The short answer
The U.S. Census Bureau surveys houses built for owners on their own land by a general contractor. For houses started in 2025, the median contract price was $171.57 per square foot nationally, land excluded. It ran from $157.30 in the South to $194.09 in the Midwest.
In plain English: multiply the size of the house by your region's price, then add what the price leaves out: the land, any well or septic, and the interest on your construction loan. That is what this calculator does, line by line.
A worked example, start to finish
Say you own a lot in the South and plan a 2,000 sq ft house with typical finishes, paid with a construction loan: 20% down, 9% interest, 12 months to build. These are the calculator's default settings, so you can check every number.
- House: 2,000 sq ft × $157.30 (South median, Census 2025) = $314,600.
- Split by NAHB's shares: site prep and utilities $8,987, permits and impact fees $10,291, architecture $4,761, foundation $32,875, shell $94,400, plumbing, electrical and HVAC $60,478, interior finishes $75,959, driveway and landscaping $26,849. They add back to $314,600.
- Land: $0, because you already own the lot.
- Loan: $314,600 − $62,920 down = $251,680, paid out in five draws. Interest only on what is drawn comes to $11,703 over 12 months.
- Total: $314,600 + $11,703 = $326,303, or $163.15 per square foot all-in.
A harder case: a rebuild. A 1,200 sq ft house in the Northeast is torn down and replaced. The builder quotes $300 per square foot, so the house is $360,000. Demolition is quoted at $20,000. The city credits the impact fee for the old house, which takes $5,353 off. The land is already yours. With 10% down at 8.5% over a 6-month build, interest is $7,404. Total: $360,000 + $20,000 − $5,353 + $7,404 = $382,051.
house = sq ft × price per sq ft (split into lines by NAHB shares)
total = house + site extras + demolition − impact fee credit + land + loan interest
Cost to build per square foot, by region
Census contract price per square foot, new contractor-built single-family houses started in 2025, land excluded. The median is the middle house; the average is pulled up by large custom houses.
| Region | Median | Average | 2,000 sq ft at median | 2024 median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South | $157.30 | $179.96 | $314,600 | $146.04 |
| West | $176.87 | $213.85 | $353,740 | $172.14 |
| Northeast | $179.30 | $246.26 | $358,600 | $187.72 |
| Midwest | $194.09 | $202.13 | $388,180 | $183.62 |
| United States (national) | $171.57 | $198.33 | $343,140 | $165.15 |
Regions are the Census Bureau's. South: AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV. West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY. Northeast: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT. Midwest: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI. The Northeast is the smallest sample (17,000 starts) and its average carries a 20% relative standard error, so treat that figure loosely. The median contractor-built house finished in 2025 was 2,433 sq ft.
Where a construction dollar goes
NAHB, the home builders' trade group, asked builders to split the cost of a typical house they built in 2024. Construction averaged $428,215 for a 2,647 sq ft house, which NAHB puts at about $162 per square foot. The calculator uses these shares to split your build price into lines.
| Stage | Share | NAHB average | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site work | 7.6% | $32,719 | Permits, impact fees, water and sewer fees, architecture and engineering |
| Foundation | 10.4% | $44,748 | Excavation, concrete, retaining walls, backfill |
| Framing | 16.6% | $70,982 | Framing, trusses, sheathing, steel |
| Exterior finishes | 13.4% | $57,510 | Siding or brick, roofing, windows and doors |
| Major systems rough-ins | 19.2% | $82,319 | Plumbing, electrical, HVAC |
| Interior finishes | 24.1% | $103,391 | Insulation, drywall, trim, paint, cabinets, flooring, fixtures, appliances |
| Final steps | 6.5% | $27,710 | Landscaping, deck or patio, driveway, clean-up |
| Other | 2.1% | $8,835 | Everything builders did not put in a stage |
Inside site work, building permits averaged $7,640, impact fees $6,367, water and sewer fees and inspections $6,260, and architecture and engineering $6,480. NAHB's figures are national only: its sample was 41 builders, too small to split by region.
What a build price leaves out
- Land. Census's contract price excludes the lot. In NAHB's survey the finished lot averaged $91,057, 13.7% of a new house's sale price, on about 0.48 acres.
- A well, septic system or clearing. The site line assumes city water and sewer. A rural lot may need its own; the septic system cost calculator gives a starting number to enter as extra site work.
- Loan interest. You pay interest on each draw while the house is built. The construction loan calculator shows the draw schedule, land equity as a down payment, and the mortgage after the build.
- Closing costs on the construction loan and the mortgage. Price them with the closing costs calculator.
