Construction Materials Pricing
National price trends across 13 materials NYC projects order most — structural (steel, lumber, concrete, aluminum), interior finishes, MEP, envelope/glazing, and sitework/fuel — so a budget can anticipate a real cost swing before it hits, not just react to it after a supplier quote comes back higher than expected.
This data will power PriceAId, Constructel NYC's planned AI-estimated local supplier pricing tool — see Our Technology. What's below today is the real, live national index; PriceAId's job will be translating that national trend into an NYC-specific estimate.
Every series below is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' own Producer Price Index (PPI), retrieved via FRED. These are price-trend indexes, not dollar prices — BLS doesn't publish a single "$/ton" or "$/board-foot" figure for these materials, since real per-unit cost varies by grade, region, and supplier. What the index honestly supports is the trend: is this material getting more or less expensive nationally, and by roughly how much year over year — not a quote you can take to a supplier. FRED's CSV endpoint doesn't send CORS headers, so this can't be queried live from the browser like most of this site; it's refreshed manually.
How to read the dashed line and the shaded band.
The dashed line is a plain mechanical calculation — a straight line fit through the last 6 real months, continued 3 months forward. No outside model, no seasonality, and no news events (tariffs, plant shutdowns, freight disruptions) are factored in. The shaded band is the standard 80% prediction interval around that line, so it widens both with distance and with how noisy the recent real months actually were: on the composite it's about ±0.6%, on diesel fuel (equipment) it's roughly ±35%. That difference is the point — the previous version of this chart drew both with the same three equally confident bars. The band is only as good as its single assumption: that the next three months come from the same straight-line-plus-noise process as the last six. A tariff announcement breaks that assumption completely, and no interval on this page can see one coming. The solid navy line is the only reported data.
Every card is also scored against itself. The "last run, off by" figure re-runs this identical method three months back — fitting only on data available then — and compares its answers to the months BLS has since published. On the composite index it landed within 0.2%; on the noisiest series it was off by double digits. That's one trial per series, far too small to be a validated error rate, but it's evidence about out-of-sample behaviour rather than another statistic about how tidy the line looks.
BLS Special Index · WPUSI012011
PPI Special Index: Construction Materials
BLS's own single composite across this whole materials basket — not an average we calculated. Source
374.0
+10.5% YoY
Three Worked Examples
An index number is only useful once it's attached to money. Each example below applies a real, published BLS index ratio to a round, invented package value — the package sizes are stated assumptions chosen to be plausible for the job described, not quotes, not NYC market rates, and not drawn from any real project's budget. Every figure in the arithmetic is shown so you can swap your own number in.
The steel package you priced last summer
Say the structural steel on a mid-rise was carried at $4,000,000 when the budget was set in Jul 2025. Iron & steel PPI has since gone 318.1 → 374.1 (+17.6%).
$4,704,100
$4,000,000 × (374.1 ÷ 318.1) — a $704,100 gap that has already happened nationally. This is the one number on this page that isn't a projection at all: both index values are reported history.
Budgeting a wire buyout three months out
A $1,200,000 electrical wire & cable buyout not placed until Oct 2026. The trend line points at index 488.4, but the honest output is the band, not the midpoint:
$1,213,600 – $1,279,900
80% band, vs. a midpoint of $1,246,700. The useful move isn't to budget the midpoint — it's to carry roughly $79,900 of escalation contingency on this line and know what you're covering. Real prices break from a straight line for reasons no line can see, so even this range can be wrong.
Diesel Fuel (Equipment), and why we're showing you the failure
The same arithmetic on a $300,000 allowance for the page's least predictable material gives a band so wide it's an admission, not an answer:
$258,600 – $534,600
Its last 6 months barely sit on a line at all (R² = 0.31), and when this exact method was backtested on the 3 months BLS has since published it came out 24.1% high. The right conclusion is to hedge or escalate this line contractually — not to pick a number off the dashed line. A trend chart that hid this would be the least honest thing on the page.
