Flooring costs
35 priced projects, from a $190 carpet stretching to a $6,000 terrazzo flooring installation. The spread inside one material is as wide as the gap between two, and the work of taking up what is already down is priced apart from the work of laying anything new.
All 35, one axis
national ranges · typical marked · $0 – $16,00025 of the 35 have a cost guide of their own; the rest are priced from the same dataset.
Price per sq ft against service life
two scales, same 10 materialsRead the two columns together: the cheapest material to install is rarely the cheapest to own.
| Material | Cost per sq ft ↑ | Lifespan | Maintenance | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet VinylMost Affordable | $2 – $5 | 10–20 years | low | ★★☆☆☆ | ▸ |
| Carpet | $3 – $8 | 5–15 years | medium | ★★☆☆☆ | ▸ |
| Laminate | $3 – $8 | 15–25 years | low | ★★☆☆☆ | ▸ |
| Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) | $4 – $9 | 15–25 years | low | ★★☆☆☆ | ▸ |
| Ceramic Tile | $5 – $12 | 50–75 years | low | ★★★☆☆ | ▸ |
| Polished Concrete | $5 – $12 | 50–80 years | low | ★★★★★ | ▸ |
| Engineered Hardwood | $6 – $14 | 20–40 years | medium | ★★★☆☆ | ▸ |
| Porcelain TileBest Value | $6 – $15 | 60–100 years | low | ★★★☆☆ | ▸ |
| Solid Hardwood | $8 – $18 | 50–100 years | medium | ★★★☆☆ | ▸ |
| Natural Stone (Marble/Granite) | $10 – $25 | 75–100 years | medium | ★★★☆☆ | ▸ |
The trade range, metro by metro
$0 – $16,000The typical project, adjusted by each metro's measured labour index. The spread between the cheapest and the dearest metro is 56% on identical work.
Also flooring work
priced under the silo that owns them- Tile Floor Installation $3,500
- Tile Floor Removal $560
- Tile Backsplash Installation $1,000
- Porcelain Tile Installation $3,000
19 flooring guides
questions the price alone does not answerHow Long Do Hardwood Floors Last? The Sanding Budget, Finish Life, and What Each Year of Floor Costs
Solid hardwood lasts 50–100 years and engineered 20–40. How many sandings a floor holds, what ends it early, and refinishing at $1,000–$4,000 a pass.
COREtec Flooring Cost: What Each Line Sells For, and What It Costs Installed
COREtec flooring runs $4.09–$9.69 per sq ft at dealers and about $6.00–$14.65 installed. All 261 current styles priced by line, plus the old line names.
How Long Does Laminate Flooring Last? Service Life by AC Grade, the Failures That End It, and Repair vs Replacement Costs
Laminate lasts 15–25 years at AC3–AC4 and 5–15 at AC1–AC2. What ends it early, repair vs replacement costs, and what each year of floor costs.
Cost to Replace Carpet With Hardwood: The Full Conversion Bill (2026)
Replacing carpet with hardwood costs about $3,020–$10,355 for a 400 sq ft room: tear-out, subfloor prep, install, trim. Line-item bills by room size.
How Long Does LVP Flooring Last? Service Life by Wear Layer and Core, What Cuts It Short, and the Cost of Each Year
LVP lasts 10–20 years at 12–20 mil and 5–10 at 6 mil. What ends it early, $150–$450 plank repairs vs replacement, and what each year of floor costs.
How Long Does Carpet Last? Lifespan by Fiber, Pad and Room, and What Each Year Costs
Most carpet lasts 5–15 years: builder grade 3–5, nylon 10–15, wool 15–20+. Lifespan by fiber, pad and room, and what each year costs on a $2,000 job.
Water Damaged Floor Repair Cost: The Full Cost Stack (2026)
Water damaged floor repair costs $200 to $3,000 for a small area and $1,200 to $5,000+ per room. Full cost stack: drying, floor, subfloor, joists, mold.
Pergo vs SmartCore: What Each Costs Installed, and Which Pergo Line Is the Real Rival
Pergo laminate runs about $4.20–$6.30 per sq ft installed and SmartCore vinyl $5.30–$7.40. Line-by-line specs, water risk in dollars, cost per year.
Most Durable Flooring: The Four Ratings That Decide It, and What Each Floor Costs Per Year (2026)
Durable flooring costs $2–$50 per sq ft installed. Compare Janka, AC, PEI and wear-layer ratings, dent resistance, repairability, and cost per year.
