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Deck cost calculator
The price owners paid for decks, porches and patios in your state, with a joist count and span check for your size.
Built by Radif Partners · How prices are built · Editorial policy
Deck, porch or patio in the United States, hired out
$8,010
Most jobs between $3,660 and $16,570 (middle half of reported prices)
| National median (homeowners’ reports) | $8,012 |
| Regional level (Census division) | +0.0% |
| State labor adjustment | +0.0% |
| Typical price in the United States | $8,010 |
| Deck area | 192 sq ft |
| Joists at 16 in on center | 10 |
| Maximum 2x8 span (DCA 6) | 11'-10" |
| Span check | Too long: add a beam or go up a size |
Carpenters: national mean $31.55 an hour. Range from homeowners who hired a professional (2021 to 2023, American Housing Survey 2023), in August 2026 dollars; permits, tear-off of unusual materials, structural repairs and local surcharges vary job to job. How this is calculated.
Adding a deck, porch, patio or terrace through a professional cost $8,010 at the national median, with half of the jobs between $3,660 and $16,570, according to the 742 such projects reported in the 2023 American Housing Survey and converted to August 2026 dollars. The range is wide because the survey groups a small ground-level patio with a raised two-level deck, and it records neither size nor material. The calculator keeps that honest range as the price, then adds the framing check that matters for a wood deck: how many joists your width needs at 16 inches on center, and whether your depth fits the maximum span the American Wood Council publishes for Southern pine 2x8 (11'-10") and 2x10 (14'-0") joists. Owners who built their own reported a median of $2,289.
What the survey price covers
The American Housing Survey category is "added porch, deck, patio or terrace". A $3,000 concrete patio and a $30,000 composite deck with stairs and railings both sit in it, which is why the middle half of the prices spans $12,910. Use the typical figure as the price of an ordinary project and the high end as a realistic budget for a raised wood deck of some size. The calculator moves the labor share with the wage of carpenters in your state; BLS measured a national mean of $31.55 an hour for carpenters in May 2025.
Framing contractors, the closest industry in the 2022 Economic Census, spent 37.4% of the value of their work on materials, 24.2% on payroll and benefits, and 13.8% on subcontracted work. Lumber price swings therefore show up in deck quotes faster than in roof or HVAC quotes.
Joists and spans for a wood deck
The American Wood Council DCA 6 prescriptive guide is the reference most building departments accept for simple decks. For Southern pine joists at 16 inches on center, it allows a span of up to 11'-10" for 2x8s and 14'-0" for 2x10s, with joists spaced at 12, 16 or 24 inches and overhangs limited to a quarter of the span. Footings must reach at least 12 inches below grade or below the frost line, whichever is deeper. The Southern Forest Products Association adds that 5/4 decking boards and 2x6s can span up to 24 inches, with 16 inches recommended for 5/4 boards.
| Deck width along the house | Joists at 16 in on center |
|---|---|
| 8 ft | 7 |
| 10 ft | 9 |
| 12 ft | 10 |
| 16 ft | 13 |
| 20 ft | 16 |
| 24 ft | 19 |
Other species (hem-fir, Douglas fir, spruce-pine-fir) have shorter allowable spans in the same tables, and a ledger board attached to the house has its own fastening rules. A permit drawing usually asks for exactly these items: joist size and spacing, beam size, post and footing sizes, ledger attachment and guard height.
Wood, composite or concrete
The survey cannot tell materials apart, so treat comparisons with care. Pressure-treated pine framing is common under both wood and composite decking; the decking and railing choice moves the price most. A ground-level concrete or paver patio avoids the framing altogether, and the concrete calculator gives the yards or bags for a slab.
Comparing deck quotes
Get the deck area, height above grade, framing lumber species and size, decking and railing products, stair count, footing count and depth, and whether the permit and drawings are included. With state estimates ranging from $6,790 in Georgia to $11,980 in Illinois for the typical project, a quote outside the range for your state deserves a line-by-line conversation.
Timing changes the bill too. Deck builders are busiest from spring to early summer, and a project booked for late fall or winter, where the ground allows footings to be poured, may find more open calendars. Material choices made late, such as switching from pressure-treated to composite decking after the quote, are the most common reason a final invoice drifts away from the estimate, so settle the products before signing.