Biggest Movers, Year Over Year
Rising Fastest
- Asphalt Paving+53.6%
- Diesel Fuel (Equipment)+44.2%
- Aluminum Mill Shapes+40.5%
Falling Fastest
- Gypsum / Wallboard-0.4%
- Asphalt Roofing+3.6%
- Ready-Mix & Precast Concrete+3.7%
Structural
Steel
Structural
+17.6%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+4.8%
80% band
±0.8%
Last run, off by
1.9%
Worked example: a $500,000 Steel package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $588,000 today — up $88,000, from the index moving 318.1 → 374.1. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 374.1 (Jul 2026) · WPU101 — PPI by Commodity: Metals and Metal Products — Iron and Steel · fit R²=0.99 (strong)
Run your own number →Lumber
Structural
+10.1%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+2.6%
80% band
±3.1%
Last run, off by
0.1%
Worked example: a $500,000 Lumber package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $550,700 today — up $50,700, from the index moving 264.2 → 291.0. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 291.0 (Jul 2026) · WPU081 — PPI by Commodity: Lumber and Wood Products — Lumber · fit R²=0.81 (strong)
Run your own number →Concrete Ingredients
Structural
+4.4%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+1.0%
80% band
±0.3%
Last run, off by
1.6%
Worked example: a $500,000 Concrete Ingredients package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $521,800 today — up $21,800, from the index moving 459.0 → 479.0. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 479.0 (Jul 2026) · WPU132 — PPI by Commodity: Nonmetallic Mineral Products — Concrete Ingredients and Related Products · fit R²=0.96 (strong)
Run your own number →Ready-Mix & Precast Concrete
Structural
+3.7%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+1.5%
80% band
±0.6%
Last run, off by
0.6%
Worked example: a $500,000 Ready-Mix & Precast Concrete package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $518,600 today — up $18,600, from the index moving 392.4 → 407.0. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 407.0 (Jul 2026) · WPU133 — PPI by Commodity: Nonmetallic Mineral Products — Concrete Products · fit R²=0.94 (strong)
Run your own number →Aluminum Mill Shapes
Structural
+40.5%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+9.6%
80% band
±4.5%
Last run, off by
3.4%
Worked example: a $500,000 Aluminum Mill Shapes package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $702,300 today — up $202,300, from the index moving 276.1 → 387.8. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 387.8 (Jul 2026) · WPU102501 — PPI by Commodity: Metals and Metal Products — Aluminum Mill Shapes · fit R²=0.88 (strong)
Run your own number →A small, hand-verified starting point for sourcing structural materials in the NYC metro area — not an exhaustive directory, not price-comparison data, and not an endorsement. Each was confirmed as a real company with a genuine NYC-metro presence via its own site before being listed here.
Ready-mix concrete producer with plants in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx
Lumber yard and building-materials supplier operating in the Bronx since 1972
Structural steel supplier and fabricator serving NYC-borough contractors, with a Manhattan sales office
Interior Finishes
Gypsum / Wallboard
Interior Finishes
-0.4%
YoY
Trend to Oct
-0.7%
80% band
±1.5%
Last run, off by
0.4%
Worked example: a $500,000 Gypsum / Wallboard package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $498,200 today — down $1,800, from the index moving 483.4 → 481.6. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 481.6 (Jul 2026) · WPU137 — PPI by Commodity: Nonmetallic Mineral Products — Gypsum Products · fit R²=0.02 (weak)
Run your own number →Paint
Interior Finishes
+6.2%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+1.6%
80% band
±0.9%
Last run, off by
0.3%
Worked example: a $500,000 Paint package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $531,100 today — up $31,100, from the index moving 422.0 → 448.3. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 448.3 (Jul 2026) · WPU0621 — PPI by Commodity: Chemicals and Allied Products — Prepared Paint · fit R²=0.88 (strong)
Run your own number →A small, hand-verified starting point for sourcing interior finishes materials in the NYC metro area — not an exhaustive directory, not price-comparison data, and not an endorsement. Each was confirmed as a real company with a genuine NYC-metro presence via its own site before being listed here.
