According to the accompanying table and charts, a "typical" college dormitory had the largest year-over-year increase in construction costs in April 2008 (+3.9% on average for 25 major centers) among four types of educational structures monitored by RSMeans. In second place was a college laboratory (+3.5%), followed by a student union building (+3.0%) and a college classroom (+2.8%).

As for the actual dollar-per-square-foot cost of construction, a college dormitory is most expensive, but only by the narrowest of margins compared with a college laboratory or a college classroom. A college student union building is considerably cheaper to build on a dollar-per-square-foot basis.

Chicago Leads in Year-over-year Cost Increase
At the top of the leader board, for the 25 cities shown, Chicago consistently recorded the greatest year-over-year percentage increase in construction costs, ranging from +3.9% for a classroom to +5.1% for a dormitory. Three California cities − Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego − were next in line, with increases slightly less than Chicago's. After that, came Washington, Boston and Philadelphia.

Major cities with the lowest year-over-year construction cost increases were Denver, Detroit, Houston and Minneapolis.

A Regional Perspective on Construction Costs
New York is the most expensive city in which to build in the United States, with San Francisco in second place. Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago form the next tier. Minneapolis, Los Angeles and San Diego are also relatively expensive.

Major cities that are relatively low cost are Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, Houston and Dallas. It is interesting to note that the nation's capital, Washington, lies just slightly below the middle of the pack.

It is informative to provide some regional construction cost comparisons. For example, it costs almost 30% more to build in Chicago than in Atlanta and there is a similar spread between high-cost Philadelphia and low-cost Miami. Finally, the premium between the highest-cost city, New York, and the lowest-cost city in the table, Winston Salem, is +68%.