2026 Window Cost Index

Installing a window costs nearly 4.9× more in the most expensive U.S. metro than in the cheapest — but that gap is almost entirely labor, not the window itself. Across 206 metro areas, the median glazier wage runs from about $10.31/hr in San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR to $50.67/hr in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA — a 4.9× spread on installation labor. Because window material is priced on a national market and only labor is regional, the all-in cost of our reference window (a standard double-hung, vinyl, double-pane Low-E retrofit) ranges only from $651 to $828 installed — about 1.3×.

In short: glazier installation labor costs roughly 4.9× more in the priciest metro than the cheapest, while the total installed price of the same reference window spans just $651–$828. Window material prices are also rising in 2026 — the producer price index for metal windows and doors is up +11.8% year over year, far ahead of wood at +1.9%.

The Window Cost Index is an independent, data-driven look at what drives window-replacement pricing across the country. It is built from two federal sources — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics glazier wages and Federal Reserve (FRED) producer price indexes — with no lead-gates, sponsored placements, or contractor estimates. Every figure on this page is computed at build time from those datasets and is free to download and embed. To price your own project, use the window replacement cost calculator, which uses the same labor data for your zip code.

Most Expensive Metros for Window Installation

These are the 25 metros where glazier labor — and therefore the installed cost of a window — runs highest. The figure shown is the estimated installed cost of our reference window; the multiplier is the metro's glazier wage relative to the $26.65/hr national median.

1. 206.Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA$828 · 1.9012x
2. 205.Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$827 · 1.8954x
3. 204.Vineland, NJ$811 · 1.7569x
4. 203.Urban Honolulu, HI$800 · 1.6614x
5. 202.Salem, OR$789 · 1.5682x
6. 201.Springfield, MA$789 · 1.5657x
7. 200.Providence-Warwick, RI-MA$776 · 1.461x
8. 199.Madison, WI$773 · 1.4264x
9. 198.San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$772 · 1.4239x
10. 197.Worcester, MA$770 · 1.4069x
11. 196.Salinas, CA$769 · 1.3952x
12. 195.San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$767 · 1.3804x
13. 194.Napa, CA$766 · 1.3732x
14. 193.Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$765 · 1.36x
15. 192.Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$764 · 1.3492x
16. 191.Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI$756 · 1.283x
17. 190.South Illinois nonmetropolitan area$753 · 1.2596x
18. 189.Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI$745 · 1.1892x
19. 188.Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA$744 · 1.1782x
20. 187.San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$744 · 1.1775x
21. 186.Toledo, OH$743 · 1.1715x
22. 185.Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH$742 · 1.1652x
23. 184.Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$742 · 1.1631x
24. 183.Cleveland, OH$741 · 1.1531x
25. 182.South Nebraska nonmetropolitan area$740 · 1.1513x

Least Expensive Metros for Window Installation

At the other end, these 25 metros have the lowest glazier wages, so installation labor — and the all-in window price — is cheapest here. Bars use the same scale as the list above, so you can compare the two ends directly.

1. 1.San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR$651 · 0.3867x
2. 2.Lower West Mississippi nonmetropolitan area$669 · 0.5326x
3. 3.Brownsville-Harlingen, TX$681 · 0.6456x
4. 4.North Central Tennessee nonmetropolitan area$683 · 0.6558x
5. 5.Central Missouri nonmetropolitan area$683 · 0.6576x
6. 6.East Tennessee nonmetropolitan area$684 · 0.6696x
7. 7.Western North Carolina nonmetropolitan area$685 · 0.6746x
8. 8.East Georgia nonmetropolitan area$685 · 0.6769x
9. 9.Middle Georgia nonmetropolitan area$685 · 0.6771x
10. 10.El Paso, TX$686 · 0.6809x
11. 11.West Tennessee nonmetropolitan area$686 · 0.6852x
12. 12.South Georgia nonmetropolitan area$686 · 0.687x
13. 13.South Central Tennessee nonmetropolitan area$687 · 0.695x
14. 14.Hattiesburg, MS$688 · 0.6984x
15. 15.Tyler, TX$689 · 0.7044x
16. 16.Great Falls, MT$689 · 0.7054x
17. 17.Greenville, NC$689 · 0.7073x
18. 18.Amarillo, TX$689 · 0.7107x
19. 19.Upper East Mississippi nonmetropolitan area$689 · 0.7118x
20. 20.Lubbock, TX$690 · 0.7145x
21. 21.McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX$690 · 0.7181x
22. 22.Winston-Salem, NC$690 · 0.7226x
23. 23.Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR$691 · 0.726x
24. 24.North Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area$691 · 0.7267x
25. 25.Greensboro-High Point, NC$691 · 0.7269x

All 206 Metros, Ranked

The full ranking of every metro area in the dataset, sorted from lowest to highest installation cost. Click any column header to re-sort, or search for your metro. Metros with a dedicated local pricing guide link through to it.