Drywall/gypsum and metal-framing distributor with a Bronx branch
National paint manufacturer/retailer with a Manhattan commercial paint store
MEP
Electrical Wire & Cable
MEP
+12.2%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+3.9%
80% band
±2.7%
Last run, off by
0.3%
Worked example: a $500,000 Electrical Wire & Cable package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $560,900 today — up $60,900, from the index moving 419.1 → 470.1. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 470.1 (Jul 2026) · WPU1026 — PPI by Commodity: Metals and Metal Products — Nonferrous Wire and Cable · fit R²=0.87 (strong)
Run your own number →Steel Pipe & Tube
MEP
+10.8%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+5.0%
80% band
±1.2%
Last run, off by
2.2%
Worked example: a $500,000 Steel Pipe & Tube package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $553,900 today — up $53,900, from the index moving 383.5 → 424.9. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 424.9 (Jul 2026) · WPU101706 — PPI by Commodity: Metals and Metal Products — Steel Pipe and Tube · fit R²=0.98 (strong)
Run your own number →A small, hand-verified starting point for sourcing mep materials in the NYC metro area — not an exhaustive directory, not price-comparison data, and not an endorsement. Each was confirmed as a real company with a genuine NYC-metro presence via its own site before being listed here.
Plumbing/PVF and HVAC supply distributor with a Manhattan branch
Electrical-supply distributor and wire/cable house based in the Bronx since 1974
Envelope & Glazing
Glass
Envelope & Glazing
+6.1%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+0.8%
80% band
±0.6%
Last run, off by
2.8%
Worked example: a $500,000 Glass package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $530,600 today — up $30,600, from the index moving 189.1 → 200.7. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 200.7 (Jul 2026) · WPU131 — PPI by Commodity: Nonmetallic Mineral Products — Glass · fit R²=0.74 (moderate)
Run your own number →Asphalt Roofing
Envelope & Glazing
+3.6%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+3.0%
80% band
±4.3%
Last run, off by
8.7%
Worked example: a $500,000 Asphalt Roofing package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $518,000 today — up $18,000, from the index moving 359.4 → 372.3. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 372.3 (Jul 2026) · WPU136101 — PPI by Commodity: Nonmetallic Mineral Products — Prepared Asphalt and Tar Roofing and Siding Products · fit R²=0.72 (moderate)
Run your own number →A small, hand-verified starting point for sourcing envelope & glazing materials in the NYC metro area — not an exhaustive directory, not price-comparison data, and not an endorsement. Each was confirmed as a real company with a genuine NYC-metro presence via its own site before being listed here.
Roofing-materials distributor with a Long Island City, Queens branch
Architectural glass fabricator/distributor, founded 1900 on Manhattan's Lower East Side, now headquartered just across the Hudson in Secaucus, NJ
Sitework & Fuel
Asphalt Paving
Sitework & Fuel
+53.6%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+18.6%
80% band
±4.9%
Last run, off by
3.6%
Worked example: a $500,000 Asphalt Paving package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $768,000 today — up $268,000, from the index moving 371.6 → 570.8. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 570.8 (Jul 2026) · WPU058 — PPI by Commodity: Fuels and Related Products and Power — Asphalt and Other Petroleum and Coal Products, NEC · fit R²=0.96 (strong)
Run your own number →Diesel Fuel (Equipment)
Sitework & Fuel
+44.2%
YoY
Trend to Oct
+32.2%
80% band
±34.8%
Last run, off by
24.1%
Worked example: a $500,000 Diesel Fuel (Equipment) package priced in Jul 2025 buys the same scope for $721,200 today — up $221,200, from the index moving 316.9 → 457.1. The $500,000 is a round assumption, not a market rate; the ratio is real.
Index 457.1 (Jul 2026) · WPU057303 — PPI by Commodity: Fuels and Related Products and Power — No. 2 Diesel Fuel · fit R²=0.31 (weak)
Run your own number →A small, hand-verified starting point for sourcing sitework & fuel materials in the NYC metro area — not an exhaustive directory, not price-comparison data, and not an endorsement. Each was confirmed as a real company with a genuine NYC-metro presence via its own site before being listed here.
