How Much Does It Cost to Make a Dollar? (Price Guide)

A one-dollar bill costs far less to print than it is worth, which is the opposite of the situation with the penny and the nickel. The Federal Reserve orders paper money from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) each year, and the Federal Reserve Board publishes what it expects to reimburse the BEP for that work.

The figures on this page come from the Federal Reserve Board's 2025 currency budget, as published by Federal Reserve. They are per-note variable printing costs, not the full cost of running the BEP. The Federal Reserve had not published per-note numbers for 2026 at the time of writing, so the 2025 figures are the most recent available.

For 2025 the Federal Reserve Board lists 4.1¢ per note for the one-dollar and two-dollar denominations together. The Board describes variable costs as the paper, ink, labor, and direct overhead needed to print each note. That means the number does not cover every expense connected with currency. It is the part of the cost that rises and falls with the number of notes printed.

Higher denominations cost somewhat more to print, though nowhere near in proportion to their value. The Federal Reserve's 2025 budget gives a separate variable cost for each denomination that was planned for printing.

The table leaves out one denomination because the Federal Reserve did not plan to print any of those notes in 2025, so the Board had no variable printing cost to report for it. The Board does not explain the differences between denominations in the figures used here.

The Federal Reserve's currency budget covers two kinds of cost. Variable costs change with the number of notes. Fixed costs stay in place regardless of volume, and they include indirect manufacturing overhead, general and administrative expenses, and research and development.

Adding the fixed costs to the per-note variable cost would give a higher all-in cost per bill. The Federal Reserve does not publish a single fully loaded per-note figure in this budget, so this page does not calculate one. If you see an all-in number elsewhere, check what it includes and which year it covers.

Face value is the amount a note can be exchanged for. The cost to print it is a separate question, and the two do not move together. In the Board's figures, the gap between the cheapest and the costliest note to print is small next to the gap in their face values. The Board does not say why each denomination costs what it does, so treat any explanation you see elsewhere as an assumption unless it cites the BEP.

Comparing the two is useful. Many coins cost more to make than their face value, while paper currency costs a small fraction of its face value. See the pages on the cost to make a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter on this site for the U.S. Mint's coin figures.