Average cost to build a pool: what 2025 building permits show in 11 US cities and counties

Average cost to build a pool by city, from 2025 permit values

The middle 2025 city median for a new residential in-ground pool was $68,000 across 10 declared-value jurisdictions. The spread between cities is wide: the Raleigh median is 4.3 times the Los Angeles median. Raleigh, Nashville-Davidson and Montgomery County sit at or above $100,000, while Los Angeles and Mesa sit below $50,000.

Raleigh had the highest 2025 median declared value, $150,000, with a middle half of $104,520 to $200,000 (City of Raleigh). Nashville-Davidson followed at $105,000 (Metro Nashville) and Montgomery County, Maryland at $100,000 (Montgomery County).

New Orleans recorded a 2025 median of $76,000 (City of New Orleans). Las Vegas recorded $70,000 (City of Las Vegas), Orlando $66,000 (City of Orlando), Fort Worth $65,000 (City of Fort Worth) and Cape Coral $60,000 (City of Cape Coral).

Mesa recorded a 2025 median of $47,418 (City of Mesa). Los Angeles recorded the lowest median, $35,000, on 1,069 permits (LADBS). San Diego recorded $50,502, but that figure comes from the city valuation schedule rather than from the owner or builder (City of San Diego IB-101).

Pooling every usable 2025 permit from the 10 declared-value jurisdictions (4,391 permits) gives a median of $60,000, a mean of $70,745 and a middle half of $40,000 to $82,950. In that pool, 35.2% of values were below $50,000 and 14.7% above $100,000. Los Angeles and Cape Coral together supply about half of the pooled permits, which pulls the pooled median below the city midpoint.

What a declared permit value does and does not measure

A permit value is set before work starts, for the purpose of calculating fees and records. In this data it behaves in three different ways: as a builder declaration, as a figure repeated across many permits, and in San Diego as a schedule calculation. Each pattern changes how a city median should be read.

Fees give applicants a reason to keep the figure modest, but the amounts are small. Orlando charges $64.94 for the first $1,000 of construction cost and $4.32 for each additional $1,000 (City of Orlando, effective January 2023). At the 2025 Orlando median of $66,000, the base fee works out to $345.74, or 0.52% of the declared value. Orlando also says the construction cost is the ICC valuation table or the contracted price, whichever is greater.

California state fees collected in San Diego are also tied to valuation: the Strong Motion Instrumentation fee is 13 cents per $1,000 of estimated valuation on one- and two-story homes (City of San Diego IB-501).

Some cities show a single figure repeated across many permits. In Fort Worth, 17.5% of 2025 values were exactly $65,000; in 2019, 25.7% were exactly $10,000 or $11,000 (City of Fort Worth). In Los Angeles, 14.6% of 2025 values were exactly $30,000 (LADBS). Repeated identical figures are more consistent with template entries than with job-specific prices.

San Diego values follow the city valuation schedule, which sets $104 per square foot of surface area for a vinyl-lined pool, $114 for gunite, $124 for fiberglass and $22,291 for each spa or hot tub (IB-101). In 2025, 77.8% of San Diego pool values were exact multiples of $114; in 2019, 78.5% were multiples of $95; in 2022, 75.1% were multiples of $193 (City of San Diego). The San Diego series therefore tracks the schedule rate and pool size, not market prices, and is left out of cross-city medians, real-change figures and the cost-guide comparison.

How declared pool values changed from 2019 to 2025, before and after inflation

Nominal medians rose in every declared-value city with both years of data, but most of the rise matches general inflation and the price of construction inputs. The median city gained 16.4% after CPI-U and 3.8% after the PPI for residential construction inputs. Las Vegas, Mesa, Los Angeles and Fort Worth have been flat or lower since 2023 or 2024, while New Orleans and Raleigh kept rising.

Las Vegas peaked at $72,162 in 2023 and recorded $70,000 in 2025 (City of Las Vegas). Mesa peaked at $50,000 in 2024 and recorded $47,418 in 2025 (City of Mesa). Los Angeles peaked at $37,000 in 2024 and recorded $35,000 in 2025 (LADBS). Fort Worth has recorded $65,000 in each year from 2023 to 2025 (City of Fort Worth).