Heavy-civil contractor and asphalt producer operating its own asphalt plants in Queens
Fuel distributor supplying diesel from a Brooklyn terminal
Every Reported Value(14 series)
| Material | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | May 2026 | Jun 2026 | Jul 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite (all materials) | 338.7 | 338.6 | 341.5 | 341.0 | 340.3 | 338.6 | 344.7 | 347.9 | 352.8 | 355.5 | 359.6 | 364.0 | 368.8 | 374.0 |
| Steel | 320.7 | 318.1 | 320.7 | 317.5 | 313.8 | 307.9 | 324.0 | 329.8 | 340.5 | 346.7 | 352.6 | 358.0 | 365.2 | 374.1 |
| Lumber | 266.6 | 264.2 | 266.3 | 259.8 | 259.1 | 259.5 | 259.1 | 265.3 | 272.1 | 270.8 | 280.3 | 281.1 | 280.0 | 291.0 |
| Concrete Ingredients | 458.2 | 459.0 | 459.2 | 459.5 | 458.9 | 458.1 | 458.6 | 470.6 | 471.8 | 472.2 | 474.0 | 475.6 | 478.3 | 479.0 |
| Ready-Mix & Precast Concrete | 392.8 | 392.4 | 393.1 | 393.7 | 393.9 | 393.6 | 395.5 | 399.5 | 399.4 | 401.2 | 403.7 | 405.8 | 407.0 | 407.0 |
| Aluminum Mill Shapes | 256.7 | 276.1 | 291.3 | 295.9 | 301.5 | 312.0 | 320.6 | 328.7 | 349.4 | 353.2 | 367.8 | 385.0 | 394.3 | 387.8 |
| Gypsum / Wallboard | 483.7 | 483.4 | 484.0 | 482.1 | 482.3 | 480.8 | 480.2 | 480.3 | 480.7 | 479.5 | 480.4 | 475.1 | 477.5 | 481.6 |
| Paint | 421.5 | 422.0 | 430.8 | 431.4 | 432.7 | 433.1 | 434.6 | 435.5 | 440.3 | 440.6 | 443.3 | 448.0 | 448.2 | 448.3 |
| Electrical Wire & Cable | 401.6 | 419.1 | 402.7 | 394.7 | 408.6 | 410.0 | 425.3 | 439.7 | 444.5 | 444.9 | 444.1 | 459.7 | 467.6 | 470.1 |
| Steel Pipe & Tube | 386.3 | 383.5 | 379.8 | 381.3 | 380.1 | 380.8 | 388.8 | 387.3 | 393.1 | 395.8 | 405.7 | 410.9 | 421.0 | 424.9 |
| Glass | 185.1 | 189.1 | 190.9 | 190.9 | 191.3 | 191.9 | 192.1 | 198.9 | 199.4 | 199.2 | 199.5 | 200.9 | 201.1 | 200.7 |
| Asphalt Roofing | 359.6 | 359.4 | 360.0 | 356.6 | 357.8 | 357.9 | 354.9 | 347.0 | 352.5 | 346.4 | 347.6 | 354.7 | 367.6 | 372.3 |
| Asphalt Paving | 394.6 | 371.6 | 353.7 | 371.5 | 423.2 | 376.6 | 378.4 | 399.5 | 433.0 | 455.2 | 487.2 | 538.6 | 565.4 | 570.8 |
| Diesel Fuel (Equipment) | 287.0 | 316.9 | 307.2 | 313.9 | 298.9 | 331.6 | 273.1 | 266.6 | 316.0 | 437.3 | 495.3 | 582.8 | 477.1 | 457.1 |
Reported BLS index values only — the projected months are not in this table, because they aren't data.
Sanity-check a project budget against this trend on EstimAId's Cost Per Square Foot and Development Cost calculators.