Cost to Build a House Calculator

Cost to Build a House per Square Foot, 2025

The U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Construction records the contract price of new single-family houses built for owner occupancy on the owner's land by a single general contractor. These are the figures for houses started in 2025, the latest year published. 2026 figures are not out yet.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Characteristics of New Housing 2025, tables “Median and Average Contract Price per Square Foot” and “Median and Average Contract Price”, published July 1, 2026, retrieved November 10, 2026. Floor area is all completely finished floor space, including finished basements and attics (Census definitions). Relative standard errors for 2025 per square foot, median then average: United States 4% and 5%, Northeast 10% and 20%, Midwest 4% and 3%, South 9% and 8%, West 4% and 6%. Per house, median then average: United States 4% and 7%, Northeast 18% and 33%, Midwest 5% and 5%, South 8% and 9%, West 14% and 18%. A relative standard error of 5% means, in the Census Bureau's words, “there is a 90% chance that the true value is within 8% (statistically defined as 1.6 times the RSE) of the estimate” (Survey of Construction methodology).

How the Calculator Works

1. Floor area: the finished floor area you enter, in square feet (square meters are converted first). Use the same basis as the Census figures: “Measurements are taken to the outside of exterior walls for detached houses.” “This does not include a garage, carport, porch, unfinished attic or utility room, or any unfinished area of the basement.” For a measurement taken inside the walls, multiply it by 1.08 before you enter it. The Census Bureau's own rule is that “where the floor area for a new house was reported based on interior dimensions, the figure is converted to exterior dimensions by multiplying by a standard conversion factor of 1.08.”
2. At the median: floor area × the region's 2025 median contract price per square foot, rounded to the nearest $100
3. At the average: floor area × the region's 2025 average contract price per square foot, rounded to the nearest $100

Worked example: a 2,000 sq ft house at the national figures is 2,000 × $171.57 = $343,100 at the median and 2,000 × $198.33 = $396,700 at the average. The median and the average are two reference points from the same survey, not a low and high range: real contracts in 2025 ran well below and above both.

Which Census Region Is My State In?

• Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
• Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
• South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
• West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming

Building Permits for New Single-Family Homes by State (2025)

The Census Bureau does not publish construction cost per square foot by state. What it does publish for every state is the number of new single-family homes authorized by building permits and the total permit valuation of those homes. Both published figures are in the table.

Read it with care. Permit valuation is not a construction cost or a sale price. In the Census Bureau's words, “The valuation is the estimated value of the residential structure as shown on the building permit. If no value is listed on the permit, we accept estimates from the permit official.” (Building Permits Survey definitions). The survey provides “statistics on new privately-owned residential construction”, and its 1-unit category is defined this way: “The one-unit structure category is a single-family home. It includes fully detached, semidetached (semiattached, side-by-side), row houses, and townhouses”. The count also includes houses builders put up to sell, which the Census Bureau's Survey of Construction follows from these permits until they are sold. Permit valuation is not comparable with the contract prices or the price per square foot above.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, final annual estimates for 2025 by state, released May 14, 2026, retrieved November 10, 2026. 1-unit structures, estimates including imputation for permit offices that did not report. Definitions quoted from census.gov, retrieved November 10, 2026.

What the Estimate Leaves Out

The calculator prices the house the way a general contractor's contract does. It does not include buying land, and it cannot see your site, design, finishes or local labor market. Use it to set expectations, then compare bids from builders near you. For remodeling rather than building, see what homeowners spent on a kitchen remodel or a bathroom remodel.