Lumber prices / Hickory
Hickory Price per Board Foot
Hickory is the hardest and heaviest common domestic hardwood, with dramatic contrast between pale sapwood and tan heartwood. It is tough on tools and prone to movement, but unbeatable for high-wear flooring.
What common boards cost
Board feet times the price per board foot. These use the $5 to $8 range above.
| Board | Board feet | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 x 6 x 8 ft | 4.00 | $20 – $32 |
| 1 x 8 x 8 ft | 5.33 | $27 – $43 |
| 2 x 4 x 8 ft | 5.33 | $27 – $43 |
To price a full order, put $7 (or your dealer's number) into the board foot calculator and add every board to the tally.
What hickory costs, and why
Hickory usually runs about $5 to $8 per board foot for standard 4/4 boards, which puts it in the same bracket as white oak and below walnut or cherry. For the hardest common domestic hardwood that is a genuinely low price, and the reason is character rather than scarcity.
- Colour variation. Hickory has pale, almost white sapwood and tan to reddish heartwood, often in the same board. Calico or rustic grades that mix the two heavily are the cheapest thing on the rack. Boards sorted for all-heartwood or all-sapwood cost noticeably more, because sorting is work and most of a log will not match.
- Grade. Clear FAS boards sit at the top of the range. Hickory logs are knotty enough that long clear cuttings are less common than in oak, so the spread between grades is wide.
- Flooring versus lumber. Most hickory is cut for flooring and sold by the square foot in cartons. Rough lumber by the board foot is a smaller market, and a hardwood dealer will usually beat a big-box price for it.
Work out your board feet first with the board foot calculator, then multiply by the rate your dealer quotes.
Hickory vs oak
This is the usual comparison, and hardness is where they part. Hickory rates about 1,820 lbf on the Janka scale against roughly 1,290 for red oak and 1,360 for white oak. That is around 40 percent harder than either, and it is why hickory turns up in tool handles, ladder rungs, and floors in houses with large dogs.
The trade is that it is harder to work. Hickory dulls edges quickly, tears out around interlocked grain, and moves more with humidity than oak does, so it wants a well-acclimated stock and sharp tooling. Oak is more forgiving. If the piece takes real punishment, hickory earns its keep. If it does not, oak is the easier wood for the same money.
Weight, and what it means for an order
At about 50 lb/ft³ dry, hickory is roughly 4.2 pounds per board foot, the heaviest domestic species most people will buy. A 200 board foot flooring order is around 830 pounds before packaging, which is a real consideration for a delivery, a trailer, or a second-floor install. The lumber weight calculator will total it by species and moisture content.
Green hickory is heavier still and moves a lot as it dries, so buy it kiln dried and let it sit in the room for a week or two before you cut.
Hardwoods with similar hardness
Hickory rates 1,820 lbf on the Janka scale. These sit closest to it, so they take similar wear and usually swap in without changing how the piece holds up. Price is often the deciding factor.
| Species | Janka | Per board foot |
|---|---|---|
| Zebrawood | 1,830 lbf | $14 – $25 |
| Wenge | 1,930 lbf | $14 – $25 |
| African Padauk | 1,970 lbf | $9 – $16 |
| Hard Maple | 1,450 lbf | $5 – $9 |
Full range on the lumber prices page, and weight per board foot if shipping or floor load matters.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does hickory cost per board foot?
- Hickory commonly runs about $5 to $8 per board foot at retail, with wide, thick, or figured boards costing more. This is a planning range, not a quote, so confirm with your dealer.
- How much does hickory weigh?
- About 4.2 pounds per board foot kiln-dried, based on an average density of 50 lb/ft³ at 12% moisture content. Green stock weighs more.
- Is hickory a hardwood or a softwood?
- Hickory is a hardwood (domestic), with a Janka hardness of 1,820 lbf.
- Is hickory more expensive than oak?
- Not usually. Hickory and white oak overlap at about $5 to $8 per board foot, and rustic hickory grades with heavy sapwood and heartwood contrast are often cheaper than either oak. You pay more for hickory sorted to a consistent colour, because most of a log will not match.
- How hard is hickory compared to other woods?
- About 1,820 lbf on the Janka scale, the hardest common domestic hardwood. That is roughly 40 percent harder than red oak (1,290 lbf) and above hard maple (1,450 lbf), which is why it is used for tool handles and high-traffic flooring.
- Why is hickory flooring cheaper than hickory lumber?
- Flooring is milled from shorter, narrower cuttings that would not yield good lumber, and it is sold by the square foot in cartons rather than by the board foot. Rough hickory lumber needs longer clear sections, which a knotty log gives up less often.