HomeMy WebLinkAboutHow To Use City Cost IndexWhat you should know before you begin
RSMeans City Cost Indexes (CCI) are an extremely useful tool for when
you want to compare costs from city to city and region to region.
This publication contains average construction cost indexes for 731 U.S.
and Canadian cities covering over 930 three-digit zip code locations, as
listed directly under each city.
Keep in mind that a City Cost Index number is a percentage ratio of a
specific city’s cost to the national average cost of the same item at a
stated time period.
In other words, these index figures represent relative construction
factors (or, if you prefer, multipliers) for material and installation costs,
as well as the weighted average for Total In Place costs for each CSI
MasterFormat division. Installation costs include both labor and
equipment rental costs. When estimating equipment rental rates only
for a specific location, use 01 54 33 EQUIPMENT RENTAL COSTS in
the Reference Section.
The 30 City Average Index is the average of 30 major U.S. cities and
serves as a national average.
Index figures for both material and installation are based on the
30 major city average of 100 and represent the cost relationship as of
July 1, 2015. The index for each division is computed from
representative material and labor quantities for that division. The
weighted average for each city is a weighted total of the components
listed above it. It does not include relative productivity between trades
or cities.
As changes occur in local material prices, labor rates, and equipment
rental rates (including fuel costs), the impact of these changes should be
accurately measured by the change in the City Cost Index for each
particular city (as compared to the 30 city average).
Therefore, if you know (or have estimated) building costs in one city
today, you can easily convert those costs to expected building costs in
another city.
In addition, by using the Historical Cost Index, you can easily convert
national average building costs at a particular time to the approximate
building costs for some other time. The City Cost Indexes can then be
applied to calculate the costs for a particular city.
Quick calculations
Location Adjustment Using the City Cost Indexes:
Index for City A
Index for City B
× Cost in City B = Cost in City A
Time Adjustment for the National Average
Using the Historical Cost Index:
Index for Year A
Index for Year B
× Cost in Year B = Cost in Year A
Adjustment from the National Average:
Index for City A
100 × National Average Cost = Cost in City A
Since each of the other RSMeans data sets contain many different
items, any one item multiplied by the particular city index may give
incorrect results. However, the larger the number of items compiled,
the closer the results should be to actual costs for that particular city.
The City Cost Indexes for Canadian cities are calculated using
Canadian material and equipment prices and labor rates in Canadian
dollars. Therefore, indexes for Canadian cities can be used to convert
U.S. national average prices to local costs in Canadian dollars.
How to use this section
1. Compare costs from city to city.
In using the RSMeans Indexes, remember that an index number is
not a fixed number but a ratio: It’s a percentage ratio of a building
component’s cost at any stated time to the national average cost of that
same component at the same time period. Put in the form of
an equation:
Specific City Cost
National Average Cost
× 100 = City Index Number
Therefore, when making cost comparisons between cities, do not
subtract one city’s index number from the index number of another city
and read the result as a percentage difference. Instead, divide one city’s
index number by that of the other city. The resulting number may then
be used as a multiplier to calculate cost differences from city to city.
The formula used to find cost differences between cities for the purpose
of comparison is as follows:
City A Index
City B Index
× City B Cost (Known) = City A Cost (Unknown)
In addition, you can use RSMeans CCI to calculate and compare costs
division by division between cities using the same basic formula.
(Just be sure that you’re comparing similar divisions.)
2. Compare a specific city’s construction costs with the
national average.
When you’re studying construction location feasibility, it’s advisable to
compare a prospective project’s cost index with an index of the national
average cost.
For example, divide the weighted average index of construction costs of
a specific city by that of the 30 City Average, which = 100.
City Index
100 = % of National Average
As a result, you get a ratio that indicates the relative cost of
construction in that city in comparison with the national average.
3. Convert U.S. national average to actual costs in Canadian City.
Index for Canadian City
100 × National Average Cost =
Cost in Canadian City in $ CAN
City Cost Indexes
How to Use the
City Cost Indexes
752 For customer support on your Building Construction Cost Data, call 877.655.5416.COA050589
4. Adjust construction cost data based on a national average.
When you use a source of construction cost data which is based on a
national average (such as RSMeans cost data), it is necessary to adjust
those costs to a specific location.
City Index × Cost Based on =City Cost
100 National Average Costs (Unknown)
5. When applying the City Cost Indexes to demolition projects, use the
appropriate division installation index.For example, for removal of
existing doors and windows, use the Division 8 (Openings) index.
What you might like to know about
how we developed the Indexes
The information presented in the CCI is organized according to the
Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) MasterFormat 2014
classification system.
To create a reliable index, RSMeans researched the building type most
often constructed in the United States and Canada. Because it was
concluded that no one type of building completely represented the
building construction industry, nine different types of buildings were
combined to create a composite model.
The exact material, labor, and equipment quantities are based on
detailed analyses of these nine building types, and then each quantity is
weighted in proportion to expected usage. These various material items,
labor hours, and equipment rental rates are thus combined to form a
composite building representing as closely as possible the actual usage
of materials, labor, and equipment in the North American building
construction industry.
The following structures were chosen to make up that composite
model:
1. Factory, 1 story
2. Office, 2-4 stories
3. Store, Retail
4. Town Hall, 2-3 stories
5. High School, 2-3 stories
6. Hospital, 4-8 stories
7. Garage, Parking
8. Apartment, 1-3 stories
9. Hotel/Motel, 2-3 stories
For the purposes of ensuring the timeliness of the data, the components
of the index for the composite model have been streamlined. They
currently consist of:
•specific quantities of 66 commonly used construction materials;
•specific labor-hours for 21 building construction trades; and
•specific days of equipment rental for 6 types of construction
equipment (normally used to install the 66 material items by the
21 trades.) Fuel costs and routine maintenance costs are included in
the equipment cost.
A sophisticated computer program handles the updating of all costs for
each city on a quarterly basis. Material and equipment price quotations
are gathered quarterly from cities in the United States and Canada.
These prices and the latest negotiated labor wage rates for 21 different
building trades are used to compile the quarterly update of the City
Cost Index.
The 30 major U.S. cities used to calculate the national average are:
Atlanta, GA
Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Buffalo, NY
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Columbus, OH
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Kansas City, MO
Los Angeles, CA
Memphis, TN
Milwaukee, WI
Minneapolis, MN
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
St. Louis, MO
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC
What the CCI does not indicate
The weighted average for each city is a total of the divisional
components weighted to reflect typical usage. It does not include the
productivity variations between trades or cities.
In addition, the CCI does not take into consideration factors such
as the following:
•managerial efficiency
•competitive conditions
•automation
•restrictive union practices
•unique local requirements
•regional variations due to specific building codes
753For customer support on your Building Construction Cost Data, call 877.655.5416.COA050590