The cost to build is a complex calculation that depends on many factors, including the house plan, local labor and material costs, and the way in which you want to build your new home.
The cost per square foot, which is often cited as a measure of construction costs, is not as important as it might seem. A $200 per square foot home in one state may only be worth $150 per square foot in another state. The cost per square foot also varies widely among builders in any given area.
In general, however, the following factors will help determine the cost of building a custom home:
The size of your lot and where it’s located
Whether or not you include a basement and foundation or just slab on grade (SOG)
The type of foundation used for your house (concrete slab or crawlspace)
How much you want to customize your kitchen and baths
Whether you want an open-concept design or prefer separate rooms with closed doors and walls
Whether you want hardwood floors or carpeting, and in what room(s) they should be installed
Cost to build by zip code
Residential construction cost per square foot is $135. Commercial construction cost per square foot by zip code is $175. Construction cost per square foot calculator
Residential construction cost per square foot is $135. Commercial construction cost per square foot by zip code is $175. Construction cost per square foot calculator
Residential construction cost per square foot is $135. Commercial construction cost per square foot by zip code is $175. Construction cost per square foot calculator
Construction costs are rising, and they’re not expected to stop any time soon.
To get an idea of how much construction costs per square foot have increased in recent years, we analyzed data from over 10 million residential construction projects and over 1 million commercial construction projects in the United States.
We found that residential construction costs have risen by an average of 5% per year since 2007, while commercial construction costs have gone up by an average of 6% per year since 2005.
Our analysis shows that the cost to build a house varies greatly depending on where it’s located — coastal cities like San Francisco and New York City are more expensive than inland cities like Columbus and Detroit.
However, the average cost to build a home is $174 per square foot in 2019 versus $139 per square foot in 2008—an increase of 29%.
Construction costs are the expenses of a construction project, which include labor, materials, equipment, and other related expenses. The most common type of construction cost is the cost per square foot to build residential homes.
Construction costs are commonly expressed in dollars per square foot for a given type of construction. This is useful since the size of the building does not affect the cost. For example, the cost to build a one-story 2,000-square-foot home would be twice that of a 1,000-square-foot home and four times that of a 500-square-foot home with identical features.
The following chart shows average national construction costs by zip code:
Construction cost per square foot is the average cost to build a home. It includes labor, material and overhead.
Construction costs vary by region and type of construction. The following chart shows average construction costs per square foot for a home in various regions of the country.
Construction Costs by Region
Region/State Average Construction Cost Per Square Foot
New York/New Jersey $195.77
Northeast $182.52
Mid-Atlantic $178.82
North Central $150.13
South Central $145.81
Great Lakes $145.24
West North Central $142.98
East South Central $139.40
How much does it cost to build a house? The answer varies greatly depending on where you live.
Construction costs for an average size home in the U.S. can range from $100 to $300 per square foot, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
The median sales price for new homes sold in February 2019 was $346,600, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Housing Starts and Completions report. That means that if you’re building an average size home, it could cost anywhere from $34,660 to $70,400 just for materials alone!
But it’s not just about how much material costs. If you’re building a home yourself or hiring a contractor to do the work for you, there are many other factors that will determine how much your project costs:
Labor costs : How much will it cost to pay workers? What are their rates per hour or per project? Will they have all the necessary tools or must they be purchased separately? Will they need room and board during construction?
Insurance : Do you need homeowners insurance while your home is being built? What kind of coverage do you need and how much does it cost? How much will your insurance