US construction cost trends.
The cost of building in the United States, tracked monthly from official data. Producer prices for the key construction inputs (steel, lumber, ready-mix concrete, gypsum and construction machinery), average construction wages, and the residential and non-residential put-in-place spending that sizes the market. Every series is sourced from FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and the US Census Bureau. Latest readings as of June 2026.
| Indicator | Latest | vs prior month | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material input prices (PPI, year over year) | ||||
| Construction Inputs (PPI, YoY) | 5.6% | -1.00 pp | May 2026 | FRED · WPUSI012011 |
| Steel Mill Products (PPI, YoY) | 7.0% | -2.86 pp | May 2026 | FRED · WPU101 |
| Lumber & Wood (PPI, YoY) | 4.2% | +2.13 pp | May 2026 | FRED · WPU081 |
| Ready-Mix Concrete (PPI, YoY) | 0.6% | +0.12 pp | May 2026 | FRED · WPU1332 |
| Gypsum Products (PPI, YoY) | 0.0% | -0.09 pp | May 2026 | FRED · WPU1392 |
| Construction Machinery (PPI, YoY) | 3.5% | -0.46 pp | May 2026 | FRED · WPU112 |
| Construction labor | ||||
| Construction Wages (YoY) | 4.3% | -0.04 pp | June 2026 | FRED · CES2000000003 |
| Put-in-place spend (SAAR) | ||||
| Residential Construction Spend | $943bn | ▲0.4% | May 2026 | FRED · TLRESCONS |
| Nonres. Construction Spend | $1,267bn | ▼0.0% | May 2026 | FRED · TLNRESCONS |
Producer price indices are shown year over year, so each figure reads as the annual rate of cost inflation for that input: a steel reading of 5% means steel mill products cost 5% more than a year ago. Construction wages are the year-over-year change in average hourly earnings for construction workers. Put-in-place spending is the seasonally adjusted annual rate of construction dollars actually going into the ground, split residential and non-residential; it sizes activity rather than prices. Together they answer two questions every developer, general contractor and investor underwrites: what direction are hard costs moving, and how much building is competing for the same labor and materials.
The GREI Terminal tracks all of these series monthly with interactive charts, alongside US treasuries, credit spreads, housing activity and CRE lending conditions, and surfaces them on the sectors that build: homebuilders, multifamily, industrial and data centers.
Construction-cost indicators are producer price indices, wage series and spend series sourced from FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) and the US Census Bureau. For information only, not a cost estimate for any specific project.