Guide / New home construction, United States

How much does it cost to build a house? Read the bid per square foot

Toshikatsu Oga / October 16, 2026

The public numbers, and what each one counts
Regional reference: contract price per square foot
Step 1: price per square foot, from your bid
Step 2: what is inside the number
Step 3: the allowances
Step 4: the lines with no public benchmark
Warning signs in the wording, not the numbers
What to ask the contractor, in one message
Questions
Sources

In 2025, a house built by a general contractor on the owner's own land had a median contract price of $404,000, or $171.57 per square foot, not counting the land. Those are Census Bureau figures for the 131,000 contractor-built single-family houses started that year (Census, 2025 highlights; Census contract price per square foot). The average was $198.33 per square foot, and regional medians ran from $157.30 in the South to $194.09 in the Midwest. These are references, not a fair price for your house. To use them, turn your builder's bid into a price per finished square foot, then check what is inside it: site work, permits and impact fees, allowances, and the builder's fee.

The public numbers, and what each one counts

Four public numbers get quoted as "the cost to build a house". They measure different things, so check which one you are reading.

Figure	2025 value	What it counts
Census contract price, contractor-built houses started	Median $404,000; median $171.57 per sq ft	The original contract with the general contractor. No land.
Census sales price, new houses sold	Median $417,400; average $523,800	House and improved lot sold together by a builder.
Census Building Permits Survey, 1-unit	$320,814 average valuation per unit (computed)	Values declared on permit applications, with Census imputing where offices do not report. Not contract prices.
NAHB builder survey (2024)	$428,215 construction cost, about $162 per sq ft	Average of 41 builders' responses. Excludes lot, overhead and profit.

The contract price is the closest match to a bid for building on land you own. The Census Bureau defines it as "the price on the original contract awarded to the general contractor." It generally does not reflect later change orders, it excludes contracts awarded to a different contractor for work on the grounds, and it "does not include the cost of the land" (Census, Survey of Construction definitions). The sales price, by contrast, "includes the price of the improved lot" (same page).

The permit figure is the one most often misread. In 2025, permits were issued for 911,903 new single-family units with a total valuation of $292,551,243 thousand (Census BPS, st2025a.txt, read through USCCDB). Divided out, that is $292,551,243,000 / 911,903 = $320,814 per unit. But the Census Bureau warns: "Because of the nature of the building permit application process, valuations may frequently differ from the true cost of construction" (BPS methodology). The value starts from what applicants write on the form, and Census fills in gaps where offices report no value.

City records show how far that can go. In Austin's 2025 open permit data, 1,305 of 1,319 new single-family house permits listed a job valuation of $0 or $1, so only 14 permits had a usable value (City of Austin permits, tallied in USCCDB). In New Orleans, the 201 new single-family permits from 2025 with a usable value and floor area had a median declared value of $132.74 per sq ft, using the square footage on the permit (City of New Orleans permits, tallied in USCCDB). The Census median contract price for the whole South was $157.30. Use permit values as a rough signal, never as the price of a house.

Regional reference: contract price per square foot

The Census Bureau publishes the contract price per square foot by region. These are the 2025 figures for new contractor-built single-family houses started, with the land excluded (Census table, listed on the Characteristics of New Housing data page and read through USCCDB).

Region	Median per sq ft	Average per sq ft
United States	$171.57	$198.33
Northeast	$179.30	$246.26
Midwest	$194.09	$202.13
South	$157.30	$179.96
West	$176.87	$213.85

The average sits above the median in every region, which usually means a smaller number of expensive houses pulls the average up. These are sample survey estimates. The table prints a relative standard error for each figure: 4% for the national median, but 10% for the Northeast median and 20% for the Northeast average. Treat the Northeast numbers loosely.

The square feet are the Census definition: "all completely finished floor space", measured on exterior dimensions, including finished basements and attics. A garage, carport, porch, unfinished attic, utility room or unfinished basement is not counted (Census definitions). For scale, the median new single-family house completed in 2025 had 2,142 square feet (2025 highlights).

Step 1: price per square foot, from your bid

Divide the bid total by the finished square feet, measured the way Census measures them. Then ask which square feet the builder used, because a price per square foot "under roof" includes the garage and porches and looks lower.

