How the engine works

Every state page starts from the same twenty cost models you see in the calculators. A regional labor factor adjusts the labor share of each estimate — roughly 100% of a water-heater job, but about 50% of a roof and 45% of a bathroom or kitchen. Materials are priced nationally; labor varies locally.

State factors range from 0.92 (low-labor-cost South) to 1.25 (high-cost metros) and are derived from published regional indexes — HomeAdvisor renovation averages by city, FindPros regional bands and trade labor-rate guides.

Where these come from

Every city page runs the same cost model as our calculators, with a city-level labor factor. Major metros use published HomeAdvisor renovation averages; other cities are anchored to their state labor factor and adjusted by cost-of-living tier. Materials are priced nationally — labor is what moves city to city.

Each city has a dedicated page per project — roof replacement in Austin, water heater in Buffalo — with its own URL, price table and comparison to the national average.

Material deals we'll track

Once live, this page also compares material pricing with affiliate partners (Home Depot, Lowe's, Amazon) for the items in your estimate — water heaters, shingles, tile, appliances. You'll see current prices next to the ranges our calculators assume.

Why three bids?

Quotes for the same project routinely vary by 30%. The contractor at the bottom isn't necessarily cheap — they may have left off permits, disposal or a line item you'll pay for later. Compare line items against your CostMyHome range, not totals.

How these guides work

Each guide starts from published national data (Angi, HomeAdvisor, HomeGuide, Fixr and trade cost reports, 2025–2026), states the installed range for the main options, then applies our state labor factors for a local picture. Sources are listed at the bottom of every guide — no anonymous numbers.

Cost by unit type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Labor runs $300–$900 and depends on your area and access — the biggest variable after the unit itself.
• Fuel and venting: switching from electric to gas, or installing a power-vent tankless, adds $400–$1,500 in line and venting work.
• Permits run $50–$150 in most jurisdictions; disposal of the old unit adds $50–$150.

Cost by state (typical, 50-gallon tank)

Repair or replace?

If the tank is under 10 years old and leaking from a fitting (not the tank), a $150–$400 repair may be enough. Past 10–12 years, replacement is the better money — a tank failure floods quickly, and water damage costs far more than the unit.

Cost by material (installed, includes tear-off)

What moves the price

• Pitch and stories: steep roofs add 10–15%; two stories add ~10% for staging and safety.
• Tear-off layers: one layer of old shingles is normally included. A second layer, or rotted sheathing, adds $1,500–$3,000.
• Extras: new gutters $1,000–$1,800, skylights $800–$1,500 each.

Cost by state (typical, architectural shingles)

Insurance and storms

Hail or wind damage is often covered by homeowners insurance — your deductible applies. Get the contractor's estimate and documentation before signing anything, and never let a "storm chaser" pressure you into a same-day contract.

Cost by scope (national)

Size matters, less than you'd think

Moving a toilet or shower is where costs explode — plumbing relocations run $1,500–$3,500. Room size scales the estimate by about 15–30% (small ×0.85, large ×1.30 in our calculator), but keeping fixtures in place saves more than downsizing.

Cost by state (typical, mid-range)

Is it worth it?

JLC's 2025 Cost vs. Value report puts the resale return of a mid-range bathroom remodel at roughly 80% — among the highest of any interior project. It's the rare renovation that pays for most of itself when you sell.

Cost by scope (national)

Cost by state (typical, mid-range)

What moves the price

• Cabinets are the biggest line item, 30–40% of the budget. Imported cabinet tariffs are now in effect and rise to 50% in January 2027 — expect prices to keep climbing.
• Layout changes are what push a job into full-gut territory. Moving a sink or island costs $2,000–$4,500 in plumbing and electrical alone.
• Appliances: a standard suite runs $3,000–$8,000; premium brands push past $15,000.

Is it worth it?

A minor kitchen remodel recovers over 100% of its cost at resale in most markets (JLC 2025 Cost vs. Value); major mid-range remodels average about 50%. It is the project buyers notice first.

Cost by system (national, medium home)

Cost by state (typical, furnace + AC)

Efficiency and incentives

High-efficiency units (95%+ AFUE, 16+ SEER2) cost about 15% more up front and pay back in monthly bills. Note: the federal 25C tax credit ended on December 31, 2025 — check state and utility rebates instead; many states now run income-based electrification programs that can cover thousands of dollars.

Side by side

Which should you buy?

