall covering contractors’ in the 2022 Economic Census. Exterior painting is not priced: no exterior paint price is held yet.

Drywall at today’s prices

The drywall installation cost page adds up the board, joint compound and tape for the rooms the visitor lists, counted the way the drywall calculator counts them from USG’s published figures, at the stores in the table above. The screws are counted at USG’s spacing but not priced, because no store price for them is held. Labor uses the BLS wage of drywall and ceiling tile installers in the visitor’s metro, raised by the same benefit share as the other estimates; BLS publishes none for the Boston area, which takes the U.S. figure. No board maker or public body publishes the hours a room takes to hang and finish, so the estimate adds labor only for the time the visitor types, and otherwise shows what one worker-day adds. The overhead share is drywall and insulation contractors’ in the 2022 Economic Census.

What owners paid when they hired the work out

Each cost page also gives the middle half (25th to 75th percentile) and the median of what owners paid when someone outside the household did most of the work, by home size and by metro, and pages for single jobs the published table counts together: central air, furnaces, water heaters and septic tanks. We compute them from the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Housing Survey public use file, the same records behind Table 16, with the Bureau’s own method: each job weighted by its survey weight, the 90% margin of error from the survey’s 160 replicate weights, and the medians checked against the Bureau’s published estimates for the public file. A figure appears only when at least 30 sample jobs stand behind it. The public file rounds costs and caps the largest, so a median can differ from the published table: a little for most work, a lot for a few thinly sampled kinds, whose pages show both figures. Do-it-yourself jobs count materials only and are kept apart.

U.S. Census Bureau and HUD, 2023 American Housing Survey public use file; percentiles computed by The Well Planned Home. Public use file (CSV) · Census data policy · Checked October 11, 2026.

Contractor licenses

Each roofing cost page for a big metro links the body that licenses or registers roofers there. Checked October 7, 2026.

• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: check a license
• California Contractors State License Board: check a license
• Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation: license look-up
• Texas Legislature: HB 3344 bill analysis (2025), which notes there is no state roofing license
• Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General: home improvement contractor registration
• DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection: business licensing
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation: verify a licensee
• Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors
• Massachusetts Contractor Hub: home improvement contractor search
• Arizona Registrar of Contractors: contractor search
• Michigan LARA: find or verify a licensed professional
• Washington Labor and Industries: verify a contractor

The water heater replacement cost page names the body that licenses plumbers in each of the same metros. Checked October 14, 2026.

• NYC Department of Buildings: check a license
• California Contractors State License Board: check a license
• California Contractors State License Board: the licensing rule
• Illinois Department of Public Health: plumbing licenses
• Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners
• City of Philadelphia: find a licensed contractor
• DC Board of Industrial Trades
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation: verify a licensee
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation: the licensing rule
• Georgia Secretary of State: Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers
• Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters
• Arizona Registrar of Contractors: contractor search
• Arizona Registrar of Contractors: the licensing rule
• Michigan LARA: find or verify a licensed professional
• Michigan LARA: the licensing rule
• Washington Labor and Industries: verify a contractor or tradesperson
• Washington Labor and Industries: the licensing rule

The furnace replacement and central air cost pages name who licenses the contractor or the trades that replace a furnace or install central air in each of the same metros. Checked October 18, 2026.

• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: check a license
• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: the licensing rule
• California Contractors State License Board: check a license
• California Contractors State License Board: the licensing rule
• City of Chicago Department of Buildings: licensed contractors
• City of Chicago Department of Buildings: the licensing rule
• Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation: license search
• Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation: the licensing rule
• Pennsylvania Attorney General: home improvement contractor search
• City of Philadelphia: who needs which contractor license
• DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection: license search
• DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection: the licensing rule
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation: license search
• Florida Statutes, section 489.105: what an air-conditioning contractor may do
• Georgia Secretary of State: license lookup
• Georgia Secretary of State: the licensing rule
• Massachusetts Division of Occupational Licensure: check a license
• Massachusetts Division of Occupational Licensure: the licensing rule
• Arizona Registrar of Contractors: contractor search
• Arizona Registrar of Contractors: the licensing rule
• Michigan LARA: licensee search
• Michigan LARA: the licensing rule
• Washington Labor and Industries: verify a contractor
• Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections: refrigeration licensing

New houses

The project budget worksheet starts a new house at the $404,000 median contract price of contractor-built houses started in 2025, land not included, and quotes the $417,400 median price and 2,194 sq ft median size of new single-family houses sold that year. The cost to build a house uses the same survey’s contract price per square foot by region, its price bands and its relative standard errors (turned into 90% margins of error). U.S. Census Bureau, Characteristics of New Housing: highlights. Checked October 11, 2026.

Material price trends

U.S. producer price indexes, not seasonally adjusted. Index levels are not dollars or installed prices. Changes compare the latest month with the same month a year earlier using (new index ÷ earlier index − 1) × 100. Preliminary observations can be revised. No index is used to turn a historical household median into a current local price. All six, month by month with a CSV file: building material prices.

Ready-mixed concrete · Checked October 18, 2026.

Gypsum products · Checked October 18, 2026.

Prepared asphalt and tar roofing and siding products · Checked October 18, 2026.

Ceramic floor and wall tile · Checked October 18, 2026.

Prepared paint · Checked October 18, 2026.

Lumber · Checked October 18, 2026.

Copper and brass mill shapes · Checked October 18, 2026.

BLS copyright information. The monthly review checks for new or revised observations. A failed check retains the dated accepted values; a saved trend older than the review allowance is marked as needing an update.

National comparisons

The national figures on project and metro pages are the matching categories from Census AHS Table 16, with the national total selected. Checked October 13, 2026. Missing national observations remain unknown. Ranks order the published metro medians from highest to lowest; ties share their position and unpublished metros are excluded.

Cutting layouts

The sheet and board cutting planners use our own arithmetic on the measurements you enter. Sheet area is length × width. Board use is measured by length. Each cut separates a rectangular piece from its current panel and removes the entered blade width; when the blade passes the outer edge, only the material still inside the stock counts as loss. Edge trim is removed first and includes its own blade loss.

Used stock equals finished parts plus blade loss, edge trim and offcuts. Unused stock is counted separately. Each material you enter is planned on its own, so a part is only cut from stock of the same material and measured thickness or cross-section. Sheet layouts try four part orders in two cutting directions; board layouts try the longest parts first. Each of these is tried three ways, taking first the stock that fits best, the largest stock or the cheapest stock at the prices you type. The chosen arrangement places the most parts first, then follows what you asked for: the least stock left over, the fewest pieces of stock, or the lowest cost. Lowest cost compares only plans whose stock all has a price; a blank price is never treated as free, and stock with no price that could be used is named. This does not prove the best possible layout. A saved offcut is the plan’s own leftover piece, copied with its material, size and the stock it came from; it stays in your browser and in the file you save, and is taken off the list once, when you say you are cutting the plan that uses it. Rotation is permitted only for parts with rotation selected. All dimensions use millimeters internally; one inch is 25.4 millimeters. Displayed dimensions are rounded to six decimal places at most.

The method and worked examples are our own. Plan sheet cuts or plan board cuts.