US Construction Materials Pricing Dataset 2026
Free downloadable JSON dataset: 189 US construction materials with 2026 planning unit prices, labor allowance per unit, typical waste factors, sustainability ratings (1-5), and expected durability. This is the same HammerIO planning-estimate baseline that powers our calculators: a national baseline (regional factors are applied on city and state pages), not a licensed cost database and not RSMeans data. Labor figures on HammerIO city pages are anchored separately to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). Released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, free to use commercially with attribution.
Download
Download JSON (67KB, 189 records)Format: JSON with embedded schema.org/Dataset metadata header. Encoding: UTF-8. License: CC BY 4.0. Citation: HammerIO (2026). US Construction Materials Pricing Dataset 2026 (planning estimates).
Publisher and developer kit
Use these routes when citing material prices from a construction article, real-estate analysis, insurance replacement-cost guide, contractor resource, cost dashboard, notebook, or AI answer.
Best for construction calculators, estimate prototypes, bid-check dashboards, procurement notebooks, and material comparison tools.
Best for publishers that need a live project-cost table instead of material-level data.
Best for readers comparing known materials such as concrete, lumber, roofing, siding, insulation, tile, drywall, or pavers.
Best when the user has written contractor quotes and needs scope, allowance, deposit, warranty, and outlier checks.
Canonical citation
HammerIO (2026). US Construction Materials Pricing Dataset 2026. Version 2026.09. https://hammerio.com/construction-materials-pricing-dataset-2026-bls-rsmeans-downloadable-json/
Attribution copy
Data source: HammerIO 2026 construction materials pricing dataset (HammerIO planning estimates, national baseline), licensed CC BY 4.0. Planning estimates only; verify local supplier pricing and contractor scope before budgeting.
What's in the dataset
Each of the 189 records contains the following fields:
| Field | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| slug | string | URL-safe identifier | pressure-treated-lumber |
| name | string | Common material name | Pressure-Treated Lumber |
| category | string | Top-level grouping | Lumber, Concrete, Metals, Roofing, Insulation, Drywall, Flooring, etc. |
| unitPrice | number (USD) | HammerIO planning price per unit (national baseline) | 5.5 |
| unit | string | Unit of measure | board foot, sqft, cubic yard, ton, sheet, linear foot |
| priceRange.low | number (USD) | Low end of planning range | 3.8 |
| priceRange.high | number (USD) | High end of planning range | 8.2 |
| laborCostPerUnit | number (USD) | Installation labor allowance per unit (planning estimate) | 2.5 |
| wasteFactorPercent | number (%) | Typical waste allowance used by HammerIO calculators | 10 |
| sustainabilityRating | number (1-5) | 5 = lowest embodied carbon + most recyclable | 3 |
| durabilityYears | number | Expected service life under typical use | 25 |
Sample records
{
"slug": "pressure-treated-lumber",
"name": "Pressure-Treated Lumber",
"category": "Lumber",
"unitPrice": 5.5,
"unit": "board foot",
"priceRange": { "low": 3.8, "high": 8.2 },
"laborCostPerUnit": 2.5,
"wasteFactorPercent": 10,
"sustainabilityRating": 3,
"durabilityYears": 25
}
{
"slug": "ready-mix-concrete-4000psi",
"name": "Ready-Mix Concrete (4000 PSI)",
"category": "Concrete",
"unitPrice": 175,
"unit": "cubic yard",
"priceRange": { "low": 145, "high": 220 },
"laborCostPerUnit": 65,
"wasteFactorPercent": 5,
"sustainabilityRating": 2,
"durabilityYears": 75
}Methodology & sources
- What the numbers are: HammerIO planning estimates. Each record is the national-baseline unit price, price range, labor allowance and waste factor that HammerIO's material and project calculators use. They are editorial planning figures maintained by the HammerIO team, reviewed against publicly listed retail prices for common SKUs, not measurements from a licensed cost database. Earlier versions of this page described the data as RSMeans-sourced; that was incorrect and has been removed.
- What the numbers are not: not RSMeans, not BLS Producer Price Index readings, and not survey data. HammerIO does not license RSMeans and does not publish PPI series in this file.
- Regional adjustment: the JSON is a national baseline. On HammerIO city and state pages, labor is scaled by the ratio of the local BLS OEWS (May 2025) median trade wage to the U.S. median, and materials by HammerIO's regional material index. See the methodology page.
- Permits: not included in any record; verify with your local building department.
- Sustainability rating methodology: Composite of embodied carbon (Inventory of Carbon & Energy database), recycled content percentage, and end-of-life recyclability. 5 = best (e.g., bamboo, reclaimed lumber); 1 = worst (e.g., virgin PVC).
- Update cadence: Versioned when the calculator baseline changes. Current version
2026.09(September 17, 2026) carries the same 189 records as 2026.04 with corrected source metadata.
Use cases
- Construction estimating tools and quote calculators
- Academic research on construction cost inflation, sustainability tradeoffs
- Data journalism on housing affordability, infrastructure costs
- Personal finance / DIY home improvement planning
- Real estate developer feasibility models
- Insurance replacement-cost calculations
Citation
Related HammerIO tools using this data
- Concrete Calculator, uses concrete pricing rows
- Brick Calculator, uses masonry pricing rows
- Deck Calculator, uses lumber + composite pricing rows
- Insulation Calculator, uses insulation rows + R-value
- All Calculators
Changelog
- 2026.09 (2026-09-17): Source metadata corrected: the dataset is HammerIO's planning-estimate baseline; RSMeans and PPI attributions removed from the page and the JSON header. Records unchanged.
- 2026.04 (2026-04-26): Initial release. 189 records.
Data accuracy disclaimer: prices and waste factors are HammerIO planning estimates at a national baseline. Local prices vary substantially by region, season, and supplier. Always verify with local suppliers before committing project budgets. HammerIO makes no warranty as to accuracy for any specific project context.