How Much Do Concrete Footings Cost in 2025?
Highlights
The average cost to install concrete footings is $750, though the price can range between $250 and $3,600.
Concrete footings cost anywhere from $1.50 to $24 per linear foot, depending on width.
Heavier homes and homes with multiple stories require wider concrete footings.
Continuous footings extend along the foundation, while pad footings reinforce a concentrated point.
When choosing concrete footings, you’ll need to account for home size, soil type, and climate.
Concrete footings are reinforcements poured prior to building a foundation. They help stabilize the foundation and reduce the risk of breaking or cracking. Most homeowners spend around $750 on concrete footings, although the cost can range from $250 to $3,600, depending on home size, soil type, and climate. Installing concrete footings is the first step in constructing a solid base to support the foundation.
Average Concrete Footings Cost
| Average Cost | High Cost | Low Cost |
|---|---|---|
| $750 | $3,600 | $250 |
Concrete Footings Cost Factors
The price of your concrete footings varies based on size, labor, and several other factors.
Home Size
The size of your home influences the number and size of concrete footings required. Homes with more stories require more footings than a single-story home. Heavier homes, such as those with concrete or masonry, also require wider concrete footings than homes made from lighter materials like wood.
Prices range from $3 to $7 per square foot, depending on the project size and foundation type. Footings for an average house with dimensions measuring 150 linear feet cost $225 to $3,600. Pier footers can be $75 to $150 per square foot, especially if you only need a few.
Cost per Linear Foot
Concrete footings cost $1.50 to $24 per linear foot, averaging $5 per linear foot. This cost variation depends primarily on the width of the footing. Wider footings are needed for different weights and soil types. Some common footing costs include:
| Footing Size (Inches) | Average Cost per Linear Foot |
|---|---|
| 12 x 6 | $5.00 |
| 16 x 8 | $9.00 |
| 18 x 8 | $9.50 |
| 24 x 12 | $19.00 |
Concrete costs may also vary depending on the quality of concrete and materials prices in your area. If you have to remove any old or broken footings before installing new ones, you’ll also need to budget for concrete removal costs.
Type of Footings
The type of footing you should use aligns with the type of foundation poured. Thicker footings tend to cost more. There are two primary footing types:
Continuous footings: These extend the entire length of the foundation and beyond the sides for a wider base that distributes the load of the walls above into the soil below.
Pad footings: These are installed beneath a more concentrated load, such as a single pier or column, rather than an entire wall.
Soil Type
Have the soil tested at the project site before pouring footings. Different soil types have different load-bearing capabilities, so knowing the soil type helps ensure you use the right strength and amount of materials.
Soil is generally more stable when it contains more rock. Crystalline bedrock can bear the heaviest loads, while clay is the least resilient soil type. Weaker soil needs wider, more expensive footings to compensate for its reduced weight-bearing capacity.
House Type
Different types, widths, and quantities of footings are needed depending on the type of home you’re building. A single-story home will exert much less pressure on the soil than a two- or three-story home. The home’s layout is also a factor in determining the size and number of footings needed.
When calculating the cost to build a house, it’s important to consider how the home’s size will impact concrete footing costs.
Other Concrete Footings Cost Factors
When budgeting for concrete footing installation, it’s important to account for permits, climate, and labor in addition to the cost of the footings.
Building Codes and Permits
Check your local building codes. Building permit costs vary by state and municipality and tend to be stricter in some parts of the country than others. If your area requires more substantial footings, they will take up more of your budget.
Climate
Local climate also dictates the type of footings you’ll need, how to install them, and how much it costs to dig footings. For example, concrete deteriorates faster in hotter climates, so you may need to pay more for material with added preservatives or treatments. On the other hand, footings in cold climates may need to sit deeper to get below the frost line and prevent upheaval or shifting from freezing and thawing.
Labor
The labor cost to pour footings ranges from $0.50 to $8 per linear foot, depending on the width and difficulty of excavating the soil. Expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $350 per footing, with an average cost of around $150 per footing. Pros usually wrap footing installation into the total estimate for the price of a concrete foundation.
Concrete footings are essential. A misplaced footing can lead to shifts and cracks in the foundation, which can seriously compromise the home's structural integrity. To minimize the potential for problems and avoid foundation repair costs, hire a skilled team of contractors with specialized experience in planning and pouring concrete footings and foundations.
Budgeting for Concrete Footings
Pouring concrete footings for a foundation requires expert knowledge and tools, but there are a few steps you can take to help keep your project budget-friendly:
Prepare the workspace in advance: Any extra time your contractor spends on site increases your total cost, so remove furniture, vehicles, and greenery from the workspace before workers arrive.
Book ahead for installation: Summer tends to be the busiest construction season, so local labor costs may be higher. Book your installation early, and consider booking in spring or fall when contractors are less busy (although rainy weather and cold ground can increase labor time, so it’s always best to book according to your climate).
Invest in good footings: Replacing footings once the foundation is poured is expensive. If possible, opt for wider, sturdier footings from the beginning to minimize the risk of foundation damage or repairs.
Contact multiple pros: Reach out to several foundation repair professionals in your area and compare quotes for labor and materials.
How HomeAdvisor Gets Its Cost Data
No place is more important than your home, which is why HomeAdvisor connects homeowners with local pros to transform their houses into homes they love. To help homeowners prepare for their next project, HomeAdvisor provides readers with accurate cost data and follows strict editorial guidelines. After a project is complete, we survey real customers about the costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We pair this data with research from reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
A concrete footer is a relatively shallow column of concrete that sits below your foundation walls. Footers spread wider than the foundation, so they can support a higher amount of weight in critical spots, such as below walls. The exact dimensions of footers depend on the home, so larger structures need a larger footing.
To calculate footing size, you need to know the minimum width and depth for houses in your region. Multiplying the width by the linear footprint of the structure will give you the size in linear feet.
To convert linear feet into square feet, you can divide the width by 12. For example, an 18-inch footer is 1.5 square feet per linear foot. Multiply this number by the total in linear feet to get the answer in square feet.
Installing a pier and beam foundation costs $5 per square foot, or $8,000 to $15,000. This style is standard in homes built before the 1960s or those in flood-prone areas.
Concrete weight support ranges from 1,500 to 6,500 pounds per square inch, and footings need at least 3,500 to 4,500 pounds per square inch. Remember that your soil type, climate, and materials used will significantly affect how much weight your footings can hold, especially in certain areas.
It costs between $1,600 and $3,200 to pour a 20-by-20-foot concrete slab. These estimates are based on an average cost to pour a concrete slab of $4 to $8 per square foot. Be sure to discuss the specifics with a pro—they’ll give you an estimate of how much you can expect.
The cost to raise a house is between $3,200 and $10,000. This range refers to a form of repair that involves lifting the entire house to potentially remove the old foundation and build a new one or add to an existing one.
