Fees and pricing
How much a home inspection costs, by state
A standard home inspection in the United States typically costs between $300 and $500, with most buyers landing somewhere in the middle. But the fee is not one number. It moves with the size of the house, its age, where it sits, and how many of the things a base inspection does not cover you decide to add on top.
This page compiles what the fee actually is, in plain figures and honest ranges. Two things are worth saying at the start. First, every number here is a typical range, not a quote: the only real price is the one an inspector gives you for your specific house on your specific street. Second, the headline fee buys the base inspection only, and the ancillary services that buyers most often want (radon, pests, septic, well water, sewer) are priced separately. Those two caveats explain most of the gap between what people expect to pay and what they end up paying.
The national number, and why sources disagree
According to Bankrate's home inspection cost guide, citing HomeAdvisor data (bankrate.com), the average home inspection runs about $343, with most buyers paying between $296 and $424. According to Fixr's home inspection cost guide (fixr.com), the national average is closer to $400, with a typical range of $300 to $500 and outliers from as little as $125 for a very small unit to $800 for a large or complex home.
The two are not in conflict. They are measuring slightly different baskets of houses and pulling from different contractor networks. The honest read is a typical range of roughly $300 to $500 for a standard single-family home, with a working midpoint near $350 to $400. Treat any single "average" as a starting anchor, not a promise.
What the fee buys, and what it does not. The base fee covers the visual, non-invasive inspection of the house itself: structure, roof, plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, interior, and the rest of the required scope. It does not cover radon, mold, termites, septic, or well water, all of which are excluded from the standard and quoted as separate line items. If a price looks unusually low, check whether it is the base inspection alone. See what a home inspection actually covers for the full scope and exclusions.
What drives the price
Four factors explain almost all of the variation between one quote and the next.
Square footage
Size is the single biggest lever, because it maps directly to how long the inspection takes. According to Fixr's cost guide (fixr.com), inspectors who price by area charge roughly $0.18 to $0.25 per square foot, and the base fee climbs steadily with size.
| Home size | Typical fee range |
|---|---|
| 800 sq ft | $145 to $200 |
| 1,000 sq ft | $180 to $250 |
| 1,200 sq ft | $215 to $300 |
| 1,400 sq ft | $250 to $350 |
| 1,600 sq ft | $290 to $400 |
| 1,800 sq ft | $325 to $450 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $360 to $500 |
| 2,200 sq ft | $395 to $550 |
A common structure is a flat fee for homes up to about 2,000 square feet, then an add-on for every additional 500 square feet above that. It is why the same inspector can quote $375 for a bungalow and $650 for a large colonial in the same week.
Age of the house
Older houses take longer to inspect and carry more that needs describing, so they cost more. According to InspectorData's cost guide (inspectordata.com), an older home built before 1970 typically runs $500 to $800, against $450 to $650 for new construction of the same footprint. Age raises the fee both because there is more to document and because more of the ancillary inspections below become worth ordering.
Foundation type and access
A house on a full, walk-in basement or a tall crawl space gives the inspector access to plumbing, framing, and mechanicals, which lengthens the inspection compared with a simple slab-on-grade. Access cuts the other way too: a crawl space too low to enter, a locked mechanical room, or heavy stored belongings can shrink what gets inspected without shrinking the fee, because the inspector still has to show up and write the report. The fee tracks the time on site, not the number of defects found.
Where the house is
Local labor rates and cost of living move the base fee by a wide margin. Coastal California, the Seattle metro, and the Northeast corridor sit at the top; much of the Midwest, the Plains, and the rural South sit below the national average. According to Bankrate (bankrate.com), inspections in Hartford, Connecticut average around $489, well above the national figure, which shows how much a single metro can diverge from any nationwide average.
Home inspection cost by state
The table below gives a typical fee range for a standard single-family home inspection in each state. Read it as a regional orientation, not a quote. Within any state, a dense metro will price near the top of the range and a rural county near the bottom, and a large or older house will push past the top of it. These ranges are compiled estimates and reflect the base inspection only.
| State | Typical fee range |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $275 to $400 |
| Alaska | $400 to $600 |
| Arizona | $300 to $475 |
| Arkansas | $250 to $375 |
| California | $400 to $700 |
| Colorado | $300 to $500 |
| Connecticut | $400 to $600 |
| Delaware | $300 to $450 |
| Florida | $300 to $500 |
| Georgia | $300 to $450 |
| Hawaii | $400 to $650 |
| Idaho | $275 to $425 |
| Illinois | $300 to $500 |
| Indiana | $275 to $400 |
| Iowa | $275 to $400 |
| Kansas | $275 to $400 |
| Kentucky | $275 to $400 |
| Louisiana | $300 to $450 |
| Maine | $350 to $500 |
| Maryland | $350 to $525 |
| Massachusetts | $400 to $600 |
| Michigan | $300 to $450 |
| Minnesota | $325 to $475 |
| Mississippi | $250 to $375 |
| Missouri | $275 to $425 |
| Montana | $300 to $475 |
| Nebraska | $275 to $400 |
| Nevada | $300 to $475 |
| New Hampshire | $375 to $525 |
| New Jersey | $400 to $600 |
| New Mexico | $275 to $425 |
| New York | $400 to $700 |
| North Carolina | $300 to $450 |
| North Dakota | $275 to $400 |
| Ohio | $300 to $450 |
| Oklahoma | $275 to $400 |
| Oregon | $350 to $525 |
| Pennsylvania | $350 to $525 |
| Rhode Island | $375 to $525 |
| South Carolina | $275 to $425 |
| South Dakota | $275 to $400 |
| Tennessee | $275 to $425 |
| Texas | $300 to $500 |
| Utah | $300 to $475 |
| Vermont | $375 to $525 |
| Virginia | $325 to $500 |
| Washington | $350 to $550 |
| West Virginia | $250 to $375 |
| Wisconsin | $300 to $450 |
| Wyoming | $300 to $450 |
The pattern is the one you would expect. The highest ranges cluster on the coasts and in the Northeast, where labor and housing costs run high. The lowest sit in the rural South and Plains. Most of the country falls into a fairly tight band around the $300 to $475 mark for a mid-sized house.