Orlando recorded an unusual dip to $42,525 in 2023 between $54,000 in 2022 and $65,000 in 2024 (City of Orlando). Orlando permit text is often an owner name, so the cause cannot be identified from the record.

CPI-U for all urban consumers rose 26.0% from its 2019 annual average to its 2025 annual average (BLS). The producer price index for goods used in residential construction rose 41.3% over the same years (BLS). Real change here uses CPI-U because the question is what an owner pays; the PPI column shows how much of the rise tracks materials prices.

Montgomery County (164.6% real) and Fort Worth (96.2% real) show the largest real increases, but both start from clustered 2019 values: 41.3% of Montgomery County 2019 values were exactly $30,000 (Montgomery County). Excluding those two, the median real change across the other 5 declared-value cities is 14.4% with CPI-U and 2.0% with the construction-input PPI.

Pool only vs pool and spa: what a spa adds to the declared value

In 7 of 8 declared-value cities where permit text separates the two, pool and spa permits carry a higher median than pool-only permits. The median premium is 26.6%, or $22,584. The premium may also reflect larger or higher-specification projects, which the permit data cannot separate from the spa itself.

Nashville-Davidson pool and spa permits had a 2025 median of $188,204, against $100,000 for pool-only permits (Metro Nashville). Cape Coral recorded $88,848 against $57,456 (City of Cape Coral). Los Angeles recorded $37,000 against $35,000, and 80.1% of classified Los Angeles permits include a spa (LADBS).

Fort Worth is the exception: pool and spa permits had a lower 2025 median ($47,000) than pool-only permits ($65,000), because many pool-only permits carry the repeated $65,000 figure (City of Fort Worth). Angi gives $44,000 to $120,000 for an in-ground pool with a hot tub (Angi).

Pool size and declared value in Las Vegas and Mesa

Two cities record pool size: Las Vegas publishes pool volume in gallons and Mesa permit text states the pool area. In Mesa the declared value rises with size; in Las Vegas it does not rise steadily with volume, which suggests the declared figure there is not closely tied to pool size.

Mesa pools under 350 square feet had a 2025 median of $44,501; pools of 500 square feet or more had $57,500 (City of Mesa). The median Mesa permit that states a size covers 412 square feet and declares $121 per square foot.

Las Vegas pools under 10,000 gallons had a 2025 median of $64,990, and pools of 15,000 gallons or more had $70,000 (City of Las Vegas). The median Las Vegas pool holds 10,300 gallons.

Mesa’s $121 per square foot sits close to the $114 gunite rate in San Diego’s valuation schedule (IB-101) and at the low end of the $90 to $250 per square foot range Angi gives (Angi). HomeGuide gives $80 to $250 per square foot (HomeGuide).

2026 so far: January to August medians against the same months of 2025

Comparing January to August 2026 with January to August 2025, median declared values rose in 6 of 10 declared-value cities, were flat in one and fell in 3. The middle change was 5.1%, above CPI-U inflation of 3.3% over the same months.

Nashville-Davidson rose from $100,000 to $114,994 (Metro Nashville). Las Vegas rose from $68,679 to $75,890 (City of Las Vegas). Los Angeles fell from $40,000 to $37,000 (LADBS), and Mesa from $48,750 to $45,800 (City of Mesa).

Permit values compared with published pool cost guides

National cost guides land close to the permit midpoint: the $68,000 middle city median is 3.2% above Angi’s 2026 average and 8.8% above HomeGuide’s. The guides miss the spread: 4 of 10 city medians fall outside Angi’s typical range.

• Angi, updated 5 August 2026: average $65,909, typical range $44,499 to $87,349 (Angi).
• HomeGuide, July 2025: national average $62,500, average range $25,000 to $100,000 (HomeGuide).
• Fixr, January 2024, all swimming pool types including above-ground: average $44,688, range $32,175 to $58,541 (Fixr).
• Permit data, 2025, 10 US cities: middle city median $68,000; pooled median $60,000; pooled mean $70,745.

Against Angi’s typical range, 1 city median falls below it (Los Angeles) and 3 sit above it (Raleigh, Nashville-Davidson and Montgomery County). The Los Angeles median of $35,000 is 40.7% below the low end of Angi’s California range of $59,000 to $140,000 (Angi), the clearest sign in this data of a declared value that understates the full job.