Same bid, two divisors	Bid total	Square feet	Price per sq ft
Finished living area	$462,000	2,400	$462,000 / 2,400 = $192.50
Under roof (adds a 520 sq ft garage and 160 sq ft of porches)	$462,000	3,080	$462,000 / 3,080 = $150.00

Illustrative bid, written for teaching. On finished area, $192.50 sits above the 2025 national median of $171.57 and below the national average of $198.33. At the median, 2,400 square feet is 2,400 x $171.57 = $411,768; at the average, 2,400 x $198.33 = $475,992. That tells you where the bid sits, not whether it is right. Lot slope, soil, design, finish level and local labor all move it for real reasons.

Before you compare, check that the bid and the Census figure cover the same things. A bid that includes the driveway, utility connections or landscaping may include work that, in the Census contract price, can sit in separate contracts. A bid that leaves out the well, septic or grading may be lower for that reason alone.

Step 2: what is inside the number

Ask for the bid broken into stages. The illustrative bid above, before the builder's fee, looks like this. The right column is the average share of construction cost in NAHB's 2024 survey of builders (NAHB, Cost of Constructing a Home 2024; summary).

Line	Illustrative bid	Share of $420,000	NAHB 2024 average share
Site work, plus permits and impact fees ($34,000 + $16,500)	$50,500	12.02%	7.6% (site work, incl. permits and fees)
Foundation	$46,000	10.95%	10.5%
Framing, including roof trusses	$78,000	18.57%	16.6%
Exterior finishes (roofing, siding, windows, doors)	$58,000	13.81%	13.4%
Plumbing, electrical, HVAC	$80,500	19.17%	19.2%
Interior finishes ($41,000) and allowances ($48,000)	$89,000	21.19%	24.1%
Final steps (driveway, landscaping, clean up)	$18,000	4.29%	6.5%
Subtotal, construction	$420,000	100.00%	2.1% other
Builder's fee, 10% of $420,000	$42,000
Bid total	$462,000

Illustrative bid, written for teaching; shares are each line divided by $420,000. NAHB's 2024 averages: construction cost $428,215 on 2,647 finished square feet, or about $162 per square foot. Within it, plumbing $27,180, electrical $27,383 and HVAC $26,938 (NAHB). Read those shares as proportions, not prices. NAHB says usable responses came from 41 builders. It says the survey "is not designed to capture representative characteristics of the average home built during a particular year", and that the sample is too small for a geographic breakdown. NAHB is a builders' trade association, and its survey covers houses sold with their lots. A line far off these shares is a question to ask, not an error.

Step 3: the allowances

An allowance is a placeholder amount for something you have not chosen yet: cabinets, flooring, light fixtures, appliances. In the illustrative bid, allowances total $48,000: cabinets and countertops $22,000, flooring $14,000, light fixtures $4,000, appliances $8,000. That is $48,000 / $462,000 = 10.4% of the bid that is a guess until you pick.

If you pick flooring that costs $18,000, you are $4,000 over the $14,000 allowance. If the builder's 10% fee applies to the overage, you pay $4,000 x 1.10 = $4,400 more. Two bids with the same total can differ by tens of thousands once allowances are replaced by real choices, so compare the allowance amounts line by line. No public benchmark says what an allowance should be. Price two or three items you actually want at a store or showroom and compare. Our Teardown 06 walks through a bathroom bid with $4,650 in allowances.

