This report aggregates the NailThePrice cost matrix — 90 home improvement projects across 289 U.S. cities (26,010 project-city price points in total) — into a single statistical overview. These figures are modeled estimates: national project price ranges adjusted for each city's labor and cost-of-living differences, with researched municipal permit data where available and modeled permit estimates elsewhere. Bloggers, journalists, and researchers are welcome to cite this page; a copy-ready citation appears at the bottom.
The headline numbers from this year's index. Each card links to the underlying project or city page.
Average project cost across all 90 projects, compared to the national mean. Click a city to see the full local pricing breakdown.
| Rank | City | State | Avg Project Cost | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | NY | $7,900 | +30.2% |
| 2 | San Francisco | CA | $7,800 | +28.0% |
| 3 | San Jose | CA | $7,600 | +26.2% |
| 4 | Honolulu | HI | $7,600 | +24.7% |
| 5 | Kailua | HI | $7,600 | +24.7% |
| 6 | Cambridge | MA | $7,500 | +24.3% |
| 7 | Fremont | CA | $7,500 | +23.9% |
| 8 | Irvine | CA | $7,500 | +23.6% |
| 9 | Yonkers | NY | $7,500 | +23.5% |
| 10 | Pearl City | HI | $7,500 | +23.2% |
The lowest-cost cities in our index for the same 90-project basket.
| Rank | City | State | Avg Project Cost | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington | WV | $5,200 | -14.1% |
| 2 | Fort Smith | AR | $5,200 | -13.4% |
| 3 | Jackson | MS | $5,300 | -12.9% |
| 4 | Topeka | KS | $5,300 | -11.9% |
| 5 | Springfield | MO | $5,300 | -11.9% |
| 6 | Charleston | WV | $5,300 | -11.9% |
| 7 | Gulfport | MS | $5,300 | -11.7% |
| 8 | Shreveport | LA | $5,400 | -11.4% |
| 9 | Southaven | MS | $5,400 | -11.4% |
| 10 | Evansville | IN | $5,400 | -11.4% |
Where you live matters most for these projects. Spread is the ratio of the most expensive city to the cheapest.
| Project | Cheapest City | Most Expensive City | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| Install an Electrical Outlet | Huntington, WV $170 | New York, NY $310 | 1.82x |
| Unclog a Main Sewer Line | Huntington, WV $360 | New York, NY $650 | 1.81x |
| Remove a Wall | Huntington, WV $2,030 | New York, NY $3,560 | 1.75x |
| Fix a Slab Leak | Huntington, WV $2,840 | New York, NY $4,980 | 1.75x |
| Refinish Hardwood Floors | Huntington, WV $2,270 | New York, NY $3,980 | 1.75x |
| Paint a House Exterior | Huntington, WV $2,870 | New York, NY $4,890 | 1.70x |
| Repipe a House | Huntington, WV $6,160 | New York, NY $10,480 | 1.70x |
| Rewire a House | Huntington, WV $6,980 | New York, NY $11,870 | 1.70x |
| Wire a Hot Tub | Huntington, WV $1,480 | New York, NY $2,510 | 1.70x |
| Paint Interior Rooms | Huntington, WV $1,480 | New York, NY $2,510 | 1.70x |
Average local cost across all 90 projects, grouped by climate. Cold-climate cities carry a labor and weather-window premium; freeze-protection and shorter build seasons drive the gap.
All 50 states ranked by the average project cost across cities we sample in that state.
