Prices last updated: 2026-04-26
$13,800. That’s the national average a 320-square-foot deck cost in 2026, blending materials, labor, permits, and the small-but-sneaky line items that don’t show up on a contractor’s first quote. Angi’s 2026 cost data puts the typical range at $8,500-$16,000, but the spread between the floor and the ceiling tells you almost everything you need to know about how deck pricing actually works in your specific market and on your specific lot.
The number you’ll pay depends on three variables. Material choice. Square footage. And how much of the work — labor — you’re willing to outsource.
Two of those you control. The third is largely set by your local market.
Most contractors quote in dollars per square foot, fully installed. That single number rolls up materials, fasteners, labor, and a margin. For 2026, the per-sq-ft averages break out like this, based on Angi and Trex Protect’s installation data:
| Material | Installed cost per sq ft | Lifespan |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure-treated pine | $30-$33 | 10-15 years |
| Cedar | $40-$45 | 15-20 years |
| Composite (Trex, TimberTech) | $50-$60 | 25-30 years |
Material accounts for 40-60% of the bill. Labor takes the rest. That ratio holds across every material tier, which is why a $35/sq ft pressure-treated deck and a $55/sq ft composite deck both feel like they cost about the same in labor — because they roughly do. The premium board is what’s moving the total.
A worked benchmark: at 320 square feet (the typical American deck size, per Trex Protect), pressure-treated runs about $10,560 before railing, cedar about $14,400, and composite about $18,240. Those are the numbers the deck cost calculator returns at default rates.
Two contractors can quote the same 12x16 deck and come back $4,000 apart. The material cost is fixed within a few percent at the lumberyard. So where does the gap come from? Labor.
Angi reports a 5% national increase in deck labor rates from 2025 to 2026, with composite installations running 4-6% above the previous year. A few factors push your labor number higher:
The hidden lever here is regional wage variance. A licensed deck builder in coastal California bills $90-$110 per hour. The same crew in rural Tennessee bills $45-$60. Square footage doesn’t change between zip codes. Hourly rates do.
Watch for this. Quotes that come in 25%+ below the others usually skip something — flashing tape, ledger bolts to code, or a permit. Cheap up front, expensive in five years when the ledger pulls away from the house.
The base deck quote covers the platform. Everything that turns a platform into a usable outdoor room is extra, and these are the line items that blow up budgets.
Railings. Required on any deck more than 30 inches above grade. Pressure-treated railings run $20-$50 per linear foot installed. Composite or aluminum can hit $250 per linear foot. On a 16x20 deck, that’s typically 52 linear feet of railing — a $1,300 line at the low end, $13,000 at the high end.
Stairs. HomeGuide pegs deck stairs at $200-$500 per step in 2026. A simple three-step run to grade adds about $800-$1,500. A wide double staircase off a second-story deck adds $3,000-$6,000. Use the staircase calculator to size out tread and rise before quoting.
Lighting, footings, and site prep. Low-voltage deck lighting runs $500-$2,000 installed. Sloped lots need leveling — $500-$5,000. Tree removal in the deck footprint adds $300-$1,000 per tree. Stain and seal on a wood deck is $500-$1,500 every 2-3 years for the life of the deck.
A complete picture for a 320 sq ft cedar deck with 52 lf of railing, four stair steps, and basic lighting:
That’s about 28% above the deck-only number. Plan for it from the start.
Most jurisdictions require a deck permit. The IRC carves out an exemption for decks under 200 square feet that are not attached to the house, sit under 30 inches above grade, and don’t serve a required exit door. Just about every deck people actually want to build fails at least one of those four conditions.
Permit fees in 2026, per HomeGuide:
The permit is cheap insurance. Unpermitted decks turn into a problem at sale. Inspectors flag them. Buyers walk. Lenders refuse to fund. The cost to retroactively permit and bring to code is often 3x the original permit fee.
Code enforcement focuses on three IRC R507 items:
Improper ledger attachment is the leading cause of deck collapse. That single connection is non-negotiable.
Run the math for a 16x20 deck (320 sq ft) — the average size cited by Trex Protect — using the calculator’s default rates.
Same footprint. Same labor crew. The material and finish choices alone create a $13,200 spread. That’s the actual question every deck buyer is answering — not “how much does a deck cost” but “which deck do I want, and how long do I want it to last?”
Skipping pro labor saves the 50-70% labor line. On a 320 sq ft pressure-treated deck, that’s $5,760 in labor by the calculator. Real savings — but only if three things are true:
Fail any one of those and the savings shrink fast. Tool rental for a single weekend can run $300-$500. A failed inspection means re-doing footings or ledger work that ate a full Saturday.
The cleanest DIY win is a low ground-level platform under 200 square feet that sits below the 30-inch grade trigger — it usually skips the permit entirely, sidesteps the ledger connection (use deck blocks set on gravel instead of poured footings), and doesn’t need a code-compliant railing because guards aren’t required at that height. That’s a real $4,000-$6,000 project for a competent weekender. Anything bigger? Hire it out.
Run your own numbers in the deck cost calculator before you call anyone. Plug in your length, width, and material, and you’ll get an apples-to-apples baseline you can hold up against contractor quotes. Anything more than 20% above the calculator number deserves a line-item explanation.
Then decide on stairs, railing, and lighting. Add those separately. The total is your honest budget — not the optimistic deck-platform-only number that makes you start the project, then quietly grow into something you can’t afford to finish.