• Staying 10+ years: tankless usually wins on total cost of ownership — the extra upfront cost is repaid in energy savings and a second unit never bought.
• Staying less than 10 years: buy the tank. The payback period rarely beats your horizon.
• Big family / long showers: a properly sized tankless (or a heat-pump tank) beats a tank that runs cold mid-shower.

Don't forget the heat pump option

A heat-pump (hybrid) water heater costs $2,200–$5,000 installed but is 2–3× more efficient than a standard tank — the best lifetime value if your space and climate allow it.

Side by side

Which should you buy?

• Budget now, plan to move: asphalt. It looks great for its first decade and costs half as much.
• Long-term ownership: metal. Total cost per year is often lower — $14,400–$28,800 once, vs. asphalt twice in 50 years.
• Hail and wind zones: metal resists impact better and often earns an insurance discount.

What changes the price

Pitch and stories add 10–15% each tier; a second tear-off layer adds $1,500–$3,000; and metal with concealed fasteners or stone coating costs more than the base range.

Side by side

Which should you buy?

• No gas line or replacing AC anyway: heat pump is the clean choice — one unit, one install.
• Very cold climates (sustained sub-zero): a furnace (or heat pump with backup) handles the worst days better.
• Upgrade path: many homeowners install a heat pump now and keep the furnace as backup — an option worth pricing before you decide.

Check rebates first

The federal 25C credit ended December 31, 2025, but many states run income-based electrification programs covering thousands of dollars. See our rebates guide.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Window count and style: each window runs $450–$900 for vinyl installed; double-hung and casement cost more. Bay windows add $1,000–$3,000 each.
• Glass upgrades: Low-E double-pane adds $150–$400 per window; triple-pane $300–$800.
• Labor and access: installers charge $150–$400 per window; second-story work adds 20–40%.

Cost by state (typical)

Repair or replace?

If a single pane is cracked but the frame and seal are sound, a $150–$350 sash repair is enough. Replace when windows are drafty, fog between panes, single-glazed, or older than 20 years — the energy savings alone often cover a third of the project cost.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Room size: pricing is per square foot installed. A 500 sq ft living area is typical; stairs add $25–$50 per step.
• Subfloor prep: leveling or replacement adds $1–$3 per sq ft — the most overlooked line item.
• Removal: tearing out old flooring adds $1–$2 per sq ft; carpet is cheaper than tile or hardwood.

Cost by state (typical)

Hardwood or luxury vinyl?

Hardwood returns the most at resale and can be refinished twice or more, but it scratches and reacts to moisture. LVP is waterproof, quieter and half the price — choose it for kitchens, basements and homes with pets.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Linear footage: gutters are priced per linear foot, $6–$12 for aluminum installed. A 200-ft home (2,000 sq ft) is typical.
• Stories: second-story work adds 30–50% for ladder and safety setup.
• Downspouts and guards: extra downspouts run $50–$150 each; gutter guards add $3–$8 per foot.

Cost by state (typical)

DIY or hire out?

K-style aluminum gutters are one of the most DIY-friendly exterior jobs — materials run $3–$6 per foot and a handy homeowner can do a 200-ft house in a weekend. Seamless machines are contractor-only, but most pros install for $6–$10 per foot.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Linear feet: fences are priced per linear foot installed, $18–$35 for wood privacy. A quarter-acre lot needs roughly 150 ft.
• Posts and concrete: quality posts and set concrete are 25% of material cost — skipping them is why cheap fences lean in 5 years.
• Terrain and gates: slopes add 20–40%; each gate adds $200–$600.

Cost by state (typical)

Check your property line first

Before any quote, confirm the property line — most fence disputes start with a fence a few feet over the neighbor's side. Check the plat survey or get a boundary survey ($300–$500); also confirm HOA rules and local height limits.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Opener: a belt-drive opener with battery backup runs $400–$700 and is worth it — chains are cheaper ($200–$350) but noisier.
• Insulation: insulated steel doors cost $200–$500 more and cut heating bills in cold states.
• Springs: replace torsion springs with the door — a safety matter; separately they run $150–$300. Never attempt spring work yourself.

Cost by state (typical)

Fix or replace?

A garage door is one of the highest-ROI replacements in the house — JLC Cost vs. Value puts the national recoup at 90%+. If panels are dented, rusted or the insulation is shot, replace the whole door rather than patching.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Square footage: most jobs quote per square foot of wall. A 3-bedroom home has about 1,500 sq ft of wall.
• Finish level: Level 4 (standard, ready for paint) is included; Level 5 for glossy walls adds $0.50–$1.50 per sq ft.
• Extras: textured ceilings add $500–$1,500; old-wall removal $1–$2 per sq ft; insulation behind walls $1,000–$2,500.

