How Much Does Hardwood Lumber Cost?

Hardwood lumber is priced per board foot, so the first step to estimating cost is knowing how many board feet your project needs. Prices vary a lot by species, region, and supplier, but a few benchmarks help you sanity-check a quote and plan a budget.

Typical price ranges

As a rough guide for surfaced (S2S) hardwood from a dealer, common species fall in these ballparks per board foot. Treat these as starting points — your local yard, current market, and grade will shift them.

Species	Typical $/board foot
Poplar	$3 – $5
Red oak	$4 – $7
Hard maple	$5 – $9
Cherry	$6 – $10
Walnut	$10 – $16

Factors that move the price

1. Species and figure. Slow-growing or highly figured woods (walnut, quartersawn oak, curly maple) cost more than common ones like poplar.
2. Grade. FAS (Firsts and Seconds) yields more clear, defect-free wood and costs more than Select or Common grades.
3. Thickness. Thicker stock (8/4 and up) usually costs more per board foot than 4/4 because it is slower to dry and harder to source.
4. Surfacing. Rough is cheapest; S2S and S4S add cost for the labor and the wood lost to planing.
5. Quantity and source. Buying a full board against a single retail piece, and buying direct from a sawmill versus a retail store, both change the rate.

Estimating a project

Multiply total board feet by the price per board foot, then add a waste factor. Say a small table needs 7.45 board feet of cherry at $8/bf:

Step	Value
Board feet needed	7.45 bf
Base lumber cost	7.45 × $8 = $59.60
Add 15% waste	$59.60 × 1.15 = $68.54

Always add waste — most woodworkers budget 10–20% extra to cover defects, snipe, squaring up rough boards, and cutting around knots. For figured or lower-grade stock, lean toward the higher end.

A quick budgeting tip

Because price is per board foot, you can compare species fairly before you commit. The same 7.45 bf project would run about $26 in poplar (at $3.50/bf) versus roughly $90 in walnut (at $12/bf) — same parts, very different bill, all driven by the rate per board foot.

Estimate your project with the free Board Foot Calculator →

Enter a price per board foot in the calculator and it totals your project cost as you build the cut list. To get your board-foot count first, see how to calculate board feet and hardwood lumber dimensions.