Calculators
House construction cost calculator
Pick your country, enter the floor area and finish level, and add land, fees, tax and a contingency to get a first budget for building a house.
Floor area
The Census price per sq ft counts finished floor area only (a finished basement counts; a garage, porch or unfinished basement does not). Enter the rest below it; the 60% and 50% are our assumptions, not Census figures.
Edit multipliers
These multipliers are our assumptions, not from any source. Standard (×1) means the source rate as published.
Estimated total cost
$415,199
United States (national) median: $171.57 per sq ft (2025)
- Building cost per sq ft
- $189
- construction, contingency and tax ÷ main area
- All-in per sq ft
- $189
- including land and fees
- Construction (before contingency)
- $377,454
- Rate used
- $171.57 per sq ft
- after ×1 finish
Where the money goes
- Main floors · 2,200 sq ft$377,454 (90.9%)
- Contingency · 10%$37,745 (9.1%)
Construction by stage (typical US shares)
Your construction cost split by the average shares in NAHB’s 2024 survey of builders. A guide to proportions, not a quote for your house.
- Site work$28,687 (7.6%)
- Foundations$39,633 (10.5%)
- Framing$62,657 (16.6%)
- Exterior finishes$50,579 (13.4%)
- Major systems rough-ins$72,471 (19.2%)
- Interior finishes$90,966 (24.1%)
- Final steps$24,535 (6.5%)
- Other$7,927 (2.1%)
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau — Characteristics of New Housing, 2025. Median contract price per square foot of new contractor-built single-family houses started in 2025. Excludes the lot; floor area is finished floor area (no garage, porch or unfinished basement).
- NAHB Construction Cost Survey 2024. “Cost of Constructing a Home in 2024”, Eye on Housing, 23 January 2025. Average shares of construction cost for a new single-family home built for sale.
Total = area × rate × finish multiplier × (1 + market %) for the main floors, plus basement and garage/balcony at their percentages, plus contingency, plus VAT on construction and contingency, plus fees and land. Finish multipliers, area percentages and the contingency default are assumptions. Treat the result as a first budget, and get itemised quotes before you commit.
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Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost per m² to build a house in Turkey in 2026?
The official 2026 approximate unit costs, published by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change in the Resmî Gazete of 3 February 2026 (issue 33157), put a detached or twin house with an independent unit under 200 m² gross in class III-B at 21,050 TL/m². A unit of 200 m² to under 500 m² is III-C at 23,400 TL/m², and 500 m² or more is IV-B at 33,900 TL/m². Apartment-type housing up to 3 floors is III-A at 19,800 TL/m², and a village or highland house under 200 m² in a rural area is II-C at 15,100 TL/m². The figures exclude KDV and include 15% general overheads and 10% contractor profit.
Are the Turkish official unit costs what a contractor will charge me?
No. The communiqué publishes them for calculating architecture and engineering service fees, based on average-quality materials. A contractor's price depends on the city, the ground, the materials you choose, labour and the contract terms, and is often higher. Use the market adjustment to add the gap you see in quotes, or enter your own TL per m².
Which yapı sınıfı (building class) is my house in?
For housing the communiqué uses the size of each independent unit or the building height. Detached and twin houses are III-B under 200 m² gross per unit, III-C from 200 m² to under 500 m², and IV-B from 500 m². Apartment buildings are III-A up to 3 floors; above that they are III-B up to 21.50 m high, III-C up to 30.50 m, IV-A up to 51.50 m and IV-B above 51.50 m. The calculator suggests a class from your inputs; for a building that is not listed or whose class is in doubt, the communiqué leaves the decision to the institution applying it.
Is KDV (VAT) included in the Turkish figures?
No. The communiqué states that the unit costs exclude KDV. They also leave out the land, landscaping and site infrastructure such as ground improvement and connections for electricity, water, gas and sewerage. Which KDV rate applies to a housing project depends on the case, so enter the rate that GİB or your mali müşavir confirms, and add land and connection costs separately.
What does the US cost per square foot include?
It is the median contract price per square foot of new contractor-built single-family houses started in 2025, from the Census Bureau's Characteristics of New Housing: $171.57 nationally, $179.30 in the Northeast, $194.09 in the Midwest, $157.30 in the South and $176.87 in the West. The contract price excludes the lot and is the original contract with the general contractor, so it leaves out later change orders. Floor area is finished floor space; garages, porches and unfinished basements are not counted.
Why is there no default cost for the UK, Canada, Australia, India or Germany?
Because we could not find a free, current, official cost per m² for building a house there. UK benchmarks such as BCIS are sold by subscription, and Statistics Canada, the ABS and Destatis publish price indices or totals for all buildings rather than a cost per m² for a house. Enter a rate from builders' quotes; everything else in the calculator works the same.
About this tool
This house construction cost calculator turns a floor area into a first budget. The main floors are priced at a cost per m² or square foot, adjusted for finish quality and the local market. The basement, garage, balconies and terraces are priced at a percentage of that rate, and a contingency, VAT or sales tax, design and permit fees and the land are added on top. The result shows the total, the cost per unit of floor area with and without land, and a bar chart of where the money goes.
For Turkey the default is the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change's 2026 “Yapı Yaklaşık Birim Maliyetleri” communiqué (Resmî Gazete, 3 February 2026, issue 33157, valid from 1 January 2026). It lists 18 building classes, from I-A at 2,600 TL/m² to V-E at 103,500 TL/m². The rates exclude KDV, include 15% general overheads and 10% contractor profit, and assume average-quality materials. They are published for calculating architecture and engineering fees and leave out land, landscaping and site infrastructure. That is why the calculator offers a market adjustment and your own TL/m². Municipal building permit fees vary by municipality, so enter them yourself.
For the United States the default is the Census Bureau's median contract price per square foot of floor area for contractor-built single-family houses started in 2025: $171.57 nationally, with regional medians from $157.30 in the South to $194.09 in the Midwest. The lot is excluded. The stage chart splits your construction cost using the average shares from NAHB's 2024 Construction Cost Survey (published 23 January 2025): site work 7.6%, foundations 10.5%, framing 16.6%, exterior finishes 13.4%, major systems rough-ins 19.2%, interior finishes 24.1%, final steps 6.5% and other 2.1%.
For the UK, Canada, Australia, India, Germany and any other country the calculator ships no default rate, because no free, dated, official cost per m² for a house was found. Enter one from builders' quotes. The finish multipliers (basic ×0.85, standard ×1, premium ×1.3), the basement and garage percentages and the 10% contingency are our starting assumptions, not published figures, and you can change them all. Sources were checked on 25 September 2026, and everything is calculated in your browser.