Cedar Wood Cost (Oct 2026): Price Per Board Foot and Linear Foot

At one verified lumberyard in October 2026, Western Cedar cost $2.99 to $10.50 per linear foot depending on board size, and Eastern Cedar 4/4 cost $7.50 per board foot. Converted to a common unit, the Western Cedar sizes work out to roughly $7.20 to $8.97 per board foot. That is one yard’s price list, not a national average, so use it as a benchmark. Below: the conversion table, worked project costs, bulk discounts, and how cedar compares with other woods.

Cedar Wood Cost Per Board Foot and Per Linear Foot (October 2026)

Most cedar price pages quote a loose range with no source. This one starts from a real, dated price list: The Wood Yard in Concord, GA, which showed “Last updated: October 2026” when we checked it on October 7, 2026. The cedar lines on that list are priced two different ways. Eastern Cedar is sold by the board foot, while the Western Cedar sizes are priced per linear foot (we read the list’s “LNF” tag as linear foot, which is the only reading that fits those prices, but confirm with the yard before relying on it).

Cedar listing	Listed price	Board feet per linear foot (nominal)	Price per board foot
Western Cedar 1×4	$2.99 per linear foot	0.33	$8.97
Western Cedar 1×6	$3.60 per linear foot	0.50	$7.20
Western Cedar 1×8	$5.55 per linear foot	0.67	$8.33
Western Cedar 2×6	$8.75 per linear foot	1.00	$8.75
Western Cedar 2×8	$10.50 per linear foot	1.33	$7.88
Eastern Cedar 4/4	$7.50 per board foot	n/a	$7.50

The conversion divides each listed linear-foot price by the board feet in one running foot of that nominal size (thickness x width in inches, divided by 12). It assumes the yard bills nominal sizes, which is standard for dimensional lumber but is our assumption, not something the list states.

Data point: the same yard states that buying 20 or more board feet takes $0.35 per board foot off its domestic lumber, 50 or more takes $0.70 off, and 100 or more takes $1.05 off. Source: The Wood Yard price list, October 2026. Listed prices are valid for in-store purchases only.

Why the Cheapest Board Is Not the Cheapest Cedar

Shopping by the number on the tag is the most common way to overpay for cedar. A 1×4 at $2.99 looks like the bargain of the list, but it carries the highest price per board foot of any Western Cedar size, at about $8.97. The 1×6 is the value size at $7.20 per board foot, and the 2×8, despite the biggest tag at $10.50, works out to about $7.88. The 1×8 at $8.33 and the 2×6 at $8.75 sit in between.

That spread, $7.20 to $8.97 across five sizes from the same species at the same yard, is a gap of about 25 percent. It matters when your project needs a lot of boards, because you can often pick the size that wastes the least. If a plan can be built from 1×6 instead of 1×4, you pay less for the same volume of wood.

One more trap is comparing the two cedar lines directly. Eastern Cedar 4/4 means a board about 1 inch thick as sawn, while a Western Cedar 1×6 is a surfaced dimensional board that finishes thinner. A 1x6x8 foot Western Cedar board costs 8 x $3.60 = $28.80. Four board feet of Eastern Cedar 4/4 costs 4 x $7.50 = $30.00. The totals are close, but you are buying different products, so match the form (rough or surfaced) to the project before you match the price. For the unit itself, see our guide to what a board foot actually costs.

Worked Cedar Cost Examples Using the Verified Prices

Raw per-foot numbers are hard to picture, so here are three material-only estimates built from the Western Cedar prices above. They exclude fasteners, sealer, waste, delivery, tax, and labor, and they use this one yard’s prices, so your total will differ.

A 4×8 foot raised garden bed

A bed with two courses of boards needs 2 x (4 + 4 + 8 + 8) = 48 linear feet. In 1×6 cedar at $3.60 per foot that is $172.80. In 2×6 at $8.75 per foot it is $420.00, more than double, for a thicker wall. Corner posts are extra. Species and grade choices for beds are covered in our cedar for raised garden beds comparison.

A 100 square foot deck surface

A 1×6 board covers about 5.5 inches of width once laid, which is 0.458 square feet per linear foot. Covering 100 square feet takes about 218 linear feet, or $785 at $3.60 per foot. That is about $7.85 per square foot in boards alone. A common rule of thumb is to add around 10 percent for cuts and waste, which brings the total to roughly $864. See which cedar species suit decking before you commit.

Privacy fence pickets

Six-foot pickets cut from 1×6 butted edge to edge need about 2.18 pickets per foot of fence. Six linear feet each at $3.60 comes to about $47.13 per foot of fence in pickets alone. That is a premium-board figure, and most fence builders buy cheaper picket stock, so treat it as a ceiling, not a typical fence price. We did not verify any installed fence price this session, so we are not quoting one.