Step 4: the lines with no public benchmark

Permits and impact fees. NAHB's 2024 averages were $7,640 for building permit fees, $6,367 for impact fees and $6,260 for water and sewer fees and inspections (NAHB). Your number is set by your city and county. Ask for each fee by name and check it against the jurisdiction's published fee schedule, then ask for the receipts.
The builder's fee, overhead and profit. No public rule sets the percentage. In NAHB's survey, overhead and general expenses averaged $38,248 and profit $72,971 per house, but those builders also carried the land and the sale (NAHB). Ask what the fee is charged on, and whether it applies to change orders and allowance overages. See overhead and profit on a contractor quote.
General conditions and contingency. Supervision, temporary power, dumpsters, portable toilets and insurance are often one lump sum. Ask what the lump sum contains and who keeps an unused contingency.
Site-specific work. Rock in the excavation, a long utility run, a well or a septic system depend on your lot. Ask what the bid assumes, for example a soil report or a percolation test, and what happens if the assumption is wrong.
Labor inside a line. Most bids do not split labor, but a framing line can be checked if it does. The BLS May 2025 national wage for carpenters is $29.12 median and $48.03 at the 90th percentile per hour (BLS OEWS, read through USCCDB). A crew of 4 for 15 working days of 8-hour days is 480 hours, or $13,977.60 to $23,054.40 in plain wages, not billing rates. Lumber, trusses, equipment, payroll taxes, insurance and the framer's overhead sit on top. Use it to ask what the line covers, not to call it high.
The land. The Census contract price and NAHB's construction cost exclude the land, and the Census sales price includes the improved lot. Budget the lot, and any loan costs, separately.

Warning signs in the wording, not the numbers

"$150 a square foot" with no statement of which square feet. Ask for finished living area, measured on exterior dimensions, so it lines up with the Census definition (Census).
"Allowances included" with no amount per item. Without the amounts you cannot compare bids or see how much is still a guess.
"By owner" or "excluded" next to site work, utilities, driveway or landscaping. In NAHB's 2024 averages, site work (including permit and utility fees) and final steps together were 7.6% + 6.5% = 14.1% of construction cost (NAHB). A lower bid may simply leave some of them out.
"Price subject to change" with no index or cap. Ask which published price index an escalation clause follows. See material prices went up: is the increase justified?
"The permit says the house costs X." A permit valuation is what the applicant wrote on the form, and Census warns it may frequently differ from the true cost (BPS methodology).
A large payment before work starts. See how much deposit to pay a contractor.

What to ask the contractor, in one message

The finished square footage the price is based on, and how it was measured; the garage, porch and unfinished basement areas listed separately.
The bid broken into stages: site work, foundation, framing, exterior, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, interior finishes, final steps, and the builder's fee.
Each allowance by item and amount, and how an overage is charged, including whether the fee applies to it.
Each permit, impact, water and sewer fee by name and amount, with the receipts once paid.
What the bid assumes about the lot (soil, rock, utility distance, well or septic), and what is excluded.
Whether the price can change, under which clause, and tied to which index.

If you would rather not do it line by line, upload the bid and we lay out every line, mark the lines nobody can check, and write the questions for you. We are paid by homeowners only and take no fee from builders, contractors or lenders. Check a quote from $39, or get a free teardown first.

Questions

How much does it cost to build a house per square foot?

For contractor-built single-family houses started in 2025, the Census Bureau reports a median contract price of $171.57 per finished square foot and an average of $198.33, with land excluded. Regional medians were $157.30 in the South, $176.87 in the West, $179.30 in the Northeast and $194.09 in the Midwest. These are references, not a fair price for a specific house.

Does the cost to build a house include the land?

Not in the Census contract price. The Census Bureau says the contract price for a house built on the owner's land does not include the cost of the land. The Census sales price for new houses sold does include the improved lot, which is why the two figures differ.

Is the building permit valuation what my house will cost?

No. A permit valuation starts from the amount declared on the permit application, and Census fills in gaps where offices report no value. The Census Bureau warns that permit valuations may frequently differ from the true cost of construction. In Austin's 2025 permit data, 1,305 of 1,319 new single-family house permits listed a valuation of $0 or $1.

What share of the cost of a new house is framing, plumbing or electrical?

In NAHB's 2024 builder survey, framing averaged 16.6% of construction cost, foundations 10.5%, and plumbing, electrical and HVAC together 19.2%. Interior finishes averaged 24.1%. The survey had 41 usable responses and NAHB says it is not designed to capture the average home built in a particular year, so use the shares as a rough check.

What is an allowance in a builder's bid?

An allowance is a placeholder amount for items not yet chosen, such as cabinets, flooring, fixtures or appliances. If your choices cost more, you pay the difference, sometimes plus the builder's fee. Ask for each allowance by item and amount, and how overages are charged.

Sources

Every figure above links to the public record it comes from. Wages were looked up in USCCDB v1.0, which carries the BLS file as published. Agency pages, reports and rules are quoted as published on October 16, 2026; check the source for changes.

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