Contractor Price Index: What Materials Cost Right Now

Contractor Price Index: material prices this month

Each price is what the store listed on its own website on October 1, 2026, before tax and delivery. For proof, tap a price to see its source page.

Because October is the first month, there is no change to show yet. Starting in November, however, a column shows whether each price went up or down.

Lumber and sheet goods

Roofing

Drywall

Concrete

Paint

Electrical

Plumbing

Flooring

Insulation

Fasteners

Landscape

SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a job photo into an itemized estimate you can price against these numbers.

How to use the Contractor Price Index on a bid

Use these prices as a check on your supplier quote, not a replacement for it. In other words, if your yard runs well above these on the same item, shop it. For example, the same box of Grip-Rite 16d sinkers was $30.99 at one store and $27.99 at the other. Finally, add your waste, markup and delivery on top.

Baseline labor rates by trade

National median hourly wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. However, this is what the worker is paid, not what you bill. So your billed rate also covers payroll taxes, insurance, overhead and profit.

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, read October 1, 2026.

What the Contractor Price Index number means

In short, the Contractor Price Index rolls all 30 prices into one number. First, October 2026 is set to 100. Then, if November reads 103, the same materials cost about 3 percent more.

Why the Contractor Price Index uses weights

A weight is how much of the final number each group counts for. Without weights, a $0.50 move on a box of screws would count the same as a $5 move on a bundle of shingles. So each group gets a share out of 100 that roughly matches where a remodeling contractor’s material dollars go. Lumber and roofing count most because they are the biggest lines on most jobs.

The shares are our judgment, not a survey, and they stay frozen for 12 months so months compare cleanly.

Example: if roofing rises 10 percent and nothing else moves, the index rises about 1.1 points, because roofing is 11 of the 100.

The October 1, 2026 read is 100.0, with 30 of 30 products priced from 45 store reads. Wages are never counted in it.

How the Contractor Price Index is built

1. Fix the basket

   30 named products in 12 groups, weights set by SimplyWise and frozen for 12 months.

2. Read the shelf price weekly

   By product name, on the same page element as the price. Branch prices take the median.

3. Compare like with like

   Each price is divided by the same seller’s price at the base read. A product not read drops out.

4. Combine and publish

   Geometric mean inside a group, fixed weights across groups, counts printed every release.

We never estimate, smooth or carry a price forward. Also, sale prices are left out.

However, it does not measure installed cost, trade account pricing or regions beyond the branches read. The weights are our judgment, not a survey. Home Depot, Lowe’s and Menards block automated reads, so they are not in it.