Deck Cost: what the whole job actually costs
Across the 11 US metros Renolume models from measured wage data, a new deck runs $13,600 – $40,700, with a typical mid point around $22,000 at the Better specification. That is a whole-job figure — 11 scoped tasks, 27 days elapsed, 21% contractor overhead and profit and 8% contingency — not a unit rate multiplied out. Where you live is the single largest swing: Dallas models at $13,700 – $29,100 while San Francisco models at $18,100 – $40,700 for identical scope.
Modelled by the Renolume estimating model · engine 2.0.0, data v2026.1 · Last updated . Every figure on this page is produced by the Renolume engine at the stated engine and data version. Nothing is scraped, crowd-sourced or supplied by a contractor, and no figure is edited by hand after the model runs.
Good, Better and Best in the United States
The same scope of work priced at three specification levels, so the upgrade is a number rather than a sales claim.
| Specification | What it is | Modelled cost | Step up vs Good | Material lead time | Elapsed time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Pressure-treated framing and decking, standard PT railing, face-screwed boards. | $10,700 – $25,100 | baseline | 2 days – 12 days | 22 days |
| Better | Capped composite decking, upgraded railing, hidden fasteners. | $14,800 – $32,200 | +$5,500 | 7 days – 28 days | 27 days |
| Best | Premium composite or hardwood decking, aluminium or cable railing, best-in-class hardware. | $21,800 – $48,400 | +$15,900 | 14 days – 56 days | 36 days |
Cost by size in a typical US metro
Every row is a separate run of the same model at the same specification — only the size changes. Note how the per sq ft rate falls as the job grows: fixed costs like permits, mobilisation and disposal setup do not scale with size.
| Deck size | Typically | Modelled cost | Rate per sq ft | Elapsed time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 x 12 ft (120 sq ft) | small landing or grill deck | $8,900 – $19,600 | $74 – $164 | 25 days |
| 12 x 16 ft (192 sq ft) | table for four plus circulation | $11,000 – $24,100 | $57 – $126 | 26 days |
| 16 x 20 ft (320 sq ft) | the most common family deck | $14,800 – $32,200 | $46 – $101 | 27 days |
| 20 x 24 ft (480 sq ft) | dining and lounge zones together | $20,100 – $43,200 | $42 – $90 | 30 days |
| 24 x 30 ft (720 sq ft) | large multi-use deck | $27,800 – $60,000 | $39 – $83 | 33 days |
Decking material comparison
Cost, service life, upkeep, efficiency and installation difficulty side by side — the trade-off, not just the price.
| Decking material | Modelled cost | Step up | Rate per sq ft | Elapsed time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure-treated pine | $14,800 – $31,600 | baseline | $46 – $99 | 29 days |
| Capped composite | $14,800 – $32,200 | +$300 | $46 – $101 | 27 days |
| Hardwood or PVC | $14,800 – $32,200 | +$300 | $46 – $101 | 27 days |
| Decking material | Service life | Maintenance | Energy | Installation | Planning note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure-treated pine | 10–15 years for the surface | Highest. Clean and re-seal every one to three years or it greys, checks and splinters. | n/a | Lowest. Universally available and stocked. | Lowest cost today, highest cost over twenty years once upkeep is counted. |
| Capped composite | 25–30 years | Low. Wash only; no sealing cycle. | n/a | Low, but hidden-fastener systems slow installation slightly. | The default choice. Dark boards get notably hot underfoot in full sun. |
| Hardwood or PVC | 25–50 years | Moderate for hardwood (oiling), very low for PVC. | n/a | Highest. Hardwood needs pre-drilling and skilled labour. | Specify for appearance and longevity; confirm fastener and joist spacing requirements up front. |
What this works out to per sq ft
Most cost sites lead with a unit price. Renolume shows you the one this model implies, then explains why you should not plan a budget with it.
$13,600 – $40,700 across 320 sq ft of finished decks in a typical US metro, with a mid point of $67 per sq ft.
Why the rate moves
- Height above grade changes post length, bracing and whether guardrails are in scope at all.
- Soil and frost depth change excavation per footing dramatically between metros.
- Railing is priced per linear foot and is largely independent of deck area.
- Small decks carry the same mobilisation, permit and inspection overhead as large ones.