The pooled permit median of $60,000 is 9.0% below Angi’s average and 4.0% below HomeGuide’s, because the two largest permit markets in the set, Los Angeles and Cape Coral, both sit below the guides. The permit midpoint is 52.2% above Fixr’s $44,688 average, but the Fixr figure is dated January 2024 and includes above-ground pools.

Pool costs after construction

Building cost is the first of several costs. Our related reports measure what a pool costs to run and hold.

Running costs are covered in cost to run a pool pump, cost to heat a pool and cost to fill a pool. How assessors tax a finished pool is in pool property tax, and the resale question is in pool home value. Permit wait times are in pool permit processing time, and builder licensing rules are in pool contractor license requirements. All reports are listed on the research hub.

Scenarios we modeled

Download the calculation sheet (CSV)

What the comparison shows

• Across 10 US cities and counties, the middle 2025 city median for a new residential in-ground pool permit was $68,000 (PC&S analysis of city building-permit open data).
• Los Angeles had the lowest 2025 median declared value at $35,000 (LADBS), and Raleigh the highest at $150,000 (City of Raleigh), a 4.3-fold gap.
• Pooling all 4,391 usable 2025 permits from the 10 declared-value jurisdictions gives a median of $60,000 and a middle half of $40,000 to $82,950.
• After CPI-U inflation of 26.0% from 2019 to 2025 (BLS), the median city saw declared pool values rise 16.4% in real terms across 7 US cities.
• Measured against the 41.3% rise in prices of goods used in residential construction from 2019 to 2025 (BLS PPI), the same 7-city median real gain shrinks to 3.8%.
• Permits that include a spa carried a median declared value 26.6% higher than pool-only permits in 2025, across 8 US cities.
• From January to August 2026, median declared values were higher than in the same months of 2025 in 6 of 10 US cities, with a middle change of 5.1% against CPI-U inflation of 3.3% (BLS).
• Angi puts the 2026 national average in-ground pool at $65,909 (Angi); the 2025 permit midpoint of $68,000 is 3.2% above it.

Results

1. Raleigh, North Carolina had the highest 2025 median declared value for a new residential in-ground pool, $150,000, on 101 permits (City of Raleigh).
2. Nashville-Davidson, Tennessee recorded a 2025 median of $105,000 on 245 permits (Metro Nashville).
3. Montgomery County, Maryland recorded a 2025 median of $100,000 on 111 permits (Montgomery County).
4. Los Angeles had the lowest 2025 median, $35,000, on 1,069 permits, and 14.6% of those values were exactly $30,000 (LADBS).
5. Sun Belt cities clustered in a narrow band in 2025: Las Vegas $70,000, Orlando $66,000, Fort Worth $65,000 and Cape Coral $60,000 (city permit data).
6. In Fort Worth, 17.5% of usable 2025 values were exactly $65,000, and in 2019 25.7% were exactly $10,000 or $11,000 (City of Fort Worth).
7. San Diego pool values are computed from a city schedule: 77.8% of 2025 values are exact multiples of $114, the gunite pool rate per square foot in Information Bulletin 101.
8. San Diego median values jumped 82.4% from 2021 to 2022, the year 75.1% of values became exact multiples of $193 (City of San Diego).
9. Las Vegas median declared value fell from $72,162 in 2023 to $70,000 in 2025 (City of Las Vegas).
10. Mesa, Arizona permits stating a pool area had a 2025 median of $121 per square foot of pool surface, on a median 412 square-foot pool (City of Mesa).
11. Orlando charges $43.20 in base building permit fees for each extra $10,000 of declared construction cost (City of Orlando fee schedule).
12. Austin stopped recording job values on most pool permits: 4.1% of 2025 pool permits carried a usable value, against 88.8% in 2019 (City of Austin).
13. San Antonio publishes no declared valuation on any pool permit issued from December 2020 to September 2026 (City of San Antonio).

Questions owners ask

Prices and rules used

• 2026-10January to August 2026 permit values added: the middle change across 10 US cities was 5.1% against the same months of 2025.
• 2026-10Austin permit records re-pulled on 2026-10-07: only 4.1% of 2025 pool permits carry a usable job value, so Austin is reported for 2019 and 2020 only.
• 2026-08Angi updated its in-ground pool cost guide on 5 August 2026, with a $65,909 national average (Angi).
• 2026-08Latest CPI-U month used: August 2026; CPI-U for October 2025 was not published (BLS).