2026 Window Price Trends

Labor explains where windows are most expensive; materials explain why prices are rising everywhere. The chart below shows the year-over-year change in the producer price index (PPI) for window and door manufacturing as of 2026-04-01.

Metal and aluminum windows have gotten markedly more expensive: the metal window & door PPI is up +11.8% year over year, driven by aluminum and steel input costs. Wood windows have been far steadier, up just +1.9% over the same period. For homeowners, that means the price gap between aluminum-framed and wood- or vinyl-framed windows has narrowed in 2026, and quotes leaning on metal frames are likely to keep drifting up faster than the rest. These indexes feed directly into the material side of our cost calculator.

Methodology & Sources

The Window Cost Index combines two public federal datasets with a fixed reference-window definition so that every metro is compared on a like-for-like basis.

• Installation labor (BLS). Glazier wages come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (SOC 47-2121, Glaziers), survey year May 2024. Each metro's regional labor factor is its median glazier wage divided by the $26.65/hr national median (about $55,440/yr). A factor of 1.50 means installers in that metro earn 50% more than the national median, so the labor portion of a quote runs about 50% higher there.
• Material prices (FRED). Window material costs are adjusted using producer price indexes from Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — specifically the Metal Window & Door and Wood Window & Door manufacturing PPI series, indexed to a 2025 baseline. Material is priced on a national market, so it is not regionalized — only labor varies by metro.
• Reference window. Every per-metro figure prices the same configuration: a standard double-hung window with a vinyl frame and a double-pane Low-E glass package, installed as a retrofit (insert). It is chosen to match the most common real-world replacement and what our live calculator returns for that config.

The per-window dollar figures are estimates for that specific reference configuration, not quotes. Larger, specialty, or full-frame windows cost more; budget single-hung inserts cost less. The labor spread (~4.9×) reflects glazier wages; the much narrower all-in spread (~1.3×) reflects the fact that material — the larger share of the bill — is priced nationally. For the full methodology behind our pricing, see the about and data-sources page.

Download the Data

The complete 206-metro dataset is free to download and reuse with attribution. It includes each metro's area code, median glazier wage, regional labor factor, and estimated installed cost (low / midpoint / high) for the reference window.

• Download CSV — spreadsheet-ready, one row per metro.
• Download JSON — structured data for developers and analysts.

Embed This Report

Republishing or citing the index? Paste the snippet below into any page. It drops in a compact summary of the priciest metros with a link back to the full data. Please keep the attribution link so readers — and search engines — can find the source.

<div style="font:14px/1.5 -apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,sans-serif;max-width:520px;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;border-radius:10px;padding:16px;color:#1f2937">
  <strong style="display:block;font-size:16px">2026 Window Cost Index</strong>
  <span style="color:#6b7280;font-size:12px">Estimated installed cost of a standard double-hung window, by U.S. metro. Source: BLS (May 2024) + FRED.</span>
  <table style="width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;margin:10px 0 0;font-size:13px">
    <caption style="text-align:left;font-weight:600;font-size:12px;color:#6b7280;padding-bottom:4px">Most expensive metros</caption>
    <tr><td style="padding:3px 6px 3px 0">1. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA</td><td style="text-align:right;font-variant-numeric:tabular-nums">$828</td></tr>
    <tr><td style="padding:3px 6px 3px 0">2. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH</td><td style="text-align:right;font-variant-numeric:tabular-nums">$827</td></tr>
    <tr><td style="padding:3px 6px 3px 0">3. Vineland, NJ</td><td style="text-align:right;font-variant-numeric:tabular-nums">$811</td></tr>
    <tr><td style="padding:3px 6px 3px 0">4. Urban Honolulu, HI</td><td style="text-align:right;font-variant-numeric:tabular-nums">$800</td></tr>
    <tr><td style="padding:3px 6px 3px 0">5. Salem, OR</td><td style="text-align:right;font-variant-numeric:tabular-nums">$789</td></tr>
  </table>
  <p style="font-size:12px;margin:10px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://www.getwindowcost.com/window-cost-index">2026 Window Cost Index by GetWindowCost</a></p>
</div>

Prefer plain text? Cite as: GetWindowCost — 2026 Window Cost Index.