How we calculate costs
Every estimate on MeasuredCost is a range built from a line-item cost model and checked against real quotes that homeowners received. We show what goes into each number and where it comes from.
What our ranges mean
- Typical is the middle of our modeled prices: about half of jobs cost less and half cost more.
- Low and High mark the 10th and 90th percentiles. Most quotes for the job (about 8 in 10) should fall between them.
- These are estimates, not quotes. A contractor's price depends on your home, site conditions, materials, permits and local demand.
How a cost is built
- Materials and equipment. Current shelf prices for common products from national retailers, manufacturers and supply houses. In October 2026 we priced 624 products across our first ten guides and set low, typical and high values from at least five products where possible.
- Labor. Installer hours for each task, taken from manufacturer installation guides, published estimating references and trade sources, multiplied by the hourly wage for the trade in your state or metro area from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025), plus payroll costs.
- Contractor overhead and profit. Gross margins by trade from published industry financial data (for example Statistics Canada and ISED industry benchmarks, the NAHB cost of doing business study and public company filings).
- Permits and disposal. Typical permit fees from city fee schedules and disposal costs from published landfill rates.
- Your location. Labor uses local wages. Other costs are adjusted with the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for your state or metro area.
Because every input has a range, we run the model thousands of times (a Monte Carlo simulation) and report the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles. The same model produces every number on the page, including the state table and the cost breakdown.
How we check the numbers
- Real quotes. We collected more than 1,400 verified quotes and invoices that homeowners shared publicly, with the project scope, state and year. For each guide we compare the model with these quotes for the same scope and location. If the typical quote differs from our typical estimate by more than 8%, we look for the cause in the inputs first and only then apply a market adjustment, which we disclose.
- Price changes over time. Older quotes are adjusted to current prices with official U.S. indexes for construction wages and materials before we compare them.
- Building permits. Where cities publish permit data with job values (for example Chicago and Boston), we compare our estimates with thousands of local jobs.
- Published ranges. We also compare with other published cost guides. They are a cross-check only: when real quotes and published guides disagree, we follow the real quotes and say so.
Market adjustments by guide
When verified quotes for a project consistently differ from what materials, labor and margins add up to, we scale the estimate to match the quotes. The adjustment applies to labor and overhead, not to material prices, and every guide that uses one says so. An adjustment can reflect costs our line items do not capture well, such as small-job minimums or local demand, or inputs that run high.
| Guide | Adjustment | Verified quotes compared |
|---|---|---|
| Water heater replacement | None | 173 |
| Bathroom remodel | +28% | 75 |
| Kitchen remodel | +34% | 82 |
| Window replacement | +10% | 78 |
| Heat pump installation | +20% | 267 |
| Roof replacement | None | 128 |
| Gutter installation | +10% | 32 |
| Fence installation | None | 60 |
| Foundation repair | -14% | 30 |
| HVAC replacement | -13% | 216 |
| Siding replacement | +56% | 21 |
| Concrete driveway | -17% | 21 |
| Garage build | +50% | 16 |
| Exterior painting | None | 74 |
| Deck building | +28% | 143 |
Material calculators
Our material calculators use standard geometry and published product data, such as bag yields from manufacturer data sheets and limits from the International Residential Code. Each calculator is tested against worked examples computed independently by a separate program before it is published.
What is included
Each guide lists what the estimate includes, such as removal and disposal of the old item, and what it does not, such as repairs discovered during the job.
Updates and corrections
We refresh cost data at least every six months and when a major source publishes new figures. Each guide shows when its cost data was last updated. We change that date only when the numbers or guidance actually change. If you find an error, see our corrections policy.
Limits
Models describe typical jobs. Unusual homes, difficult access, hidden damage, premium brands and very high-cost neighborhoods can push a real price outside our range. Always get written quotes from licensed contractors before you hire.
Full list of data sources: Sources.