Start with your idea
What do you want
to make room for?
Tell us about the property and the home-and-shop project you have in mind. You don’t need every answer yet.
Your space. Your starting number.
Instant barndominium cost estimator
Explore a building budget for the St. Joseph area. No email or phone required. Adjust the example below to fit your idea.
Define the build
Count each area once. Use 0 for no shop or porch. Designed for a simple, one-story home on a slab; a heated shop, basement, loft or complex roof needs separate pricing.
Allow for the property
Have a budget or quotes for grading, driveway, utility connections, well or septic? Enter their combined amount. Leave 0 if unknown—we’ll flag those costs as unpriced.
The example adds a 10% reserve to the building plus your site allowance. Change it from 0–30% to explore your own buffer; it is not a builder-recommended contingency.
Example budget range · before land
$446,000–$592,000
Building + entered allowance + 10% reserve
Site work and utilities are unpriced and additional. This is not an all-in project total.
- Finished living area2,000 sq ft × $175–$225
- $350,000–$450,000
- Unconditioned shop + slab800 sq ft × $55–$85
- $44,000–$68,000
- Covered porch300 sq ft × $40–$65
- $12,000–$20,000
- Your site + utility allowance
- $0 · unpriced
- 10% scenario reserve
- $40,000–$54,000
Home rates include the slab, shell, insulation, standard home systems and interior finishes. Shop rates assume an unconditioned enclosure and slab. Do not add another shell or slab budget for these same areas.
Not included: land purchase, financing, design/engineering/permit fees, or site and utility work beyond your entered allowance. Equipment, specialty systems and unusual ground conditions need separate quotes. Actual costs may exceed this range.
Use this estimate in my inquiry ↗Optional next step. Your inputs stay in this browser tab until you choose to send an inquiry. This website is an independent resource, not the quoting builder.
Where the numbers come from—and what they cover
Reviewed September 18, 2026. These are editorial modeling assumptions drawn from published builder guidance, not a survey of completed St. Joseph projects or a local contractor offer. Finish tiers overlap because design and scope vary.
Simple finished home$150–$190 / sq ft
Midrange finished home$175–$225 / sq ft
Upgraded finished home$210–$275 / sq ft
Insulated home shell + slab$60–$110 / sq ft
Unconditioned shop + slab$55–$85 / sq ft
Covered porch$40–$65 / sq ft
- Revolve Construction’s Missouri guidance lists $150–$250/sq ft finished and $60–$110/sq ft for an insulated shell including slab in the St. Louis region. We use its defined shell scope and treat its finished pricing as a regional comparison.
- American Iron’s Missouri guidance lists $145–$205/sq ft for finished living space, $55–$85 for unconditioned shops, and $40–$65 for covered porches. We use the latter two as modeling allowances; the model assumes a shop slab, but the cited range does not independently verify that inclusion. Confirm foundation and finish scope with your builder.
- Morton Buildings’ published home-cost explanation separates a $75–$125/sq ft shell from $75–$150/sq ft of interior work. This older, undated-on-page guidance provides a broad scope comparison, not a current local quote.
Our finished-home tiers ($150–$190, $175–$225 and $210–$275) are our synthesis of that guidance, not tiers offered by those companies. Basic assumes straightforward selections; midrange allows more finish flexibility; upgraded allows higher-cost cabinetry, fixtures and finishes but does not model luxury custom work. No automatic ZIP-code discount, annual inflation factor or small-home discount is applied.
Formula: each area × its low/high rate, plus your site allowance, then your selected reserve percentage. Displayed ranges are rounded outward to the nearest $1,000; line-item rounding can differ slightly from the total. A 0 site allowance means unresolved, not free. No builder affiliation or availability is implied.
A useful first conversation
A few details go a long way.
Share your location, where you are in the planning process, and which decisions you want help organizing.
- Do you have land, or are you still looking?
- How much living space and shop space do you want?
- Are you comparing shell builds or a complete home?
- What questions are holding up your next step?
Still exploring? Start with the complete planning guide.