Foundation type and your region
Neither Census nor NAHB prices a basement against a slab, so the calculator has no foundation switch. The regional prices already carry each region's usual foundation. Of contractor-built houses finished in 2025, 60% in the Northeast and 55% in the Midwest had a full or partial basement, against 5% in the South and 19% in the West, where most sit on a slab. NAHB puts the foundation at 10.4% of construction cost. If you are adding a basement in a slab region, use your builder's quote as the build price.
Methodology
- The price per square foot is the Census Bureau's median (or average) contract price for new contractor-built single-family houses started in 2025, by Census region, from the Characteristics of New Housing tables published July 1, 2026. Contract price is the price paid to the general contractor and excludes the lot. Read 28 October 2026.
- The lines are NAHB's Cost of Constructing a Home-2024 shares (survey of fall 2024, published January 20, 2025), each NAHB line in dollars divided by its $428,215 total. They split the house price; they never add to it. The shell line is whatever is left, so the lines always add up to the house price.
- Census's contract price includes the contractor's overhead and profit. NAHB's shares do not, so splitting by them spreads that markup across the lines in proportion.
- Construction-loan interest uses the same method as the site's construction loan calculator: five draws of 10%, 15%, 25%, 25% and 25%, interest only on what has been drawn. The 9% and 12-month defaults are that calculator's starting values, not a market quote.
- Not priced: land (your input), well, septic, clearing and demolition (your quotes), furniture and window coverings, and price changes after 2025.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau — Characteristics of New Housing 2025: Median and Average Contract Price per Square Foot of New Contractor-Built Single-Family Houses Started (published July 1, 2026). https://www.census.gov/construction/chars/xls/contractpricesqft_cust.xls Read 2026-10-28.
- U.S. Census Bureau — Characteristics of New Housing 2025: Type of Foundation in New Single-Family Houses Completed, Contractor-Built (published July 1, 2026). https://www.census.gov/construction/chars/xls/foundation_cust.xls Read 2026-10-28.
- U.S. Census Bureau — Characteristics of New Housing 2025: Median and Average Square Feet of Floor Area in New Single-Family Houses Completed, Contractor-Built (published July 1, 2026). https://www.census.gov/construction/chars/xls/squarefeet_cust.xls Read 2026-10-28.
- U.S. Census Bureau — Characteristics of New Housing, current annual data. https://www.census.gov/construction/chars/current.html Read 2026-10-28.
- NAHB — Cost of Constructing a Home-2024 (Eric Lynch, January 20, 2025; special study, Table 1 sale price and construction cost breakdown). https://www.nahb.org/-/media/NAHB/news-and-economics/docs/housing-economics-plus/special-studies/2025/special-study-cost-of-constructing-a-home-2024-january-2025.pdf Read 2026-10-28.
Related calculators
Financing the build? Use the construction loan calculator. Building a smaller unit in the backyard instead? The ADU cost and ROI calculator prices it against the rent it could earn. Changing a house you already have? Try the home renovation cost calculator. For the reasoning behind these numbers, read cost to build a house per square foot.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to build a house per square foot?
The Census Bureau's median contract price for contractor-built houses started in 2025 was $171.57 per square foot nationally, land excluded. By region it was $157.30 in the South, $176.87 in the West, $179.30 in the Northeast and $194.09 in the Midwest. The averages run higher ($198.33 nationally) because large custom houses pull them up.
How much does it cost to build a 2,000 square foot house?
At the South's 2025 median of $157.30 per square foot, a 2,000 sq ft house costs about $314,600 to build, land excluded. With 20% down on a 12-month construction loan at 9%, interest during the build adds about $11,703, for $326,303 in all. At the national median of $171.57, the house alone is about $343,140.
Does the cost to build a house include land?
No. Census's contract price excludes the value of the lot, so ask any builder whether their per-square-foot quote does too. In NAHB's 2024 builder survey the finished lot averaged $91,057, 13.7% of the average new-house sale price. The calculator adds your own lot price as a separate line.
How much are permits and impact fees when building a house?
In NAHB's 2024 survey, building permit fees averaged $7,640 and impact fees $6,367, together about 3.3% of construction cost. On the calculator's default 2,000 sq ft South house, that share comes to $10,291. Fees vary by city far more than that average suggests, so ask your permit office.
What is the biggest cost in building a house?
Interior finishes. In NAHB's 2024 survey they were 24.1% of construction cost: insulation, drywall, trim, paint, cabinets, counters, flooring, fixtures and appliances. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC were next at 19.2%, then framing at 16.6%, exterior finishes at 13.4% and the foundation at 10.5%.
Is it cheaper to build or buy a house?
It depends on land and your local market. Building on land you already own avoids paying for a builder's lot, sales commission and marketing, but you still pay the general contractor's overhead and profit inside the contract price, plus your own loan interest. Price the build here with your real lot cost, then compare it with listings of similar new houses near you.