Building material price trends
Building material prices are up 70% over the last 10 years, and steel mill products are up 155.9%. That is a big part of why projects cost what they do in 2026. Each chart below shows monthly prices from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013 to 2026. The label on each chart says where that price stands now.
The numbers behind the charts
| Material | 1-year | 5-year | 10-year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel mill products | +40.1% | +63.2% | +155.9% | highest in 13+ years |
| Nonferrous metals | +8.1% | +46.1% | +93.4% | highest in 13+ years |
| Iron & steel | +7% | +7.4% | +85.1% | 3-year high |
| Inputs to construction industries | +5.6% | +18.7% | +70% | highest in 13+ years |
| Heating equipment | +3.9% | +48.3% | +66.3% | highest in 13+ years |
| Concrete ingredients | +3% | +39.5% | +63.7% | highest in 13+ years |
| Plastic construction products | -1.2% | +28.9% | +60% | near recent levels |
| Gypsum products | -0.7% | +30.9% | +59.6% | near recent levels |
| Construction machinery & equipment | +3.5% | +33.3% | +48.2% | highest in 13+ years |
| Lumber & wood products | +4.2% | -39.2% | +38.3% | 3-year high |
| Paints & coatings | 0% | +19.4% | +37.8% | near recent levels |
What this means for your project
Two things stand out. First, prices never fell all the way back after the jump in 2021 and 2022. Most materials are at or near their highest point in 10 years. That is why 2026 quotes can look high next to quotes from a few years ago. Second, not every material went up the same amount. Steel mill products and other metals went up the most. So jobs that use a lot of steel or copper (steel beams, roof fasteners, wiring and plumbing) felt it most. Lumber prices have come down from their peak. For this year's prices, see the material price tracker.
Use this data
You can republish or chart this data for free. Please link back to this page. Cite it as:
Project Cost Range, "Building Material Price Trends," projectcostrange.com (2026-06-26), from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data.
See also the 2026 Construction Cost Report.
Source
Monthly Producer Price Index data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013 to 2026. The index tracks what producers are paid for the goods they sell. We leave out any price series with a sudden break caused by a change in how the government codes it. Each change compares a month with the same month in earlier years. See how we get our numbers. We pulled the data on June 26, 2026.