Ancillary inspections are priced separately
This is where budgets get away from buyers. The systems most people worry about most (radon, mold, termites, septic, wells) are excluded from the standard home inspection on purpose, so each one is a separate service with its own fee. Ordering two or three of them can add as much again as the base inspection.
| Add-on inspection | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Radon measurement | $125 to $400 | A short-term test left in place for days, then retrieved |
| Termite / wood-destroying organism | $62 to $277 for a real-estate report | Often lender-required; averages near $130 nationally |
| Septic system | $150 to $300 | More where a tank pump-out or dye test is involved |
| Private well and water quality | $300 to $500 | Combines a well evaluation with lab water testing |
| Sewer scope (camera) | $200 to $1,000 | Camera run of the main line to the street connection |
| Mold assessment and sampling | $450 to $800 | Specialist assessment, not part of a home inspection |
| Foundation (structural engineer) | $300 to $1,000 | Ordered when the inspector flags a structural concern |
| Asbestos testing | $250 to $750 | Sampling and lab analysis of suspect materials |
| Lead paint testing | $350 to $500 | Relevant chiefly in pre-1978 housing |
| Pool and spa | $150 to $300 | Where the base inspection excludes the pool |
| Thermal imaging | $200 to $800 | Sometimes bundled, sometimes an upcharge |
According to LawnStarter's termite inspection cost guide (lawnstarter.com), a termite inspection averages about $130 nationally, with a real-estate wood-destroying-organism report commonly running $62 to $277. The others scale with complexity: a sewer scope that finds a root intrusion, or a foundation review that a licensed engineer has to stamp, sits at the top of its range for good reason.
Three assumptions worth correcting before you book
"The price tells me how good the inspector is"
Price mostly tracks house size, local labor rates, and how many add-ons are bundled, not skill. The cheapest quote is often the base inspection stripped of the services a thorough buyer wants, and the most expensive is often a large house, not a better inspector. Compare what is included, line by line, before you compare the totals.
"The state average is my price"
A statewide range averages a dense metro and a rural county into one number, and your house is in one place, not both. Add to that the size and age of the specific house, and a state figure can be off by a hundred dollars in either direction. Use the state table to know whether you are in a high-cost or low-cost part of the country, then get an actual quote for your address.
"The inspection fee is the whole cost of due diligence"
The base fee is the floor, not the ceiling. For an older house, or one on a septic system and a private well, the radon, pest, septic, and water tests can together match the inspection fee. Budget for the inspection plus the ancillary services you actually need, not the inspection alone, and order them early so results arrive inside your contingency window.
How to use the numbers to your advantage
- Get the quote in writing, itemized. Ask for the base fee, the per-square-foot or size tier it is based on, and each add-on as its own line. That single request makes two quotes actually comparable.
- Match the add-ons to the house, not the checklist. A slab house with municipal water does not need a septic or well test. A rural 1950s house probably wants radon, pests, and a sewer scope. Pay for what the property calls for.
- Book ancillary services alongside the inspection. Radon in particular takes days to measure. Ordering it late can push results past your contingency deadline.
- Read the fee against the scope. A low fee that excludes the pool, the outbuildings, or the second unit is not a bargain if those are the parts you were worried about. See what a home inspection actually covers to know what the base fee is supposed to include.
Sources
- Home inspection cost guide, Fixr (fixr.com). National average and range, fee ranges by square footage, per-square-foot rate, and ancillary inspection costs.
- Home inspection cost guide, Bankrate, citing HomeAdvisor data (bankrate.com). National average and typical range, and the Hartford metro figure.
- Home inspection cost guide, InspectorData (inspectordata.com). Cost by property type and age, including older versus new construction.
- State-by-state home inspection cost guide, HomeInspectionCosts.com (homeinspectioncosts.com). Typical fee ranges by state.
- Termite inspection cost guide, LawnStarter (lawnstarter.com). Average termite inspection cost and real-estate report range.
- Standards of Practice, International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, InterNACHI (nachi.org), and Standard of Practice, American Society of Home Inspectors, ASHI (homeinspector.org). What the base inspection covers and the exclusions that make ancillary services separate.
Related
- What a home inspection actually covers, and what it does not, the scope and exclusions behind the fee.
- The final report, from the ALLSAFE archive.
- The full ALLSAFE archive index.