Laminate vs Vinyl Plank Flooring: Cost Compared (2026)
Laminate and vinyl plank both cost about $1-$5 per sq ft for materials. Compare installed cost, water resistance, durability, and best rooms for each.
Engineered vs Solid Hardwood: Cost Compared (2026)
Solid hardwood material runs $5-$28 per sq ft and engineered $3-$14; both install around $6-$25 per sq ft. Compare cost, moisture resistance, lifespan.
Cheapest Flooring Options: Every Floor Type Ranked by Price (2026)
The cheapest flooring runs $1–$3 per sq ft in materials and $2–$5 installed. Every floor type ranked by price, plus cost per year of service.
Carpet vs Hardwood Cost: Upfront, Lifetime, and Per Year (2026)
Carpet costs $800–$4,000 installed per room; hardwood $2,500–$8,000. See the 30-year total, replacement cycles, refinishing, and cost per year.
Best Flooring for Pets: Scratch, Urine, and Traction Data (2026)
Pet-friendly flooring costs $2–$25 per sq ft installed. Compare scratch resistance, urine damage, traction, and what one accident costs to fix.
Best Waterproof Flooring: What Waterproof Actually Means, and What It Costs (2026)
Waterproof flooring costs $2–$20 per sq ft installed. Compare waterproof planks vs waterproof assemblies, where water gets in, and what a leak costs.
Best Flooring for a Basement: What Performs Below Grade and What It Costs (2026)
Basement flooring costs $2–$20 per sq ft installed. Compare moisture tolerance, installed cost, and what each floor costs to recover after a flood.
Tile vs Vinyl Flooring: Cost Compared (2026)
Tile runs $7–$20 per sq ft installed, vinyl plank $3–$7. Materials overlap — labor is the gap. Compare installed cost, lifespan, and cost per year.
How Long Does Flooring Installation Take? Timeline by Material (2026)
Flooring installation runs 1–3 days for carpet or laminate and 3–7 days for hardwood or tile — plus acclimation and cure time before the room is usable.
Does New Flooring Increase Home Value? What the ROI Data Shows (2026)
New flooring recovers roughly 50-80% of its $900-$8,000 cost at resale. Refinishing hardwood ($1,000-$4,000) recovers the most. The ROI data, compared.
Price flooring work
The typical one runs $6,320 in Chicago against $4,040 in San Antonio. The calculator below does the same for all 35. Material choice moves the other half of the bill: 10 flooring materials compared. The method sets out where the factor comes from.
Cost Calculator
To get exact pricing for your project, request written quotes from at least three licensed contractors in New York.
Questions
- Is tearing out the old floor included?
- No — removal is its own job in this dataset. Carpet removal runs $120 – $720 and general floor removal $300 – $1,800. A quote covering both normally itemises them, and the install ranges on this page assume a floor that is already clear.
- Why do two hardwood quotes differ by more than the material?
- Usually the subfloor. Replacing it runs $900 – $3,000 and its condition is invisible until the old floor is lifted, so it tends to surface as a change order rather than a line in the original quote.
- Does refinishing cost less than replacing?
- On these figures yes: refinishing runs $1,000 – $4,000 against $2,500 – $8,000 to install new hardwood. What limits refinishing is thickness — each pass takes material off, and engineered boards have a thin wear layer.
- Which floor is cheapest to install?
- Sheet vinyl at $800 – $3,500 and rubber at $800 – $3,000 are the cheapest full-room installs here, with carpet just above. Cost per year of service life produces a different order, which is what the materials comparison sets out.
- When does heat under the floor have to be decided?
- While the floor is up, because the element sits beneath the finished surface. Radiant floor heating is $1,200 – $9,000 laid during an installation and two to four times that once a floor is down, since the second path pays floor removal at $300 – $1,800 and then the whole covering again.
How the scale is built
Base ranges
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025
- Published contractor and industry pricing ranges
- Manufacturer and retailer material pricing
Metro adjustment
Labor adjustment factors are measured from BLS metropolitan wage data: the median ratio of local to national hourly wages across the ten trades this site prices.
Drawing rules
Every chart on a page shares one axis unless its caption says otherwise. Bars are drawn from zero and are never truncated. Full method →
Last updated: October 2026
Estimates, not quotes. These cost estimates are based on aggregated data from public sources. Actual costs vary by project scope, contractor, and local conditions. Always obtain multiple written quotes from licensed professionals. This site sells nothing, lists no contractors and takes no payment for placement. Methodology →