FairangeData report · Nov 3, 2026
Home repair materials price tracker
As of Sep 2026, construction materials PPI +11.0% YoY; copper wire +30.8%.
Last updated from data: BLS PPI commodity series · fetched 2026-11-03T18:00:04-05:00
Contractors talk about materials the way weathercasters talk about fronts: something is always moving. This tracker pulls Producer Price Index series straight from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — factory and commodity indexes, not Home Depot shelf tags — so you can see which parts of a repair bill are getting more expensive in the national data.
As of Sep 2026, the broad construction-materials index is +11.0% year over year, copper wire and cable is +30.8%, softwood lumber is +14.2%. Five-year changes are larger still on several lines; copper wire is the loudest in this cut of the file.
Fetched 2026-11-03T18:00:04-05:00 (America/New_York). Indexes are not seasonally adjusted. YoY and 5-year compare the same calendar month.
Chart above: year-over-year percent change for the same series listed in the table.
What moved (same month, year over year)
- Construction materials (all): +11.0% YoY (5-year +19.4%)
- Copper wire and cable: +30.8% YoY (5-year +51.5%)
- Softwood lumber: +14.2% YoY (5-year +5.4%)
- Plumbing fixtures and fittings: +5.8% YoY (5-year +28.2%)
- Air conditioning & refrigeration equipment: +5.7% YoY (5-year +43.7%)
- Steel wire: +4.5% YoY (5-year +10.9%)
- Concrete block and brick: +3.6% YoY (5-year +40.1%)
- Asphalt roofing & siding products: +2.7% YoY (5-year +26.3%)
- Architectural coatings: +2.4% YoY (5-year +37.8%)
- Gypsum products: +1.4% YoY (5-year +25.2%)
Index levels and changes
| Series | Latest | Index | YoY | 5-year | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction materials (all) WPUSI012011 | Sep 2026 | 378.610 | +11.0% | +19.4% | Broad construction-materials index — the national backdrop for job materials. |
| Copper wire and cable WPU10260314 | Sep 2026 | 607.705 | +30.8% | +51.5% | Branch circuits, service upgrades, and most electrical rough-in. |
| Softwood lumber WPU0811 | Sep 2026 | 288.562 | +14.2% | +5.4% | Framing, decks, and many wood repairs. |
| Plumbing fixtures and fittings WPU105 | Sep 2026 | 381.344 | +5.8% | +28.2% | Toilets, faucets, and related brass/fixture lines. |
| Air conditioning & refrigeration equipment WPU1148 | Sep 2026 | 327.702 | +5.7% | +43.7% | Factory PPI for AC and refrigeration equipment (not a retail sticker price). |
| Steel wire WPU101705 | Sep 2026 | 391.099 | +4.5% | +10.9% | Carbon/steel wire products that show up in fasteners and fabricated wire goods. |
| Concrete block and brick WPU1331 | Sep 2026 | 409.708 | +3.6% | +40.1% | Masonry block/brick used in foundations and flatwork accessories. |
| Asphalt roofing & siding products WPU1361 | Sep 2026 | 366.372 | +2.7% | +26.3% | Prepared asphalt/tar roofing and siding — closest clean series for shingle jobs. |
| Architectural coatings WPU062101 | Sep 2026 | 542.430 | +2.4% | +37.8% | Prepared architectural paints and coatings. |
| Gypsum products WPU137 | Sep 2026 | 488.936 | +1.4% | +25.2% | Drywall and related gypsum board products. |
How to read this
A PPI level is an index, usually rebased so some past year equals 100 — not a dollar price for a spool of wire. When copper wire’s index jumps 30% year over year, the national producer price for that commodity category is up about that much versus the same month last year. Your local bid still depends on distributor markups, labor, and what’s on the truck.
We only publish series we could fetch and verify from the BLS Public Data API on this refresh. If a series goes dark or stops updating, it drops off the next run of scripts/refresh_ppi_materials_monthly.py.
Series IDs (official)
- WPUSI012011 — PPI Commodity data for Special indexes-Construction materials, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU10260314 — PPI Commodity data for Metals and metal products-Copper wire and cable, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU0811 — PPI Commodity data for Lumber and wood products-Softwood lumber, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU105 — PPI Commodity data for Metals and metal products-Plumbing fixtures and fittings, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU1148 — PPI Commodity data for Machinery and equipment-Air conditioning and refrigeration equip, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU101705 — PPI Commodity data for Metals and metal products-Steel wire, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU1331 — PPI Commodity data for Nonmetallic mineral products-Concrete block and brick, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU1361 — PPI Commodity data for Nonmetallic mineral products-Prepared asphalt and tar roofing and siding products, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU062101 — PPI Commodity data for Chemicals and allied products-Architectural coatings, not seasonally adjusted
- WPU137 — PPI Commodity data for Nonmetallic mineral products-Gypsum products, not seasonally adjusted
Related: methodology · ZIP calculator · AC costs by metro · roof costs by metro.
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By The Fairange team · [email protected]