How Much Do Deck Screws Cost? Full Pricing Breakdown by Brand

How much do deck screws cost? Roughly 6 to 38 cents apiece, depending on the metal and brand. Budget coated runs about 6 to 15 cents each. Regular 304 stainless runs 24 to 35 cents, and 316 marine grade tops out near 45 cents.

A small box is $10 to $35. A 1,000-count contractor box runs about $80 to $140. We carry deck screws, and we're listing real prices, ours and the competition's, so you can budget honestly. Here's the full breakdown by brand, per piece, per box, and per deck.

How much do deck screws cost?

Deck screws cost about 6 to 15 cents apiece for budget coated, 24 to 35 cents for regular 304 stainless, and 29 to 45 cents for 316 marine grade. By the box, that's $10 to $35 for a small pack and about $80 to $140 for a 1,000 to 1,750-count contractor box. Price per piece is the number that matters, because the same screw gets cheaper the bigger the box you buy. The full brand-by-brand breakdown is right below.

Deck screw prices by brand

The cheapest deck screws are budget coated steel in a bulk box, down around 6.5 to 8 cents a screw. The most expensive face screws are 316 marine stainless and hidden color-match screws, up near 38 cents. Here's the lineup, cheapest to dearest by price per piece.

1. Budget coated (Deck Mate, Everbilt)

A 1 lb box runs about 15 cents a screw. Step up to a 25 lb bucket and the same screw drops to roughly 6.5 to 7 cents. This is the price floor, but the coating is the catch. It's plain carbon steel with rust protection sprayed on, and once that coating wears or gets chewed by an impact driver, the steel underneath rusts and can streak cedar or redwood.

2. Mid coated (Grip-Rite)

Grip-Rite PrimeGuard's smallest common pack is a 5 lb box at about 9 to 11 cents a screw, dropping to roughly 6.4 cents in a 25 lb pail. You're paying for a tougher coating and a longer warranty, not for stainless. It's a sensible coated step up from the bargain brands.

3. Premium coated (GRK R4, SPAX, FastenMaster)

These run about 12 to 17 cents a screw in small packs, sliding to 10 to 13 cents in bulk boxes. The money buys engineered heads, climate-rated coatings, and self-starting tips, not corrosion-proof metal

A builder pricing premium stainless put it plainly when he said you "obviously pay a premium" for the name-brand stuff. Worth knowing: a loaded-up premium coated screw in a small pack can cost more per piece than a plain stainless one bought by the box, because the metal isn't the only thing you're paying for.

4. Stainless (DeckWise, Simpson Strong-Tie, Eagle Claw)

DeckWise 305 stainless starts near 20 cents a screw in a 100-count. The Simpson Strong-Tie Deck-Drive DWP stainless screw runs about 18 to 21 cents in a small box and down near 10 cents by the carton.

Our own Eagle Claw #10 x 3" 304 stainless deck screws are $34.95 for a 100-count, which works out to about 28 cents a screw, dropping to 16 cents in the 350-count and 11 to 13 cents in the 1,000 and 1,750 boxes.

Eagle Claw 316 marine grade sits higher, around 38 cents in a 100-count, since it adds salt-fighting metal. One homeowner who'd rebuilt his deck twice after coated screws failed switched to ours and called it a "nice bargain on stainless deck screws."

5. Hidden and composite (Starborn)

Color-match and hidden plug screws cost more per square foot than any face screw, because you're often buying screws, plugs, and a setting tool together. More on that in the FAQ below.

Coated vs stainless deck screws: the price difference

Yes, stainless deck screws cost more than coated, about twice as much at the small box and closer to 2.5x for 316 marine grade. Here's the gap at a glance:

• Small box, same #10 size: stainless runs about 28 cents a screw versus 15 cents for budget coated, roughly 2x.
• 316 marine grade: about 23% more than regular 304, or roughly a nickel more per screw.
• In bulk: the gap nearly closes. Eagle Claw #8 stainless lands near 8 cents by the 1,750 bucket, right on top of coated bucket pricing.

Why stainless costs more than coated

The rust protection is in the metal, not on it. Stainless costs about three times as much per pound as the plain carbon steel in cheap screws, because the chromium and nickel that fight rust are mixed right into the alloy instead of sprayed on top.

Why 316 marine costs more than 304

On Eagle Claw's #10 x 3", that 23% works out to about $19 extra per 350-count box, or about $45 more across a whole coastal deck. The added metal is molybdenum, the alloying metal behind 316, which costs real money and helps the screw survive salt air.

So at retail, small-box stainless looks like double the price, but by the box it lands within pennies of coated. Whether the extra cost is worth it depends on your wood and your weather, and we cover that in full in our stainless versus coated deck screws guide.

How pack size changes the price

Pack size is the quiet lever on what you actually pay. A small box carries a per-piece premium because the packaging and handling get spread over a handful of screws. A bulk box or pail spreads those same costs over a thousand-plus, so the price per screw drops 10 to 20% or more.