Cedar Wood Cost Compared With Other Woods at the Same Yard

Prices from different sources are hard to compare because of different dates, grades, and units. Here every wood comes from the same October 2026 list, in 4/4 thickness and priced per board foot.

Wood (4/4)	Price per board foot
White pine	$3.75
Poplar	$5.35
Hickory	$6.00
Red oak	$6.10
Cherry	$6.75
Eastern Cedar	$7.50
Heart pine	$8.00
Hard maple	$8.35
White oak	$10.00
Spanish Cedar	$11.25
Walnut	$16.50

Eastern Cedar costs exactly twice what white pine does, yet less than hard maple or white oak. If you are choosing cedar for rot resistance, the real comparison is not pine but treated lumber; see cedar versus pressure treated wood for how those two stack up outdoors.

Watch the name “Spanish Cedar” too. It lists at $11.25, about 50 percent above Eastern Cedar, but it is a different tree (a relative of mahogany, from the genus Cedrela), not the cedar used for fences and decks. The cedars sold in North America for outdoor use are not true cedars either; see why neither red cedar is a true cedar. For the western versus eastern choice itself, read red versus white cedar.

How Bulk Discounts Change the Cost

Using the yard’s published tiers on Eastern Cedar at $7.50 per board foot: 20 board feet costs $143.00 instead of $150.00, 50 board feet costs $340.00 instead of $375.00, and 100 board feet costs $645.00 instead of $750.00. At the top tier that saves $105, about 14 percent. The list says the discount applies to its domestic lumber, but it does not say how the tiers apply to the linear-foot Western Cedar lines, so ask before you plan around it. More ways to cut the bill are in our guide to buying wood in bulk.

How to Compare a Cedar Quote From Any Seller

• Ask whether the price is per board foot, per linear foot, or per piece. Our table shows how much that one detail changes the real cost.
• Convert to price per board foot: thickness in inches x width in inches x length in feet, divided by 12, then divide the total price by that number.
• Match the form: rough 4/4 and surfaced 1×6 are different products.
• Check the grade and species wording, since ‘cedar’ is used for several unrelated trees.
• Confirm whether the price is in-store only, as this yard’s list is.
• Add finish costs: a gallon of sealer is a small line item next to cedar board prices.

Cedar lumber prices also move with the market. For what is driving them this year, see our cedar wood market trends breakdown, and for the broader picture across species see our wood cost guide by type. If you are pricing a living tree instead of lumber, that is a different guide: cedar tree costs.

Protecting Your Cedar Investment

Unfinished cedar turns gray outdoors, and the boards are the expensive part, so a finish plan is part of the budget. Our guide to protecting cedar outdoors covers sealing options, and whether cedar can be stained covers color. The sealer in the box near the top of this page was listed at $25.98 on October 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average cost of cedar wood per board foot?

Using one verified October 2026 yard price list, Eastern Cedar 4/4 is $7.50 per board foot, and Western Cedar 1×4 to 2×8 boards work out to about $7.20 to $8.97 per board foot. Other sellers will differ.

How much does cedar cost per square foot?

For a 1×6 board at $3.60 per linear foot, about 5.5 inches of coverage works out to roughly $7.85 per square foot in boards alone, before waste, fasteners, sealer, or labor.

Why is the cheapest cedar board not the cheapest per board foot?

Boards are priced per linear foot, but they contain different volumes of wood. At the verified yard, the 1×4 costs about $8.97 per board foot while the 1×6 costs about $7.20.

Is cedar more expensive than pine?

Yes. On the same October 2026 list, white pine is $3.75 per board foot and Eastern Cedar is $7.50, so cedar costs twice as much as that pine.

Do bulk discounts apply to cedar?

The yard discounts domestic lumber by $0.35 per board foot at 20 or more, $0.70 at 50 or more, and $1.05 at 100 or more, for in-store purchases. It does not say how this applies to the linear-foot Western Cedar items.

Is Spanish cedar the same as the cedar used for fences?

No. Spanish cedar is a different tree and lists at $11.25 per board foot versus $7.50 for Eastern Cedar on the same list.

Conclusion

At the October 2026 prices we verified, cedar ran about $7.20 to $8.97 per board foot for Western Cedar sizes and $7.50 for Eastern Cedar 4/4. Convert every quote to price per board foot, pick the board size that wastes the least, check the bulk tiers, and leave room in the budget for a sealer. Prices change, so treat these figures as a dated benchmark and re-check before you buy.