This report aggregates the NailThePrice cost matrix of 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: national project prices adjusted for each city with the trade's local wage (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025) and the local price of goods (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024). 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 | San Jose | CA | $7,400 | +22.7% |
| 2 | San Francisco | CA | $7,400 | +22.3% |
| 3 | Fremont | CA | $7,400 | +22.3% |
| 4 | Fairbanks | AK | $7,300 | +20.2% |
| 5 | Honolulu | HI | $7,200 | +18.9% |
| 6 | Pearl City | HI | $7,200 | +18.9% |
| 7 | Kailua | HI | $7,200 | +18.9% |
| 8 | Chicago | IL | $7,200 | +18.9% |
| 9 | Naperville | IL | $7,200 | +18.9% |
| 10 | Aurora | IL | $7,200 | +18.9% |
The lowest-cost cities in our index for the same 90-project basket.
| Rank | City | State | Avg Project Cost | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Paso | TX | $5,000 | -18.2% |
| 2 | Fort Smith | AR | $5,000 | -17.9% |
| 3 | Little Rock | AR | $5,100 | -16.0% |
| 4 | Killeen | TX | $5,100 | -15.0% |
| 5 | Ocala | FL | $5,200 | -14.7% |
| 6 | Athens | GA | $5,200 | -14.6% |
| 7 | Montgomery | AL | $5,200 | -14.5% |
| 8 | New Braunfels | TX | $5,200 | -13.9% |
| 9 | San Antonio | TX | $5,200 | -13.9% |
| 10 | Corpus Christi | TX | $5,200 | -13.8% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unclog a Main Sewer Line | Fort Smith, AR $330 | San Jose, CA $660 | 2.00x |
| Fix a Slab Leak | Fort Smith, AR $2,620 | San Jose, CA $5,080 | 1.94x |
| Repipe a House | Fort Smith, AR $5,710 | San Jose, CA $10,680 | 1.87x |
| Install a French Drain | Fort Smith, AR $3,870 | San Jose, CA $6,990 | 1.81x |
| Waterproof a Basement | Fort Smith, AR $4,260 | San Jose, CA $7,680 | 1.80x |
| Remove a Wall | El Paso, TX $1,850 | Fairbanks, AK $3,260 | 1.76x |
| Refinish Hardwood Floors | El Paso, TX $2,080 | Fairbanks, AK $3,650 | 1.75x |
| Add a Bathroom | Fort Smith, AR $19,670 | San Jose, CA $34,270 | 1.74x |
| Install an Outdoor Outlet | Ocala, FL $270 | San Francisco, CA $470 | 1.74x |
| Install Roof Vents | El Paso, TX $380 | Worcester, MA $650 | 1.71x |
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 | $7,200 | 3 |
| 2 | Washington | WA | $7,000 | 9 |
| 3 | Alaska | AK | $7,000 | 3 |
| 4 | New Jersey | NJ | $7,000 | 5 |
| 5 | Illinois | IL | $6,900 | 9 |
| 6 | California | CA | $6,800 | 18 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | MA | $6,700 | 5 |
| 8 | Oregon | OR | $6,600 | 7 |
| 9 | Minnesota | MN | $6,600 | 24 |
| 10 | New York | NY | $6,500 | 6 |
| 11 | District of Columbia | DC | $6,300 | 1 |
| 12 | Maryland | MD | $6,300 | 5 |
| 13 | Connecticut | CT | $6,300 | 4 |
| 14 | Rhode Island | RI | $6,200 | 3 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | WI | $6,100 | 5 |
| 16 | Pennsylvania | PA | $6,100 | 5 |
| 17 | Michigan | MI | $6,100 | 9 |
| 18 | Nevada | NV | $6,000 | 4 |
| 19 | Colorado | CO | $6,000 | 8 |
| 20 | Delaware | DE | $6,000 | 3 |
| 21 | New Hampshire | NH | $5,900 | 3 |
| 22 | Vermont | VT | $5,900 | 2 |
| 23 | Indiana | IN | $5,900 | 5 |
| 24 | Missouri | MO | $5,900 | 4 |
| 25 | Ohio | OH | $5,800 | 6 |
| 26 | Maine | ME | $5,800 | 3 |
| 27 | Montana | MT | $5,800 | 3 |
| 28 | Kansas | KS | $5,800 | 4 |
| 29 | North Dakota | ND | $5,700 | 3 |
| 30 | Iowa | IA | $5,700 | 3 |
| 31 | Virginia | VA | $5,700 | 7 |
| 32 | Arizona | AZ | $5,600 | 11 |
| 33 | Kentucky | KY | $5,600 | 2 |
| 34 | Idaho | ID | $5,600 | 4 |
| 35 | Utah | UT | $5,500 | 5 |
| 36 | New Mexico | NM | $5,500 | 2 |
| 37 | Wyoming | WY | $5,500 | 2 |
| 38 | Nebraska | NE | $5,500 | 2 |
| 39 | West Virginia | WV | $5,500 | 2 |
| 40 | Tennessee | TN | $5,500 | 6 |
| 41 | Georgia | GA | $5,500 | 8 |
| 42 | South Carolina | SC | $5,500 | 3 |
| 43 | Texas | TX | $5,500 | 20 |
| 44 | Florida | FL | $5,400 | 15 |
| 45 | North Carolina | NC | $5,400 | 8 |
| 46 | South Dakota | SD | $5,400 | 2 |
| 47 | Mississippi | MS | $5,300 | 3 |
| 48 | Louisiana | LA | $5,300 | 4 |
| 49 | Oklahoma | OK | $5,300 | 3 |
| 50 | Alabama | AL | $5,300 | 5 |
| 51 | Arkansas | AR | $5,100 | 3 |
Each project starts from my national estimate as of June 2026. The index uses estimates for all 90 projects so it compares the same kind of number everywhere; the project pages show observed permit and Census prices where they exist. I adjust each estimate to each city with two factors from federal data. The labor factor is the metro's average hourly wage for the trade that does the job, over the national average for that trade (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The material factor is the metro's Regional Price Parity for goods (BEA, 2024), applied at full strength. The labor and material shares for each project are my own model, not a data source. Cities without a clean metro match use the state's nonmetropolitan area or the neighboring metro, and each one is listed in the data files with the reason.
City permit fees are not part of this index: I only publish a fee where I've read the city's own fee schedule. Climate groupings are for project recommendations only; they don't affect price. Wage factors update each May, material factors each December. These are budgeting estimates, not quotes.
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