What it costs by trade
National benchmarks pool every indexed metro and state for a trade, then report the median declared permit value plus the interquartile range. Rows are sorted by the number of real permits behind the benchmark.
| Trade | Median | P25-P75 | Permits | Metros |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Contractor | $21,500 | $5,200-$127,365 | 1,145,131 | 34 |
| Electrician | $2,700 | $1,000-$8,800 | 486,961 | 25 |
| HVAC Technician | $5,650 | $2,800-$10,590 | 330,437 | 23 |
| Plumber | $3,000 | $1,343-$7,000 | 225,182 | 19 |
| Roofer | $9,500 | $5,000-$17,400 | 74,465 | 14 |
| Gas Technician | $1,500 | $900-$4,300 | 30,057 | 9 |
| Pool Installer | $40,000 | $29,000-$60,000 | 21,747 | 11 |
| Fence Contractor | $2,035 | $1,000-$5,000 | 14,913 | 7 |
| Window & Door Installer | $5,883 | $2,147-$15,000 | 13,469 | 7 |
| Fire Protection Contractor | $5,787 | $2,000-$20,000 | 11,080 | 8 |
| Heat Pump Installer | $6,500 | $2,500-$12,000 | 6,455 | 6 |
| Deck Builder | $8,000 | $3,053-$19,199 | 5,640 | 9 |
| Landscaper | $3,000 | $1,500-$7,913 | 5,635 | 11 |
| Solar Installer | $11,000 | $4,100-$20,000 | 4,613 | 9 |
| Siding Contractor | $7,500 | $3,850-$17,000 | 4,577 | 9 |
| Foundation Repair Contractor | $5,998 | $4,000-$9,681 | 2,564 | 7 |
| Water/Fire/Mold Restoration | $14,107 | $4,500-$50,000 | 1,595 | 7 |
| Concrete Contractor | $9,885 | $3,200-$37,500 | 1,183 | 6 |
| EV Charger Installer | $2,131 | $1,200-$5,000 | 877 | 6 |
| Lead Abatement Contractor | $6,152 | $3,000-$15,000 | 655 | 3 |
| Insulation Contractor | $7,550 | $3,465-$20,404 | 570 | 5 |
| Gutter Installer | $10,000 | $4,653-$18,403 | 411 | 6 |
| Water Well Contractor | $7,750 | $2,150-$24,250 | 72 | 3 |
| Tree Service | $5,000 | $2,000-$10,000 | 59 | 2 |
| Garage Door Company | $3,000 | $1,700-$7,978 | 56 | 4 |
Same job, different city
Median declared permit value by indexed metro. Blank cells mean the trade did not clear the 30-permit publication minimum in that metro, so ProFix makes no city-level claim.
| Trade | Burlington, VT | Baltimore, MD | Dallas, TX | Cleveland, OH | Atlanta, GA | Kansas City, MO | Cape Coral, FL | Providence, RI | Boulder, CO | Miami, FL | Louisville, KY | Chicago, IL | Las Vegas, NV | Lynchburg, VA | Boston, MA | Buffalo, NY | Cary, NC | Greensboro, NC | Mesa, AZ | Orlando, FL | Sacramento, CA | Boise, ID | Durham, NC | New Orleans, LA | Pittsburgh, PA | Cincinnati, OH | Minneapolis, MN | Hilton Head, SC | Nashville, TN | Albuquerque, NM | Los Angeles, CA | Seattle, WA | Charleston, SC | Charlotte, NC | Columbus, OH | Detroit, MI | Fort Worth, TX | Gilbert, AZ | Honolulu, HI | Memphis, TN | Milwaukee, WI | Montgomery County, MD | Portland, OR | San Antonio, TX | San Diego, CA | San Francisco, CA | Scottsdale, AZ | Utah County, UT | Wilmington, NC | San Jose, CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | $1,500 | $3,500 | $2,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $3,780 | $3,460 | $2,000 | $2,200 | $3,000 | $1,000 | $5,000 | $2,500 | $1,100 | $8,000 | $1,800 | $1,700 | $4,100 | $3,000 | $2,400 | $4,000 | $3,387 | $6,000 | $4,979 | $4,000 | $2,000 | $7,152 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plumber | $1,990 | $4,000 | $2,000 | $7,200 | $6,500 | $3,600 | $4,985 | $3,075 | $3,500 | $1,500 | $1,800 | $2,000 | $7,500 | $4,361 | $4,475 | $5,500 | $2,100 | $2,475 | $4,558 | $3,602 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HVAC Technician | $6,000 | $9,000 | $8,800 | $7,000 | $9,800 | $7,555 | $8,384 | $7,000 | $2,940 | $5,598 | $2,700 | $8,558 | $5,000 | $6,100 | $8,400 | $6,000 | $5,160 | $13,253 | $8,000 | $14,000 | $15,000 | $9,236 | $13,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Contractor | $10,000 | $6,800 | $72,326 | $8,000 | $140,000 | $55,353 | $380,427 | $9,000 | $20,394 | $12,000 | $62,000 | $50,000 | $20,000 | $30,000 | $100,000 | $70,000 | $59,888 | $23,752 | $24,225 | $7,797 | $15,000 | $30,000 | $80,000 | $40,000 | $16,666 | $40,000 | $33,000 | $43,540 | $133,384 | $65,000 | $9,900 | $126,000 | $225,000 | $172,000 | $14,650 | $12,538 | $119,070 | $137,994 | $20,000 | $75,000 | $40,000 | $23,100 | $151,079 | $410,723 | $35,910 | $19,425 | $168,123 | $231,073 | $202,603 | |
| Roofer | $5,800 | $12,268 | $12,156 | $11,450 | $16,493 | $17,494 | $7,000 | $5,671 | $15,000 | $31,941 | $17,010 | $17,171 | $13,000 | $20,373 | $16,566 |
Cheapest and priciest indexed metros
- Electrician: Louisville, KY is cheapest at $1,000; Boston, MA is priciest at $8,000.
- Plumber: Miami, FL is cheapest at $1,500; Boston, MA is priciest at $7,500.
- HVAC Technician: Louisville, KY is cheapest at $2,700; Pittsburgh, PA is priciest at $15,000.
- General Contractor: Baltimore, MD is cheapest at $6,800; San Antonio, TX is priciest at $410,723.
- Roofer: Boulder, CO is cheapest at $5,671; Chicago, IL is priciest at $31,941.
How it's computed
- ProFix reads real public building-permit records, classifies the permit type into a home-service trade, and computes median plus interquartile range (P25-P75) for each trade and place.
- A benchmark is published only after at least 30 usable permits back that trade-place bucket. Below that floor, the index leaves the cell blank instead of filling it with a model.
- Declared construction value is a self-reported public-record floor. It can run below the homeowner's out-the-door price because some filings omit markup, bundled labor, financing, emergency premiums, or work handled outside the permit.
- Medians and interquartile ranges make the benchmark resistant to fee-only placeholders, under-declared jobs, and unusually large remodels that would distort an average.
- Sources: austin-socrata, chicago-permits, dallas-building-permits, las-vegas-permits, burlington-permits, greensboro-permits, durham-permits, boise-permits, cary-permits, boulder-permits, hilton-head-permits, providence-permits, miami-permits, orlando-permits, san-diego-permits, gilbert-permits, louisville-permits, kansas-city-permits, utah-county-permits, milwaukee-permits, albuquerque-permits, lynchburg-permits, baltimore-permits, county-cuyahoga, county-hamilton, county-franklin, county-dekalb, county-boston, county-sacramento, county-nashville, county-new-orleans, county-minneapolis, county-allegheny, county-seattle, san-francisco-permits, san-antonio-permits, los-angeles-permits, detroit-permits, charlotte-permits, memphis-permits, san-jose-permits, portland-permits, fort-worth-permits, honolulu-permits, charleston-permits, mesa-permits, cape-coral-permits, montgomery-county-md-permits, buffalo-permits, wilmington-nc-permits, scottsdale-permits.
- Median + interquartile (P25–P75) declared construction value on real public building permits. Declared valuations are a self-reported public-record proxy for project cost and can run below the out-the-door price; medians and a 30-permit minimum keep each benchmark honest.
Use the Real Cost Index
Cite ProFix Directory (2026), ProFix Real Cost Index: U.S. home-service costs from real permits. Published 2026-06-16; data snapshot 2026-06-19. Open data is available under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.