Flooring installation Cost by City
58 metro areas, ranked. A typical project runs from $12,296 in the cheapest metro to $18,517 in the most expensive — a spread driven almost entirely by local labor rates.
What's priced: 1,000 sq ft of hardwood flooring supplied and installed, including underlayment and trim. Scale the figures linearly for a different area. National typical for comparison: $14,500.
| Metro | Typical | Range | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $18,517 | $7,662–$29,371 | +28% |
| Boston, MA | $17,995 | $7,446–$28,543 | +24% |
| San Francisco, CA | $16,436 | $6,801–$26,071 | +13% |
| Worcester, MA | $16,247 | $6,723–$25,772 | +12% |
| Chicago, IL | $16,131 | $6,675–$25,588 | +11% |
| New York, NY | $16,110 | $6,666–$25,553 | +11% |
| Urban Honolulu, HI | $16,044 | $6,639–$25,450 | +11% |
| Stockton, CA | $16,037 | $6,636–$25,438 | +11% |
| Philadelphia, PA | $16,015 | $6,627–$25,404 | +10% |
| Sacramento, CA | $15,667 | $6,483–$24,852 | +8% |
| Minneapolis, MN | $15,646 | $6,474–$24,817 | +8% |
| Los Angeles, CA | $15,421 | $6,381–$24,461 | +6% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $15,406 | $6,375–$24,438 | +6% |
| Seattle, WA | $14,964 | $6,192–$23,736 | +3% |
| Portland, OR | $14,928 | $6,177–$23,679 | +3% |
| St. Louis, MO | $14,877 | $6,156–$23,598 | +3% |
| Riverside, CA | $14,797 | $6,123–$23,472 | +2% |
| Reno, NV | $14,703 | $6,084–$23,322 | +1% |
| Toledo, OH | $14,674 | $6,072–$23,276 | +1% |
| San Diego, CA | $14,616 | $6,048–$23,184 | +1% |
| Columbus, OH | $14,573 | $6,030–$23,115 | 0% |
| Bakersfield, CA | $14,493 | $5,997–$22,989 | 0% |
| Des Moines, IA | $14,384 | $5,952–$22,816 | -1% |
| Cleveland, OH | $14,333 | $5,931–$22,736 | -1% |
| Fresno, CA | $14,319 | $5,925–$22,713 | -1% |
| Tampa, FL | $14,261 | $5,901–$22,621 | -2% |
| Madison, WI | $14,239 | $5,892–$22,586 | -2% |
| Indianapolis, IN | $14,217 | $5,883–$22,552 | -2% |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY | $14,123 | $5,844–$22,402 | -3% |
| Jacksonville, FL | $14,101 | $5,835–$22,368 | -3% |
| Albany, NY | $14,080 | $5,826–$22,333 | -3% |
| Las Vegas, NV | $14,080 | $5,826–$22,333 | -3% |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $14,051 | $5,814–$22,287 | -3% |
| Cincinnati, OH | $14,029 | $5,805–$22,253 | -3% |
| Albuquerque, NM | $13,920 | $5,760–$22,080 | -4% |
| Denver, CO | $13,855 | $5,733–$21,977 | -4% |
| Oxnard, CA | $13,782 | $5,703–$21,862 | -5% |
| Portland, ME | $13,768 | $5,697–$21,839 | -5% |
| Charlotte, NC | $13,681 | $5,661–$21,701 | -6% |
| Washington, DC | $13,666 | $5,655–$21,678 | -6% |
| Grand Rapids, MI | $13,630 | $5,640–$21,620 | -6% |
| Ogden, UT | $13,608 | $5,631–$21,586 | -6% |
| Charleston, SC | $13,536 | $5,601–$21,471 | -7% |
| Detroit, MI | $13,507 | $5,589–$21,425 | -7% |
| Nashville, TN | $13,492 | $5,583–$21,402 | -7% |
| Kansas City, MO | $13,478 | $5,577–$21,379 | -7% |
| Buffalo, NY | $13,398 | $5,544–$21,252 | -8% |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $13,166 | $5,448–$20,884 | -9% |
| Atlanta, GA | $13,152 | $5,442–$20,861 | -9% |
| Knoxville, TN | $13,108 | $5,424–$20,792 | -10% |
| Baltimore, MD | $12,999 | $5,379–$20,620 | -10% |
| Oklahoma City, OK | $12,789 | $5,292–$20,286 | -12% |
| Phoenix, AZ | $12,746 | $5,274–$20,217 | -12% |
| Dallas, TX | $12,666 | $5,241–$20,091 | -13% |
| Tulsa, OK | $12,630 | $5,226–$20,033 | -13% |
| Houston, TX | $12,398 | $5,130–$19,665 | -15% |
| Fayetteville, AR | $12,311 | $5,094–$19,527 | -15% |
| San Antonio, TX | $12,296 | $5,088–$19,504 | -15% |
How this is calculated
- Labor share 50%. Flooring splits roughly evenly. The share swings hardest with material choice — labor is a much larger fraction of a budget laminate job than of a wide-plank white oak one, where the material itself dominates.
- Metro labor factor: mean annual wage for floor layers and tile setters in each metro ÷ the national mean for the same occupation.
- Materials: We vary labor by metro and hold materials at the national level. That is deliberate: shingles, copper, HVAC equipment, and cabinets are nationally traded and priced, and what actually varies locally is freight and sales tax — both small next to the labor spread. We have no metro-level materials index we can defend, so rather than invent one, we vary only what we can source.
- Coverage: 58 of 100 metros. The rest are missing because BLS suppresses wage data for this trade there, and we do not fill gaps with estimates.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), metropolitan area estimates, May 2025. Educational estimates — get local quotes before budgeting.