National median
The median U.S. borrower paid $4,242 in total loan costs in 2025 across 4,617,105 HMDA-reported originations.
Quarterly Report · Q1 2026
Closing Cost Index
The 2025 mortgage closing-cost picture, drawn from 4,617,105 HMDA-reported loans across 2,350 U.S. lenders.
- Loans analyzed
- 4,617,105
- Lenders analyzed
- 2,350
- States with pages
- 6 (Phase 1)
Published 2026-04-29.
Headline finding
Borrowers paid a median of $4,242 in total loan costs in 2025 — but the gap between the lowest- and highest-cost ranked lenders in California alone was $28,059 on a typical loan.
Based on FFIEC HMDA 2025 Modified LAR data, with sample-size thresholds applied per lender and per state. See full methodology.
Top findings
Origination charges
The typical lender charged a median $1,495 in origination charges — Section A of the Loan Estimate, the most negotiable line item.
Discount points
51% of 2025 loans included paid discount points — the largest concession most borrowers accept without negotiating.
Lender credits
34% of 2025 loans received lender credits offsetting closing costs — typically negotiated by the borrower or paired with a higher rate.
State spread
Median total loan costs ranged from $3,746 in Wisconsin to $9,720 in Hawaii.
Lender spread · California
In California, the gap between I.L.W.U. ($525 median) and Geo-Corp, Inc. ($28,584 median) was $28,059 on a typical 2025 loan.
By state
Phase 1 of this report covers six pilot states. Coverage expands to all 51 in Phase 2 as data and editorial review complete.
California
Median total loan cost $7,820
707 lenders · 375,553 loans
Florida
Median total loan cost $6,862
1,124 lenders · 347,421 loans
Georgia
Median total loan cost $6,278
742 lenders · 178,115 loans
New York
Median total loan cost $6,717
418 lenders · 135,983 loans
Texas
Median total loan cost $7,021
941 lenders · 416,481 loans
Virginia
Median total loan cost $6,029
644 lenders · 145,135 loans
Fees and credits in 2025
Origination charges. The median lender charged ~$1,495 in origination across all 2025 loans. This is the line item most worth contesting in a Loan Estimate — origination is set by the lender, not by third parties.
Discount points. Roughly 51% of 2025 loans included paid discount points. Whether points pay off depends entirely on how long the borrower keeps the loan — many borrowers who pay points refinance before the break-even hits.
Lender credits. 34% of 2025 loans received lender credits offsetting closing costs. Borrowers should check whether the credit is paired with a meaningfully higher rate before accepting.
HMDA itemizes origination charges, discount points, and lender credits but does not break out title insurance, recording fees, or transfer tax separately. For those line items, our state pages reference state benchmarks compiled from authoritative state agency publications.
How we built this report
The Closing Cost Index analyzes mortgage loans originated in 2025 by U.S. lenders, sourced from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s (FFIEC) Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Modified Loan/Application Register. CFPB published the 2025 Modified LAR on March 31, 2026.
We require a minimum of 30 records per lender for state-level rankings and 100 records for national rankings. Lenders below threshold are excluded from rankings to avoid spurious headlines from small samples.
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