What Americans actually pay for home services — analyzed from 500 price data points across 20 US cities.
Published: August 2026 · Methodology: BLS OEWS 2025 + CPI adjustment (2.8% annual)
| City | Avg Service Cost | vs. National |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $576 | → |
| Los Angeles, CA | $551 | → |
| New York, NY | $543 | → |
| Boston, MA | $526 | → |
| Seattle, WA | $502 | → |
| San Diego, CA | $498 | ↓ |
| Las Vegas, NV | $442 | ↓ |
| Denver, CO | $433 | ↓ |
| Chicago, IL | $410 | ↓ |
| Phoenix, AZ | $403 | ↓ |
Top 10 most expensive cities shown. San Jose, CA is the most expensive metro for home services; San Antonio, TX and Indianapolis, IN are the most affordable among the 20 tracked cities.
Base data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 release. This is the US Department of Labor's official survey of employer-reported wages by occupation and metro area.
Job-hour modeling: For each service (e.g., "drain cleaning"), we model typical labor hours based on industry standards (1–2 hours for simple jobs, 6–12 hours for replacements) and multiply by the local prevailing wage.
Cost-of-living adjustment: Cities with significantly higher business costs (rent, insurance, permits) receive a multiplier based on relative cost indices.
Inflation adjustment: Data is adjusted from May 2025 to August 2026 using the CPI-U annual rate for service trades (2.8%), compounded monthly over the elapsed period.
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