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Research & Data Studies

HomeCostLens maintains a locally-adjusted cost dataset covering 13 home projects across 6 trades in 100 US metros, built entirely from named public sources — BEA regional price parities, BLS wages and producer prices, Census housing and income data, EIA electricity rates, NOAA climate normals and FEMA storm risk. The studies below are what that dataset shows.

The short version: the same home project costs about 35% more in San Francisco, CA than in McAllen, TX — a roof replacement runs $12,720 in one and $9,450 in the other. Measured against local incomes, the picture changes again, and the metros under the most strain are not the expensive ones.

Studies

2026 Home Project Cost Index

All 100 metros ranked by what home projects actually cost, plus a cost-versus-income view of where projects strain budgets most

Home Improvement Cost Statistics 2026

40 citable statistics — national averages, regional extremes, solar payback, housing age and year-over-year price trends

For journalists

You may republish our charts, rankings and figures with attribution — credit “HomeCostLens” and link to the study the data came from. That is the whole licence. We can also run custom cuts for your market: your metro against the nation, a specific trade, or a ranked table for your readership, usually same-day.

These research pages deliberately carry no quote forms. See the press page for contact details and story angles, or How We Estimate for the full method and every source behind these numbers.

Figures are informational estimates built from public data, not quotes. Studies are refreshed as their underlying federal sources are updated.