Use it as a check, not as a budget
A unit rate is an output of a job, not an input to one. It is genuinely useful for one thing: sanity checking a quote you already hold. If a bid sits far outside the range above, the difference is almost always scope — layers, access, condition, finishing — rather than the contractor being cheap or expensive. Ask what is in the other bid before you assume it is a better deal.
Deck Construction cost by city
Identical scope and specification, priced against each metro's own wage sample. The labour index is the multiplier applied to national base wages — it is the reason the same job is not the same price.
| Metro | Modelled cost | Rate per sq ft | Labour index | Elapsed time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas, TX | $13,700 – $29,100 | $0 – $100 | 0.96 | 27 days |
| Cleveland, OH | $13,600 – $29,400 | $0 – $100 | 0.98 | 27 days |
| Houston, TX | $13,800 – $29,300 | $0 – $100 | 0.93 | 27 days |
| Atlanta, GA | $13,900 – $29,700 | $0 – $100 | 0.95 | 27 days |
| Detroit, MI | $14,100 – $30,300 | $0 – $100 | 1.02 | 27 days |
| Denver, CO | $14,800 – $32,200 | $0 – $100 | 1.06 | 27 days |
| Philadelphia, PA | $15,200 – $33,300 | $0 – $100 | 1.14 | 27 days |
| Chicago, IL | $15,700 – $34,500 | $0 – $100 | 1.18 | 27 days |
| Seattle, WA | $16,200 – $35,700 | $100 – $100 | 1.24 | 27 days |
| New York, NY | $17,600 – $39,600 | $100 – $100 | 1.38 | 27 days |
| San Francisco, CA | $18,100 – $40,700 | $100 – $100 | 1.42 | 27 days |
Renolume only publishes a city page where it holds a measured wage sample for that metro. Interpolated cities are modelled in the planner but kept out of this table and out of the search index, because a confident-looking number built on a guessed wage is exactly what this site exists to replace.
How this estimate is produced
No contractor supplies these prices, no figure is scraped, and no number is crowd-sourced. Here is the whole chain.
| Step | What happens | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scope | A fixed task library breaks the job into discrete tasks with a trade, a crew size and a productivity rate. This job models 82.5 labour hours across 3 trades. | Nothing is priced that is not described. You can see every task and argue with any of them. |
| 2. Labour | Hours are priced against published government occupational wage data, burdened for payroll costs and scaled to Denver by a labour index of 1.06. | The regional difference is an index you can see, not a guess folded into a national average. |
| 3. Materials | Quantities are derived from your inputs with waste factors, then priced at the selected specification and scaled by a material index of 1.04. | Changing specification changes the material line only — the labour model does not silently move. |
| 4. Other costs | Permits, disposal, protection and equipment, with a permit fee index of 1.15. | These are the lines most quotes leave out and most homeowners discover late. |
| 5. Overhead and contingency | 21% contractor overhead and profit, then 8% contingency for conditions nobody can see before the job is opened up. | A real business has to cover both. Estimates that omit them are structurally too low. |
| 6. Confidence | The model scores how much it actually knows about your property and widens the displayed range when it knows less. | You are told how much to trust the number instead of being given false precision. |
Engine version 2.0.0, data version v2026.1, effective 2026-04-01. Full methodology · How the confidence score works
Why two honest quotes can differ this much
Modelled spread on this job is $13,600 – $40,700. Real quotes often spread wider, and it is rarely because one contractor is dishonest.
| Reason | What it looks like on the quote |
|---|---|
| Different scope | One bid includes disposal, permits and finishing; the other assumes you handle them. Same headline job, different work. |
| Different specification | Grade of new deck components — the accessories, not the headline product — is where most silent savings are made. |
| Different risk appetite | A firm carrying a real contingency prices higher and change-orders less. A firm carrying none does the reverse. |
| Different overhead | Licensed and insured crews with warranty support and office staff cost more to run than a truck and two people. |
| Different backlog | A busy contractor prices to be worth interrupting the schedule. The same firm bids differently in the off season. |
| Different assumptions about the unknown | Whoever assumes the least concealed damage looks cheapest on paper and is the most likely to change-order. |
The practical defence is to compare on scope lines rather than totals. Use the breakdown above as the checklist, and ask any bidder missing a line whether it is excluded or simply unpriced.
Repair or replace?