Is it cheaper to buy deck screws in bulk?

Yes, clearly. With Eagle Claw's #10 x 3" 304 stainless, a 100-count box is $34.95, or 35 cents a screw, while a 350-count box is $83.99, or 24 cents a screw. That's about 31% cheaper per piece, and on a 900-screw deck it saves roughly $99 just by buying the bigger box. The 1,000 and 1,750-count boxes drop it further still.

A construction worker who bought a 1,000-pack put it simply: it's a "couple cents cheaper per screw which adds up." Pros take this further and skip retail packs entirely.

One builder noted his wholesale source has a "minimum purchase is usually a 50 lb box," cheap once you're decking a whole yard. If you're buying for work, our contractor pricing discounts the per-screw cost at any order size.

The rule of thumb: buy the biggest single box you'll realistically use. For anything past a small repair, the 350-count is the first real value step. For a whole deck, jump to the 1,000-count.

Two small boxes almost always cost more than one big one, and you skip the mid-job runs to the store. When in doubt, size the box to the whole deck, not to a single section.

Things to Keep in Mind: Bulk and contractor-box prices move with the steel market, so confirm the live box price before you commit to a whole deck's worth.

How much do deck screws cost for a whole deck?

Screwing a whole deck costs less than most people guess. A typical 250-square-foot deck takes about 875 screws, so figure roughly $60 to $80 in budget coated, about $100 to $140 in Eagle Claw 304 stainless, or about $200 to $290 if you buy stainless in small retail packs. The metal and the pack size, not the brand name, drive almost all of that swing.

How many deck screws do I need per square foot?

You need about 3.5 deck screws per square foot, or 350 per 100 square feet. Here's how to turn that into a count for your own deck:

1. Start with the base rate. Multiply your deck's square footage by 3.5. That assumes standard 6-inch boards, joists 16 inches on-center, and two screws per board at every joist.
2. Adjust for board width. Running narrower 4-inch boards? Use about 480 per 100 square feet instead, since more boards means more screws.
3. Add a buffer. Tack on 5 to 10% for dropped and stripped screws.
4. Convert to boxes. One 100-count box covers about 25 square feet, or four 16-foot boards, so a 250-square-foot deck takes a single 1,000-count box with spares.

For an exact count, plug your deck's dimensions into our deck screw calculator and it'll size the screws and clips to your build.

Against the whole project, screws are small money. An installed deck usually runs $30 to $60 a square foot, with labor and lumber eating most of it, so face screws land at around 1% of the total.

The exception is composite decks built with hidden fastener systems, where screws, clips, and plugs can climb to 20% or more of the materials bill. For a standard face-screwed wood deck, though, one contractor's take says it best: "If you're worried about the cost of screws, you're probably not charging enough."

Why are deck screws so expensive? (what drives the price)

Deck screws cost more than ordinary wood screws because they're built to live outdoors, and four things drive the price:

• The metal. Stainless costs about three times as much per pound as carbon steel, thanks to nickel, the metal that makes stainless cost more, and that gap is baked in before anyone cuts a thread. In treated, tannin-rich wood that pricier metal earns its keep, which is what USDA Forest Products Laboratory research on fastener corrosion in treated wood documents.
• The coating. Climate-rated coatings on coated screws cost more than plain zinc, so even a non-stainless screw gets pricier the better its rust protection.
• The drive and head. A star drive that grips the bit so it won't slip and strip, a Type 17 self-starting point that lets you skip pre-drilling, and hardened threads are patented designs you pay for. Buy a plain screw without any of that and it's cheaper.
• Where it's made. About a third of the screws used here are imported, and as of 2026 a 50% tariff on imported steel hits screws directly, so two screws that look identical can be priced differently.

One thing the price isn't: marketing. 304 and 316 are standardized fastener alloys under ASTM F593, the stainless fastener standard, so the grade on the box is a spec you can count on, not a label.

Which deck screws give the best value?

The best value isn't the cheapest screw, it's the cheapest screw that suits the job. For an outdoor deck, Eagle Claw 304 stainless is the value pick: rust-proof for the life of the deck at roughly twice the budget-coated price, not three times the premium-coated price, and within pennies of coated once you buy by the box.

You spend a bit more once and never back out a corroded screw or chase a rust streak again.

Match the spend to the exposure:

• Pick budget coated if you're working on interior or non-exposed wood with no treated lumber.
• Pick quality coated or 304 stainless if you're building a standard inland deck on pressure-treated framing, with 304 the call if you want it to outlast the boards.
• Pick 316 marine stainless if you're near the coast, near saltwater, or by a pool.
• Pick a hidden plug system if you want a clean, screw-free board surface on composite or high-end hardwood.

Ready to price your build? Browse the full deck screw collection and size it to your deck.