Hardwood Lumber Prices Per Board Foot

How much is walnut per board foot?

Walnut is the price ceiling of domestic hardwoods. In 2026, retail 4/4 (1-inch) walnut typically runs $9 to $16 per board foot, with FAS grade and wide boards at the top of the range and #1 Common or narrower stock at the bottom. Thicker walnut, 8/4 for table legs and turning blanks, runs higher still, often $14 to $22 per board foot. Walnut prices move with export demand and regional supply, so call two yards before you commit to a big buy.

Typical per-board-foot prices by species

These are retail ranges for 4/4 stock at a hardwood lumberyard in 2026, not wholesale or big-box prices. Your region will vary, especially for species that grow nearby.

• Poplar: $3 to $5. The budget paint-grade hardwood. Takes paint beautifully, poor choice for stain.
• Red oak: $4 to $7. The workhorse of American furniture and trim.
• White oak: $6 to $10. Higher than red oak on strong demand for quartersawn and rift stock.
• Soft maple: $5 to $8. The economical light-colored wood for painted or stained work.
• Hard maple: $6 to $9. Harder and more consistent color than soft maple.
• Cherry: $7 to $11. Darkens with age; narrow widths are noticeably cheaper.
• Walnut: $9 to $16. The premium domestic species; see above.
• Hickory: $4 to $7. Tough as nails, famously ornery to mill.
• Ash: $4 to $6, where still available; emerald ash borer reduced supply in many regions.

What moves the price: grade

Hardwood is graded on how much clear, defect-free wood each board yields. The two grades a hobbyist usually chooses between are FAS (Firsts and Seconds, the top grade, at least 83% clear) and #1 Common (at least 66% clear, more knots and color variation). FAS typically costs 30 to 60 percent more than #1 Common in the same species. For painted projects or small parts where you cut around defects, #1 Common is the smart money. For a tabletop that needs long clear runs, FAS earns its premium because you waste less of it.

What moves the price: surfacing

Rough-sawn is cheapest: the board comes off the sawmill with saw marks and needs jointing and planing. S2S (surfaced two sides) is planed flat on both faces and costs more. S4S (surfaced four sides) is planed on all faces with edges jointed straight, ready to use, and costs the most per board foot. The surfacing premium is often $1 to $3 per board foot over rough. If you own a planer, buying rough and milling it yourself is the single biggest per-board-foot saving available, provided you buy thick enough stock to survive the milling. And remember: board feet are charged on nominal dimensions, so the yard bills you for the rough size even after surfacing removes material.

What moves the price: width and length

Wide, long, clear boards are rare, so they cost more per board foot than narrow shorts. A yard may add 10 to 30 percent for boards over 8 inches wide or over 10 feet long. If your project can use 6-inch boards instead of 10-inch boards, or 8-foot lengths instead of 12s, you will pay less per board foot for the same species and grade.

Worked example: pricing a walnut coffee table

Say your cut list totals 48.5 board feet of walnut and the yard quotes $11.50 per board foot for 4/4 FAS S2S. Project cost before waste: 48.5 x $11.50 = $557.75. Add 15 percent waste for milling and defects: 48.5 x 1.15 = 55.8 board feet to buy, and 55.8 x $11.50 = $641.70. That waste step is where budgets die, so always do the math with waste included before you compare species. The same table in red oak at $5.50 per board foot would be about $307 with waste, which is why species choice is a budget decision first and an aesthetic decision second.

Five ways to pay less per board foot

1. Buy rough and mill it yourself if you have a planer and jointer. The surfacing premium is pure labor you can do at home.
2. Drop a grade for painted work or small parts. #1 Common at 40 percent off FAS is free money when defects get cut out or painted over.
3. Accept narrower and shorter boards. Design around 6 to 8 inch widths and 8 foot lengths instead of premium wide, long stock.
4. Buy in quantity. Many yards discount 100 board feet or more, sometimes 10 to 15 percent.
5. Check the shorts and offcut bin. Small-project wood at a fraction of the per-board-foot price, if your parts are small.

A note on softwood

Construction softwood (pine, fir, SPF) at the home center is sold by the piece, not by the board foot, so this whole pricing structure does not apply there. Board-foot pricing is the hardwood lumberyard world: furniture, cabinet, and millwork stock. If you are comparing a home-center 2x4 against hardwood, convert with the board foot formula and price both per board foot to compare honestly.