Home / Deck building cost / Salem, NH
Salem · Rockingham County · labor +24.2%
Deck building cost in Salem, NH
A 320 sq ft deck in pressure-treated pine deck comes to about $8,850 to $17,700 in Salem once the national installed price is adjusted for what carpenters earn locally. The town's fee schedule names this work puts the permit at $128 for a job at the midpoint.
Figures checked October 20, 2026 · sources
- 1Pressure-treated, 320 sq ft $8,850–$17,700
- 2Labor index +24.2% vs US
- 3Salem permit $128
Change size or material All Salem projects
Deck building prices in Salem by material
Each row starts from the installed price per square foot of deck published in a national cost guide, then moves only the labor part of that price by Salem's labor index. For 320 sq ft:
| Material | National | Salem | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure-treated pine deck | $8,000–$16,000 | $8,850–$17,700 | $13,300 |
| Cedar deck | $9,600–$15,050 | $10,450–$16,750 | $13,600 |
| Composite deck | $12,800–$25,600 | $13,650–$27,300 | $20,500 |
By size
| Deck area (sq ft) | Salem estimate | Permit at midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 144 sq ft | $4,000–$7,950 | $100 |
| 240 sq ft | $6,650–$13,300 | $100 |
| 320 sq ft | $8,850–$17,700 | $128 |
| 400 sq ft | $11,050–$22,150 | $160 |
Pressure-treated pine deck.
Permit fee in Salem
Named in the schedule The fee schedule names this kind of work.
“Decks $.40 Per Square foot”
“RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMIT FEES (Min $100)”
Applied to a 320 sq ft deck estimated at $8,850 to $17,700, that gives $128 to $128, about 0.96% of the midpoint price. Among the 17 towns on this site whose schedules cover this work, Salem ranks 8 from the cheapest; Goffstown is lowest at $40 and Merrimack highest at $252.60 for its own midpoint job.
Schedule: Salem Fire Department, Inspectional Services, Permit Schedule (effective 1/1/2025, adopted 10/2024). The building department decides whether a permit is required and what valuation it accepts; the national guide puts deck permits at $50–$150.
Why Salem differs from the national price
Salem is in Rockingham County, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area (mostly Massachusetts). The median wage there for carpenters is $36.16 an hour against $29.12 nationally, so the labor part of a national price is scaled by 1.242 (+24.2%). That area is mostly Massachusetts; the New Hampshire statewide median for the same trade is $29.42, so a Salem quote may land nearer the low end of the range shown.
On this job the labor portion is $3,500 to $7,050 at national rates and $4,350 to $8,750 at Salem rates, so the midpoint rises $1,300 above the national figure. Against the New Hampshire statewide wage it is $1,200 higher. Materials are priced at the national figure: shingle, lumber and equipment prices are set by distributors, not by a town.
A second published benchmark points the same way for the region: Remodeling's 2025 Cost vs Value report prices its “Deck Addition, Wood” job at $18,250 nationally and $20,600 in New England, and its “Deck Addition, Composite” job at $25,100 nationally and $25,800 in New England. Those are fixed specification jobs, not per-square-foot prices, so they are shown for comparison only.
Salem at a glance
Salem had 31,588 residents in the state's 2025 estimate, up 9.8% from 28,776 in 2010, faster than the state's 7.5% over the same years. At 1,276 people per square mile it is one of the most built-up places on this site (3 of 19 by density), so crews often work on tight lots with neighbours close by.
75.6% of Salem's occupied homes are lived in by their owners, more than the 72.8% statewide, and the median owner-occupied home is valued at $473,300 (New Hampshire: $402,500). The midpoint estimate for this deck works out to 2.8% of that median value.
Before asking for quotes
- The Salem building department can say for free whether this job needs a permit and what it will cost; the schedule linked above is its own published document.
- Written quotes that list the same scope (area, material line, removal, disposal, permit) can be compared line by line; the quote comparison guide walks through it with these numbers.
- A quote far below $8,850 or above $17,700 is not wrong in itself, but it is worth asking what it includes or leaves out.
Other projects in Salem
Roof replacement cost in Salem · Siding replacement cost in Salem · Heat pump installation cost in Salem
Deck building in nearby towns
| Town | Labor area | Estimate | Permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,850–$17,700 | $142.94 |
| Exeter | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,850–$17,700 | $116.38 |
| Londonderry | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,850–$17,700 | $131.21 |
| Portsmouth | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,850–$17,700 | $110 |
| Rochester | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,850–$17,700 | $136 |
More: all deck building town pages · permit fees by town · labor costs in New Hampshire
Sources
- Installed price: HomeGuide: Cost to build a deck (Feb 10, 2026) — “Pressure-treated pine $25 – $50 (installed, per sq ft)”.
- Labor portion: HomeGuide: Cost to build a deck (Feb 10, 2026) — “The labor cost to build a new deck is $11 to $22 per square foot.”.
- Labor index: O*NET OnLine, Carpenters (47-2031.00), New Hampshire local wages; area definitions: BLS, May 2025 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Definitions.
- Permit: Salem Fire Department, Inspectional Services, Permit Schedule.
- Population: NH Office of Planning and Development, 2025 Population Estimates of New Hampshire Cities and Towns (published July 17, 2026); housing: Census QuickFacts, Salem.
All figures checked October 20, 2026. Estimates are ranges built from published averages, not quotes; a contractor's price depends on the house, access, the season and the scope written into the quote. Cost by Town does not perform or arrange work.