Cost by state (typical)

The finish is everything

Anyone can hang drywall; the finished product is what separates pros. If budget is tight, hang the board yourself and hire a finisher — finishing runs $1–$2 per sq ft and is where the quality lives.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Square footage: carpet is priced per sq ft installed, pad included ($0.50–$1.00). A 1,000 sq ft home is typical.
• Labor: roughly 45% of the job. Old-carpet removal adds $1–$2 per sq ft; stairs add $25–$50 per step.
• Pad quality: premium pad adds $0.20–$0.50 per sq ft and noticeably extends carpet life — the cheapest upgrade on the list.

Cost by state (typical)

Nylon or polyester?

Nylon wears about 2x longer in high-traffic areas and holds its appearance. Polyester is softer, cheaper and naturally stain-resistant, but crushes under furniture and foot traffic — fine for bedrooms, risky for living rooms and halls.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• Square footage: a 2,000 sq ft home has about 1,500 sq ft of wall. Two-story homes add 10–20% for scaffolding.
• Trim and soffit: add $1,500–$4,000 for a complete job — often the line where cheap quotes quietly skimp.
• Insulation and removal: insulated backing adds $1.50–$3.00 per sq ft; removing old siding $1–$2 per sq ft.

Cost by state (typical)

Vinyl or fiber cement?

Vinyl costs about half of fiber cement, never needs painting and resists rot, hail and insects. Fiber cement looks more like real wood, is fire-resistant and holds paint longer, but it is heavier and pricier to install.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• R-value and climate: northern states need R-49+ (deeper fill); warmer climates can stop at R-30, saving $300–$700.
• Air sealing: sealing gaps around pipes and wires adds $300–$800 but boosts insulation performance 20–30% — the highest-ROI add-on.
• Removal: removing old, contaminated insulation adds $500–$1,200 and is worth it with rodent or moisture damage.

Cost by state (typical)

Check rebates before you book

Attic insulation is one of the most heavily rebated home upgrades in the U.S. — most states and many utilities cover 20–50% of cost. Check your utility's website or the DSIRE database before signing.

Cost by type (installed, national)

What moves the price

• The unit itself: 60–70% of the total. Brands and control heads (digital vs. analog) drive most of the price difference.
• Plumbing: standard install runs $200–$500. Rerouting lines or tight access adds $200–$600.
• Extras: iron/sediment filter $300–$700; reverse osmosis under the sink $400–$800 — both worth it on well water.

Cost by state (typical)

Test your water first

Before buying, test hardness and iron levels — a simple test strip or a $30 lab kit tells you the right size and whether you need extra filtration. If your water is below 7 grains per gallon, a softener may not pay for itself.

What changed

One Big Beautiful Bill Act let the 25C credit (30%, up to $2,000 for heat pumps) expire at the end of 2025. Do not plan your budget around federal appliance credits this year — plan around state and utility programs instead.

What still exists

How to claim (in order)

• Search the DSIRE database for your state and ZIP.
• Check your utility's rebate page — many are first-come, first-served and reset each year.
• Ask contractors for rebate-ready quotes; most rebates require licensed installation and a submitted invoice.

The honest math

A $10,000 heat pump with a $2,000 rebate is still a $10,000 decision — verify the rebate is funded and available before you sign, not after.

Typical resale return (JLC Cost vs. Value basis)

Rule of thumb

Buyers pay for finished and functional, not expensive. A $25,000 mid-range kitchen beats a $70,000 full gut on resale value in most markets. Spend on function, visible finishes and completed work — not on premium brands only you will notice.

Use the math backwards

If you're renovating to sell, budget from the return down: decide what the house can sell for, set the project budget, then spend within it. If you're renovating to live, buy the project you'll enjoy — resale is a bonus, not the reason.

What the numbers are

Each calculator returns a low-to-high band and a typical figure. The band is the range in which the majority of U.S. contractor quotes for that project fall; the typical figure is the volume-weighted midpoint. A single exact number would be a guess — no legitimate estimator can quote a bathroom remodel to the dollar.

Where the data comes from

Each estimator is built from published national cost data for 2025–2026 — aggregated contractor-quote databases, trade cost reports and market surveys — then adjusted for your state's labor market. Sources are listed on every cost guide page.

Primary public data sources

• BLS Producer Price Index — Net Inputs to New Residential Construction (FRED WPUIP231100) — the cost-inflation index behind our year-over-year calibration, charted on the trends page.
• BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics — regional wage baselines informing labor tiers.
• U.S. Census Bureau — housing stock and market-size context for metro factors.
• JLC Cost vs. Value — resale ROI benchmarks for kitchen and bath remodels.

