Business: Where Prices Are Highest and Lowest

THE cost of construction varies sharply in the U.S. For a one-story, 1,400-sq.-ft. wood-frame ranch house with a basement, it ranges from $16,125 to $26,300, not counting land. The following comparative figures for the same house were compiled by Milwaukee's American Appraisal Co. In most of the high-cost cities, builders use union labor; in nearly all the low-cost cities, they use nonunion labor.

HIGH-COST CITIES

Fairbanks $26,300 Anchorage 24,375 Honolulu 24,025 New York 22,975 San Francisco 22,975 Cleveland 22,800 Sacramento, Calif22,450 Detroit 22,100 Buffalo 21,750 Pittsburgh 21,750 Los Angeles21,575 Newark 21,575 Carson City, Nev 21,400 Cincinnati 21,400 Toled021,400

LOW-COST CITIES

Raleigh, N.C $16,125

Columbia, S.C 16,650

Tallahassee, Fla 16,825

Winston-Salem, N.C 16,825

Charleston, S.C 16,825

Fort Smith, Ark 17,175

Bismarck, N.Dak 17,350

Montgomery, Ala 17,350

Macon, Ga 17,525

Biloxi, Miss 17,525

Norfolk 17,525

Richmond 17,525

Little Rock, Ark 17,700

Sioux Falls, S.Dak 17,700

El Paso 17,700