More questions

Evidence tiers

Tier 1: primary and government sources (19)

• City of Austin: Issued Construction Permits (3syk-w9eu)
• LA Department of Building and Safety: Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present (pi9x-tg5x) and 2010 to 2019 (dyxf-7hc4)
• City of San Diego Development Services: Development Permits: approvals issued
• City of Orlando: Permit Applications (ryhf-m453)
• City of Mesa: Building Permits (dzpk-hxfb)
• City of Las Vegas: Building Permits (OpenData_Building_Permits_)
• City of Fort Worth: CFW Open Data Development Permits
• City of New Orleans: Permits (rcm3-fn58)
• City of Baton Rouge / Parish of East Baton Rouge: EBR Building Permits (7fq7-8j7r)
• City of Raleigh: Building Permits
• Montgomery County Government, Maryland: Residential Permit (m88u-pqki)
• Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County: Building Permits Issued
• City of Cape Coral: Building Permits (OpenData MapServer layer 1)
• City of San Antonio: Building Permits: Permits Issued
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: CPI for All Urban Consumers, all items, U.S. city average (CUUR0000SA0)
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: PPI Commodity data, Inputs to residential construction, goods (WPUIP2311001)
• City of San Diego Development Services: Information Bulletin 101: Building Valuation Schedule
• City of San Diego Development Services: Information Bulletin 501: Fee Schedule for Construction Permits, Structures
• City of Orlando: Fees: Residential Development (1 or 2 units), effective January 2023

Tier 3: journalism and expert commentary (3)

• Angi: How Much Does an In-Ground Pool Cost? [2026 Data]
• HomeGuide: How Much Does An Inground Pool Cost? (2026)
• Fixr: How Much Does It Cost to Build a Swimming Pool?

References

1. City of Austin. Issued Construction Permits (3syk-w9eu). Accessed 2026-10-07.
2. LA Department of Building and Safety. Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present (pi9x-tg5x) and 2010 to 2019 (dyxf-7hc4). Accessed 2026-10-07.
3. City of San Diego Development Services. Development Permits: approvals issued. Accessed 2026-10-07.
4. City of Orlando. Permit Applications (ryhf-m453). Accessed 2026-10-07.
5. City of Mesa. Building Permits (dzpk-hxfb). Accessed 2026-10-07.
6. City of Las Vegas. Building Permits (OpenData_Building_Permits_). Accessed 2026-10-07.
7. City of Fort Worth. CFW Open Data Development Permits. Accessed 2026-10-07.
8. City of New Orleans. Permits (rcm3-fn58). Accessed 2026-10-07.
9. City of Baton Rouge / Parish of East Baton Rouge. EBR Building Permits (7fq7-8j7r). Accessed 2026-10-07.
10. City of Raleigh. Building Permits. Accessed 2026-10-07.
11. Montgomery County Government, Maryland. Residential Permit (m88u-pqki). Accessed 2026-10-07.
12. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Building Permits Issued. Accessed 2026-10-07.
13. City of Cape Coral. Building Permits (OpenData MapServer layer 1). Accessed 2026-10-03.
14. City of San Antonio. Building Permits: Permits Issued. Accessed 2026-10-07.
15. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. CPI for All Urban Consumers, all items, U.S. city average (CUUR0000SA0). Accessed 2026-10-07.
16. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. PPI Commodity data, Inputs to residential construction, goods (WPUIP2311001). Accessed 2026-10-07.
17. City of San Diego Development Services. Information Bulletin 101: Building Valuation Schedule. Accessed 2026-10-07.
18. City of San Diego Development Services. Information Bulletin 501: Fee Schedule for Construction Permits, Structures. Accessed 2026-10-07.
19. City of Orlando. Fees: Residential Development (1 or 2 units), effective January 2023. Accessed 2026-10-07.
20. Angi. How Much Does an In-Ground Pool Cost? [2026 Data]. Accessed 2026-10-07.
21. HomeGuide. How Much Does An Inground Pool Cost? (2026). Accessed 2026-10-07.
22. Fixr. How Much Does It Cost to Build a Swimming Pool?. Accessed 2026-10-07.