How the state factor works

Every state gets a factor from 0.92 (low-labor-cost South) to 1.25 (high-cost metros like San Francisco, New York, Boston). The factor is applied to the labor share of each project only — materials are national — which is why a water heater moves ~±6% by state while a roof moves ~±13%. The tiers are derived from published regional data: HomeAdvisor's renovation averages by city, FindPros' regional bands, and trade labor-rate guides; each guide's state table shows the result.

What it includes

Installed pricing: materials, labor, permits and disposal as listed on each calculator's breakdown. It does not include structural repairs discovered mid-project (rotted decking, plumbing surprises), premium material upgrades beyond what's listed, or emergency/expedited scheduling.

How to use an estimate

• Treat the band as your fair market range. A quote below the low end usually means something's missing; above the high end means you're paying for convenience or premium branding.
• Get at least three bids and compare line items, not totals.
• Ask each contractor to match your project's details (same unit type, same material tier) so the bids are comparable.

Honest limitations

This is a planning tool, not a quote. Actual prices vary with your exact home, local demand, season and contractor availability. State factors are representative values derived from published regional data — they are consistent with the national picture, but not a substitute for local quotes. Phase 2 replaces them with programmatic state-by-state pages backed by per-state data sets. If a figure looks wrong for your area, that's useful feedback — tell us via the contact page.

Residential construction input prices, BLS PPI

Index: Net Inputs to New Residential Construction (BLS PPI series WPUIP231100, Dec 2014 = 100). December values per year; 2026 is the July reading. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED.

What the trend means for your project

How it flows into our five calculators

Roofing: asphalt and metal shingle prices shot up in 2021–22, then cooled — recent years have been the most stable for roof quotes. Water heaters: steel and copper tanks track metal prices, with 2025–26 tariff pressure showing up first on tankless and heat-pump units. Kitchens: cabinets are the tariff-sensitive line — the 25% import duty on finished cabinets took effect in 2025 and rises to 50% in January 2027, so kitchen budgets should assume further upward pressure. Bathrooms: tile and fixtures have stayed the steadiest category. HVAC: heat exchangers and copper coils follow metal prices; efficiency-tier premiums have widened as federal incentives shifted.

Source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index — FRED series WPUIP231100 (Dec 2014 = 100, not seasonally adjusted). Index values are December month-end readings; 2026 shows the July 2026 reading. See Methodology for how this calibrates each state and city estimate.

Why this site exists

Most "cost calculator" sites show one flat national number, or worse, invent ranges to push you toward a lead form. We wanted the opposite: a transparent model — national base costs, adjusted by state labor markets and city factors, updated with real inflation data — that you can check, question, and use as leverage in your own project.

How estimates are built

Every figure starts from national typical-cost ranges for five common projects: water heaters, roofs, bathrooms, kitchens, and HVAC. Those bases are adjusted with state-level factors derived from regional wage and construction data, then refined for 181 U.S. cities. Year-over-year movement is calibrated with the BLS Producer Price Index for residential construction inputs — the same index charted on our cost trends page. The full method is documented on the methodology page.

Editorial standards

• Every article and data page cites its sources — BLS, Census, JLC Cost vs. Value — with links.
• We publish ranges, not false-precision single numbers, and we say what the range depends on.
• Corrections: if an estimate is off for your region, tell us through the contact page and we will re-check the model.
• No paid placement or lead-broker deals influence any number on this site. We earn revenue only from advertising and, eventually, optional subscriptions.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or partnership ideas: get in touch — we read everything.

What we collect

Calculator inputs. Values you enter into a calculator (like tank size or square footage) are processed in your browser and are not stored on our servers. Estimates work entirely client-side.

Email address. If you subscribe to the free price guide, we store the address you provide (via our email provider) and use it only to send that guide and occasional project-cost updates. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Contact messages. Messages sent through the contact form are used only to respond to you.

Usage data. We use basic, privacy-respecting analytics (such as privacy-friendly analytics services) to see which pages are most useful. This includes anonymized page views; it does not include your identity.

Cookies

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What we never do

• We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information.
• We do not store calculator inputs server-side.
• We do not send unsolicited email beyond the guide and updates you asked for.

Your choices

You can unsubscribe from emails at any time, clear cookies in your browser, and contact us to ask what data we hold about you: contact page.

Changes

If this policy changes materially, we will update the date above and post a notice on this page.