The decision before the budget. Renolume has no reason to push you toward the larger job.
| What you are seeing | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Surface boards are worn but framing is sound | Re-deck only. Keeping the frame and replacing the surface is far cheaper than a full rebuild. |
| Posts or joists are soft at the ground or the ledger | Replace. Structural rot cannot be surfaced over. |
| Ledger has no visible flashing | Investigate immediately. This is a safety issue, not a cosmetic one. |
| Deck is a different size than you now need | Rebuild. Extending an existing frame rarely costs less than building right. |
Planning a new deck
The parts of a new deck that a cost table cannot tell you.
Most attached decks are permitted work with a footing inspection before concrete and a framing inspection before decking. Those two hold points, not the carpentry, are what stretch a deck project across weeks.
Footings must reach below the local frost line. In a cold-climate metro that can mean four feet of excavation per pier; in a warm one, a fraction of that. Same deck, materially different groundwork.
Terms on your quote, defined
The handful of terms that appear on every quote and change what you are comparing.
- Ledger
- The board attaching the deck to the house. Bad ledger flashing is the leading cause of deck collapse and of wall rot behind the deck.
- Footing
- The concrete pier carrying each post, taken below the local frost line. Frost depth is climate-set and drives excavation cost.
- Guardrail trigger
- Decks above roughly 30 in from grade require a code-compliant guardrail. The height threshold changes the price step, not the deck size.
- Joist spacing
- Composite and diagonal board layouts often require tighter joist spacing than pressure-treated, which adds framing before any decking is laid.
Key takeaways
- Deck Cost nationally models at $13,600 – $40,700, mid point $22,000 at the Better specification.
- Location is the largest single swing: $13,700 – $29,100 in Dallas versus $18,100 – $40,700 in San Francisco for the same job.
- Expect 21 days to 71 days elapsed, of which only 6.4 days is active work.
- Framing and footings, not decking boards, are the majority of a deck budget.
- Height above grade sets whether guardrails are required and is a genuine price step.
- Pressure-treated is cheapest to build and most expensive to own.
- If the frame is sound, re-decking beats rebuilding by a wide margin.
Questions homeowners ask before hiring
How much does a new deck cost?
Across the 11 US metros Renolume models from measured wage data, a new deck runs $13,600 – $40,700 at the Better specification, with a typical mid point around $22,000. That is a whole-job model — 11 scoped tasks, labour, materials, permits and disposal, 21% contractor overhead and profit and 8% contingency — rather than a unit rate multiplied by a size.
Why do deck construction prices vary so much by city?
Because labour does. The same scope models at $13,700 – $29,100 in Dallas and $18,100 – $40,700 in San Francisco — nothing about the job changed, only the local wage base, material freight and permit fees. Renolume states each of those as a published index on the city page instead of folding them into a national average.
What is a fair price per sq ft for a new deck?
This model implies $0 – $100 per sq ft, but that number is an output of the job, not an input to it. The rate falls as the job grows because permits, mobilisation and disposal setup are fixed, and it rises with access difficulty, complexity and condition. Use it to sanity check a quote you already hold; do not build a budget from it.
What is the difference between the Good, Better and Best specifications?
Identical scope of work at three specification levels: Good at $10,700 – $25,100, Better at $14,800 – $32,200 and Best at $21,800 – $48,400. The step up buys material grade, warranty and detailing. It does not buy a different job, which is why comparing two quotes on price alone is usually comparing two different specifications.
How long does a new deck take?
Renolume models 6.4 days of active work and 13 days of waiting — permits, inspections, material lead time and weather buffer — for a total elapsed window of 21 days to 71 days. Crews on site is the short part of the calendar.
How accurate is a national cost range?
Less accurate than a city page, and Renolume says so numerically: this page carries a confidence score of 100/100 (High confidence) because it assumes a standard property in an average market. Choosing your metro and answering the planner questions raises the score, because the model then has real inputs instead of defaults.
Where does this cost data come from?
Labour hours come from a fixed task and productivity library; wage rates from published government occupational wage data; regional movement from stated labour, material and permit indices per metro. Nothing is scraped, crowd-sourced or supplied by a contractor, and no figure is edited by hand after the model runs. Engine version 2.0.0, data version v2026.1, effective 2026-04-01.
Get this priced for your actual house
Answer six questions and the range narrows to your property, your access, your existing conditions.
Planning estimate only. This is not a quote, bid or appraisal. Ranges reflect typical market conditions for the stated data version and do not account for site-specific concealed conditions, local code interpretation or contractor availability. Always obtain written bids. Data version v2026.1. Last updated . Methodology.