As contractors, the first question we are always asked by clients is: How much will it cost me to build this home? Recently I was reflecting on this with a friend and I got to thinking about the fact that living in Washington State, the cost of living is higher than many other states. But does that correspond to building costs as well? Well, Google and I did some research (all data is from www.home-cost.com). The numbers below express the average cost to build per square foot for the average size house in that area:
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Washington is $133/Sq. ft.
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California is $148.84/Sq. Ft
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Colorado is $118.28/Sq. Ft.
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Arkansas is $83.21/Sq. Ft.
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Florida is $94.30/Sq. Ft.
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Iowa is $89.55/Sq. Ft.
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Minnesota is $107.58/Sq. Ft.
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Montana is $119.19/ Sq. Ft
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Nevada is $133.60/Sq. Ft
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Arizona is $113.98/Sq. Ft
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Hawaii is $162.35/Sq. Ft
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Alaska is $166.68/Sq. Ft
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New York is $136.41/ Sq. Ft
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North Carolina is $93.47/Sq. Ft
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Oregon is $132.86/Sq. Ft.
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Texas is $85.83/Sq. Ft
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Utah is $106.88/ Sq. Ft
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Vermont is $120.59/Sq. Ft.
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Michigan is $98.15/Sq. Ft
None of these numbers really surprised me. As I expected, in Washington it is going to be more expensive to build a home than most other states. However; when you consider that in the context of what you can actually sell a home for in Washington, the cost doesn’t seem so bad. Remember, these numbers are averages, so in certain areas of any state it will be more expensive to build than others; moreover, in certain areas you will also get a better selling price per square foot than you will in others. Below are the average Selling Price per Square Foot by state (Data from Zillow.com).
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Washington is $177/Sq. ft.
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California is $281/Sq. Ft
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Colorado is $204/Sq. Ft.
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Arkansas is $88/Sq. Ft.
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Florida is $155/Sq. Ft
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Iowa is $119/Sq. Ft.
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Minnesota is $160/Sq. Ft.
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Montana is $169/Sq. Ft
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Nevada is $138/Sq. Ft
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Arizona is $140/Sq. Ft
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Hawaii is $480/Sq. Ft
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Alaska is $166/Sq. Ft
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New York is $180/Sq. Ft
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North Carolina is $117/Sq. Ft
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Oregon is $189/Sq. Ft.
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Texas is $115/Sq. Ft
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Utah is $162/Sq. Ft
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Vermont is $142/Sq. Ft.
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Michigan is $106/Sq. Ft.
So, to analyze these figures, you would expect that in Washington State, you could yield about a $44 per sq. foot return on investment, whereas if you were building in Texas for example you would have a $29.17/sq. foot return.