| Rank | State | Abbr. | Avg Project Cost | Cities Sampled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | HI | $7,500 | 3 |
| 2 | District of Columbia | DC | $7,300 | 1 |
| 3 | Alaska | AK | $7,300 | 3 |
| 4 | California | CA | $7,000 | 18 |
| 5 | New Jersey | NJ | $6,900 | 5 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | MA | $6,800 | 5 |
| 7 | Washington | WA | $6,800 | 9 |
| 8 | Maryland | MD | $6,700 | 5 |
| 9 | Connecticut | CT | $6,500 | 4 |
| 10 | New York | NY | $6,400 | 6 |
| 11 | Colorado | CO | $6,400 | 8 |
| 12 | Oregon | OR | $6,300 | 7 |
| 13 | New Hampshire | NH | $6,300 | 3 |
| 14 | Virginia | VA | $6,300 | 7 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | RI | $6,300 | 3 |
| 16 | Vermont | VT | $6,300 | 2 |
| 17 | Minnesota | MN | $6,200 | 24 |
| 18 | Illinois | IL | $6,100 | 9 |
| 19 | Nevada | NV | $6,100 | 4 |
| 20 | Georgia | GA | $6,100 | 8 |
| 21 | Florida | FL | $6,100 | 15 |
| 22 | Delaware | DE | $6,100 | 3 |
| 23 | Arizona | AZ | $6,000 | 11 |
| 24 | Utah | UT | $6,000 | 5 |
| 25 | Maine | ME | $5,900 | 3 |
| 26 | Pennsylvania | PA | $5,900 | 5 |
| 27 | New Mexico | NM | $5,900 | 2 |
| 28 | Idaho | ID | $5,900 | 4 |
| 29 | Texas | TX | $5,900 | 20 |
| 30 | North Carolina | NC | $5,800 | 8 |
| 31 | Wisconsin | WI | $5,800 | 5 |
| 32 | Michigan | MI | $5,800 | 9 |
| 33 | South Carolina | SC | $5,800 | 3 |
| 34 | Montana | MT | $5,800 | 3 |
| 35 | Wyoming | WY | $5,700 | 2 |
| 36 | Indiana | IN | $5,700 | 5 |
| 37 | Kentucky | KY | $5,700 | 2 |
| 38 | Tennessee | TN | $5,600 | 6 |
| 39 | Kansas | KS | $5,600 | 4 |
| 40 | Missouri | MO | $5,600 | 4 |
| 41 | Ohio | OH | $5,600 | 6 |
| 42 | South Dakota | SD | $5,600 | 2 |
| 43 | Louisiana | LA | $5,600 | 4 |
| 44 | Nebraska | NE | $5,600 | 2 |
| 45 | North Dakota | ND | $5,600 | 3 |
| 46 | Iowa | IA | $5,500 | 3 |
| 47 | Oklahoma | OK | $5,500 | 3 |
| 48 | Alabama | AL | $5,500 | 5 |
| 49 | Arkansas | AR | $5,400 | 3 |
| 50 | Mississippi | MS | $5,300 | 3 |
| 51 | West Virginia | WV | $5,300 | 2 |
Top 10 cities by average permit cost across permit-required projects. Cities flagged in red have permits that exceed 10% of average project cost.
| Rank | City | State | Avg Permit Cost | Permit % of Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | CA | $300 | 2.3% |
| 2 | Fremont | CA | $300 | 2.4% |
| 3 | Los Angeles | CA | $300 | 2.4% |
| 4 | Miami | FL | $300 | 2.7% |
| 5 | Fort Lauderdale | FL | $300 | 2.7% |
| 6 | Anaheim | CA | $300 | 2.4% |
| 7 | Santa Clarita | CA | $300 | 2.4% |
| 8 | Irvine | CA | $300 | 2.4% |
| 9 | Coral Springs | FL | $300 | 2.7% |
| 10 | Pembroke Pines | FL | $300 | 2.7% |
Each project starts with a national price range I set from industry pricing and my own experience in the trades. I adjust that range for your city using two regional factors. The cost-of-living adjustment is the BEA Regional Price Parity (all-items, 2024 release) for your metro, applied at reduced weight on the material side because building materials vary less regionally than overall living costs. The labor adjustment is my own estimate from trade experience and general wage patterns, not computed from a live dataset. These are budgeting estimates, not quotes.
The cost-of-living adjustment is the BEA Regional Price Parity (all-items, 2024 release) for your metro, applied at reduced weight on the material side because building materials vary less regionally than overall living costs.
Permit costs are real municipal fee-schedule data for the cities I've researched directly (currently Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Atlanta). For every other city the permit figure is a modeled estimate, labeled as one. Climate notes: regional groupings used for project recommendations only. They do not affect price.
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