Barndominium costs depend on where you build.
Compare trade wages, understand regional housing costs, and research the land before replacing your planning allowances with local quotes.
Labor is one part of your budget. The parcel, materials, design and contractor’s scope matter too. These public datasets provide context for a barndominium build; neither is a survey of barndominium prices.
Compare construction-trade wages by state
Median hourly employee wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. The median is the middle wage in the surveyed distribution. These occupations cover multiple industries, not just residential construction.
| Trade | United States | US median |
|---|---|---|
| Carpenters | $29.12 | $29.12 |
| Electricians | $30.38 | $30.38 |
| Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters | $30.67 | $30.67 |
| Construction laborers | $22.66 | $22.66 |
Use this to discuss labor assumptions, not to set an hourly contractor budget. Employee wages leave out benefits, contractor overhead, profit, materials and equipment. OEWS excludes the self-employed. A state median also hides differences between cities and rural areas. Read the BLS definitions.
Ask bidders whether their labor, travel and subcontractor allowances reflect your site. These figures do not change the calculator’s local multiplier. Replace a matching whole-line allowance with a local quote when you have one.
View the full state wage table
| Location | Carpenters | Electricians | Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters | Construction laborers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $23.18 | $26.78 | $28.21 | $17.74 |
| Alaska | $35.51 | $43.00 | $45.15 | $27.91 |
| Arizona | $28.17 | $29.36 | $29.84 | $22.40 |
| Arkansas | $22.96 | $23.59 | $23.39 | $18.09 |
| California | $36.50 | $36.62 | $35.01 | $28.98 |
| Colorado | $30.21 | $29.92 | $30.40 | $23.03 |
| Connecticut | $30.80 | $37.28 | $37.16 | $28.03 |
| Delaware | $28.46 | $30.63 | $31.11 | $21.90 |
| District of Columbia | $29.67 | $37.97 | $48.57 | $24.05 |
| Florida | $23.98 | $27.52 | $25.44 | $21.17 |
| Georgia | $23.72 | $28.04 | $27.50 | $18.74 |
| Hawaii | $41.00 | $46.38 | $37.53 | $37.07 |
| Idaho | $25.00 | $30.29 | $25.18 | $22.57 |
| Illinois | $37.98 | $47.87 | $48.05 | $29.18 |
| Indiana | $30.23 | $32.93 | $36.69 | $24.07 |
| Iowa | $27.75 | $29.26 | $30.72 | $23.31 |
| Kansas | $27.39 | $31.66 | $31.36 | $21.56 |
| Kentucky | $25.33 | $28.71 | $30.84 | $21.98 |
| Louisiana | $24.00 | $29.59 | $30.62 | $18.38 |
| Maine | $29.88 | $36.24 | $30.77 | $22.32 |
| Maryland | $30.27 | $35.33 | $31.44 | $22.58 |
| Massachusetts | $36.16 | $38.18 | $45.14 | $30.48 |
| Michigan | $29.66 | $36.67 | $38.56 | $23.84 |
| Minnesota | $31.22 | $37.58 | $45.39 | $28.97 |
| Mississippi | $23.39 | $29.26 | $26.67 | $18.13 |
| Missouri | $29.25 | $31.45 | $32.11 | $27.28 |
| Montana | $28.28 | $36.90 | $38.44 | $23.96 |
| Nebraska | $24.19 | $29.24 | $29.31 | $22.72 |
| Nevada | $29.99 | $35.37 | $29.62 | $23.55 |
| New Hampshire | $29.42 | $30.21 | $32.12 | $24.03 |
| New Jersey | $30.77 | $37.14 | $37.61 | $30.80 |
| New Mexico | $28.71 | $28.07 | $29.54 | $18.46 |
| New York | $34.77 | $37.86 | $37.26 | $26.89 |
| North Carolina | $23.61 | $27.31 | $27.44 | $21.50 |
| North Dakota | $27.83 | $31.59 | $30.56 | $23.59 |
| Ohio | $29.24 | $31.11 | $30.45 | $26.96 |
| Oklahoma | $22.55 | $29.33 | $27.87 | $18.92 |
| Oregon | $30.23 | $48.71 | $46.66 | $24.45 |
| Pennsylvania | $28.54 | $32.50 | $32.73 | $23.75 |
| Rhode Island | $29.25 | $35.62 | $36.77 | $27.52 |
| South Carolina | $24.36 | $28.24 | $25.93 | $20.65 |
| South Dakota | $23.14 | $29.51 | $24.82 | $21.98 |
| Tennessee | $24.44 | $29.37 | $28.17 | $21.64 |
| Texas | $23.51 | $28.16 | $28.77 | $19.53 |
| United States | $29.12 | $30.38 | $30.67 | $22.66 |
| Utah | $25.17 | $29.81 | $29.76 | $22.38 |
| Vermont | $30.00 | $30.49 | $29.89 | $23.36 |
| Virginia | $26.77 | $30.24 | $29.07 | $20.94 |
| Washington | $35.67 | $45.78 | $38.96 | $27.75 |
| West Virginia | $23.42 | $31.16 | $27.39 | $20.51 |
| Wisconsin | $29.65 | $36.80 | $39.04 | $26.97 |
| Wyoming | $27.33 | $36.59 | $30.01 | $22.13 |
A regional benchmark for contractor-built homes
The Census Bureau reports the original contract price per square foot for new contractor-built single-family houses started in 2025. This is a broad housing comparison, not a barndominium rate or a prediction for your build.
| Region | Median | Average |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $171.57 | $198.33 |
| Northeast | $179.30 | $246.26 |
| Midwest | $194.09 | $202.13 |
| South | $157.30 | $179.96 |
| West | $176.87 | $213.85 |
The original contract excludes land, generally excludes later change orders, and excludes separate contracts for work around the grounds. It is not comparable to our whole-project total without matching the scope. The estimates also have sampling uncertainty; regional differences do not isolate the effect of location from differences in the homes built.
Source: Census Characteristics of New Housing, contract-price workbook (XLS), and Survey of Construction definitions. Median and average are shown separately because they describe different summaries of the same distribution.
Research the parcel before the floor plan
A state-level price cannot tell you what your driveway, soil or utility connection will require. Use these sources to prepare questions for the people pricing and approving your specific site.
Check the mapped flood hazard
Search your address in FEMA’s map service. Save the map reference and ask the local floodplain administrator about current requirements, map changes and the proposed building location.
Open FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗Review mapped soil limitations
Use USDA Web Soil Survey to define an area of interest and review building-site and septic-related information. Share it with your site team to decide what investigations to commission.
Open USDA Web Soil Survey resources ↗Get the connection scope in writing
Ask utility providers about service availability, distance, capacity, easements and connection charges. Ask the road authority about the proposed driveway entrance and construction access.
Use the site-preparation checklist →Confirm what can be built
Ask the local planning and building offices about the proposed residential use, setbacks, adopted requirements and the information needed for permits. Keep each unresolved cost visible in your budget.
Review the complete budget checklist →Bring the local information into your budget
Start with separate living, shop and porch areas. Add the parcel-specific scope, then replace assumptions with matching quotes as they arrive.
Open the cost calculator →Already have proposals? Compare their included and missing work.