Our Methodology

Every number on this site is a planning range, not a quote. Here is exactly how we produce those ranges — so you can judge how much weight to put on them.

Data sources

• Organizer and venue rate cards — published booth-space rates, service order forms, and official exhibitor manuals (where publicly available).
• Exhibitor reports — first-hand cost breakdowns shared by exhibitors at major US and international shows.
• Industry pricing benchmarks — exhibit-house rate sheets, drayage weight guides, and travel cost norms for convention cities.

We do not accept payment for placements, and no contractor or organizer can influence the ranges we publish.

How we build ranges

1. We collect quoted prices for each cost item (space, build, graphics, labor, drayage, travel).
2. We discard outliers — unusually high quotes from premium shows and distressed discounts.
3. We publish the typical band (roughly the 25th–75th percentile of what exhibitors actually pay) as the range you see.
4. Where data is thin, we widen the range and say so explicitly.

The city cost index

City pages show a relative cost index (for example, New York ≈ 1.45× vs a national baseline of 1.0×). It combines three weighted factors: venue and service pricing, hotel rates during show weeks, and local labor/drayage norms. It is a planning shortcut for comparing cities — your real quotes will vary by show.

Update cadence

• Annually: every Q4 we review all ranges and roll the guide year forward (e.g. 2026 → 2027) with refreshed benchmarks.
• Continuously: when an exhibitor reports a real quote that contradicts our range, we review and correct within days.
• Tools: our calculators and generators are tested after every change and compute entirely in your browser — no data leaves your device.

Known limitations

• Ranges are US-market weighted; international shows vary widely (our city index covers major US convention cities).
• Union labor rules (e.g. at major venues like McCormick Place) can move install costs sharply — the city pages flag these cases.
• Special circumstances — oversized freight, custom rigging, rush deadlines — are called out in our guides but can't be captured in a single range.
• Always treat our numbers as a budget starting point and get itemized quotes from contractors before committing.

Corrections

Found an error? Tell us the show, cost item, and what you were actually quoted. Corrections are how the benchmark stays honest.