Transportation Economic Trends
Value of Transportation Infrastructure and Other Assets:
National Highway Construction Cost Index
Construction costs affect the amount that governments invest in new roads, highways, and bridges. These costs depend on the prices of many inputs, including materials like steel and asphalt, labor costs, and overhead costs. This page discusses highway construction costs, the only mode for which data are available.
2023 Year-in-Review
- As measured by the National Highway Construction Cost Index (NHCCI), the NHCCI reached a new all-time high in the second quarter of 2023; increasing 3.8 percent from the previous quarter but by less than in the second quarter of 2022. In the second quarter of 2022, the NHCCI grew faster (11.9 percent) than any other quarter on record (with records beginning in 2003).
- Highway construction costs increased in the last 10 quarters (from the fourth quarter of 2020 through the second of 2023 - the latest available). Over the ten quarters, highway construction costs grew 59.3 percent.
Highway construction costs
The NHCCI, produced by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), measures the average change over time in the prices paid by State transportation departments for roadway construction materials and services over time. It can be used to track price changes in highway construction.
Recommended citation
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.
Learn More
- National Highway Construction Cost Index methodology
Related Measures
