School Construction Cost Calculator
Apply a dated, location-specific construction rate and user-entered allowances. No market rate, regional factor, quality multiplier, fee, contingency, escalation, or external-works percentage is embedded.
Who it's for: architects, owners, and estimators who already have a dated school construction benchmark rate and need transparent arithmetic — not a market forecast — for a specific quantity and allowance set, at feasibility or schematic design.
Published benchmarks
K-12 hard construction cost per square foot: RLB metro low–high bands and the RSMeans national model. Pick a row to use it as the entered rate, or enter your own.
Figures are as published on the linked page; check edition, scope and what the rate includes before using one.
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How to use this calculator
The formula
Worked example
When this estimate will be off
- All school benchmark rows are priced per square foot; no per-classroom or per-student rate is published on this page (src/config/calculator-benchmarks.ts:146-161).
- RLB city rows cover elementary and high school only — no junior high/middle-school row exists for Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, or New York (src/config/calculator-benchmarks.ts:151-160).
- Benchmark rows on this page are sourced reference points, not market data for your project; no currency conversion is supplied.
- No cost-plan, procurement, escalation, tax, finance, schedule, risk, or professional adequacy determination is made.
Frequently asked questions
A common mistake: All school benchmark rows are priced per square foot; no per-classroom or per-student rate is published on this page (src/config/calculator-benchmarks.ts:146-161).
No. It applies transparent arithmetic to a user-supplied benchmark and allowances — it does not predict bids, escalation, or final cost.
Use a dated source for the same market, currency, measurement basis, scope, and project type as the school construction project you're estimating. The benchmark table above lists sourced reference points, not market data for your project.
So nothing already included in the base rate is counted twice. Enter only allowances not already reflected in the benchmark rate itself.
No. The result is base amount × (1 + fees% + contingency% + other allowance%) only. Escalation, taxes, finance, procurement risk, and professional adequacy are not determined by this worksheet.
Sources
- User-identified cost source — must provide the rate, market, date, currency, measurement basis, scope, inclusions and exclusions
This free School Construction Cost Calculator is built and maintained by DataDrivenAEC, using the relevant codes and standards. It does not substitute for professional judgment.