BudgetGuessr rankings

The most expensive megaprojects from the United States in our catalogue

The 30 most expensive of 603 built and under-construction megaprojects in the United States in the BudgetGuessr catalogue, ranked by documented cost in US dollars.

Ranking

  1. 1Spacelab was a versatile laboratory carried in the Space Shuttle's cargo bay for special research flights. Its various elements could be combined to accommodate the many types of scientific research that could best be performed in space. Spacelab consisted of an enclosed, pressurized laboratory module and open U-shaped pallets located at the rear of the laboratory module. The laboratory module contained utilities, computers, work benches, and instrument racks to conduct scientific experiments in

    Space Shuttle program

    2011 · Space mission$196 billion
  2. 2Computer-generated image of the proposed high-speed trains for use in California.

    California High-Speed Rail

    2026 · Railway$126 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  3. 3The station pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon jsc2021e064211_alt (Dec. 8, 2021) --- This mosaic depicts the International Space Station pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021.

    International Space Station, 2005 programme estimate

    2000 · Space mission$124.41 billionEstimate
  4. 4NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47 a.m. EST, from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kows

    NASA Artemis campaign, FY2012–2025

    Space mission$93 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  5. 5DSCF2011

    Sound Transit 3

    2016 · Railway$53.8 billionUnder construction
  6. 6Short description: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon Full description: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, stands on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module, Eagle, during the Apollo 11 moonwalk. Astronaut Neil Armstrong, mission commander, took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. While Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the lunar module to explore the Sea of Tranquility, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained in lunar orbit with the Comman

    Apollo program

    1972 · Space mission$25.4 billion
  7. 7Artist's rendering of the Space Launch System Block 1 sitting on Launch Pad 39A with the Orion spacecraft at sunrise.

    Space Launch System programme, FY2012–2025

    2022 · Space mission$23.8 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  8. 8Las Vegas station (Brightline West), parking garage construction

    Brightline West

    2026 · Railway$21.05 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  9. 9Map of the Appalachian Development Highway System as of February 25, 2018. As the original map is labeled "Source: Appalachian Regional Commission", and the ARC is an agency of the U.S. Federal Government, this is public domain.

    Appalachian Development Highway System

    1965 · Road or highway$15.15 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  10. 10Interstate 93 tunnel in Boston, part of the Big Dig

    Boston Central Artery/Tunnel project (Big Dig)

    2007 · Road or highway$14.8 billion
  11. 11Artist's impression of a GPS Block IIIA satellite in orbit

    Global Positioning System

    1995 · Space mission$14.09 billionEstimate
  12. 12Natural gas pipelines and LNG terminals around the world.

    Freeport LNG initial liquefaction development

    2019 · Energy$14 billion
  13. 13I think the name of this ship was Project Arabia, but I'm not sure.

    Corpus Christi LNG, first three trains

    2018 · Energy$11.75 billionEstimate
  14. 14In 2020, installation was completed on the first wind turbines installed in U.S. Federal waters. The offshore wind project has been fully operational since Fall 2020. The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project is designed to demonstrate a grid-connected, 12-megawatt (MW) offshore wind test facility on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) about 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The data obtained and lessons learned from this project will be made publicly available and inform the future

    Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind

    2026 · Energy$11.7 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  15. 15Progress continues on the East Side Access project as of February 12, 2013. This photo shows work on the caverns underneath Grand Central Terminal that will house a future concourse for arriving and departing Long Island Rail Road trains.

    East Side Access project (including Grand Central Madison station)

    2023 · Railway$11.6 billion
  16. 16The Diablo Canyon Power Plant and hills, north of Avila Beach (former Port San Luis), in San Luis Obispo County, California. Photo taken from offshore. Note that photo title in file name is incorrect (my bad).

    Diablo Canyon Power Plant

    2007 · Energy$11.56 billion
  17. 17Skyline trainset 06 arriving at Āhua Station on a westbound trip.

    Skyline

    2026 · Railway$10.08 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  18. 18A ATLAS V rocket carrying the Kuiper 3 mission successfully launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on September 25, 2025. Project Kuiper is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite broadband network. Its mission is to provide fast, reliable internet to customers around the world, including those in unserved and underserved communities, using a constellation of more than 3,200 LEO satellites. (U.S. Space Force photo by Gwendolyn Kurzen)

    Amazon Leo

    2025 · Space mission$10 billionUnder construction
  19. 19President Donald J. Trump participates in a walking tour of Cameron LNG Export Terminal Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Hackberry, La. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

    Cameron LNG Phase 1

    2020 · Energy$10 billion
  20. 20The following is the author's description of the photograph quoted directly from the photograph's Flickr page. "Chiksan arms and tugboats ready to assist inbound LNG tankers at Sabine Pass."

    Golden Pass LNG export expansion

    Energy$10 billion
  21. 21An out of service train bypassing the westbound platform of the Farragut West Metro station, underneath Farragut Square at I Street and 17th Street in Downtown Washington, D.C. Looking from the eastbound platform.

    Washington Metro

    2001 · Railway$10 billion
  22. 22NASA engineer Ernie Wright looks on as the first six flight ready James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments are prepped to begin final cryogenic testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

    James Webb Space Telescope life-cycle estimate

    2021 · Space mission$9.7 billionEstimate
  23. 23Auburn Dam site, Placer/El Dorado Counties, CA, viewed from a distance

    Auburn Dam

    1968 · Dam$9.6 billionOn holdEstimate
  24. 24Signage announcing future site of Purple Line (Los Angeles Metro) in Miracle Mile.

    D Line Extension

    2026 · Railway$9.5 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  25. 25Purple Line construction in Downtown Silver Spring, June 8, 2020

    Purple Line

    2025 · Railway$9.5 billionUnder constructionEstimate
  26. 26Cheniere Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana

    Sabine Pass LNG Trains 1–4

    2017 · Energy$9.5 billionEstimate
  27. 27Alvin Ward Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant

    Vogtle Electric Generating Plant

    1989 · Energy$8.87 billion
  28. 28Aerial photo of nuclear power plant in Limerick, Pennsylvania

    Limerick Generating Station

    2018 · Energy$8.8 billion
  29. 29Picture of Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant

    Beaver Valley Nuclear Generating Station

    1987 · Energy$8.52 billion
  30. 30Hope Creek Nuclear Power Plant (USA).

    Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station

    2007 · Energy$8.51 billion

How this ranking works

This is a curated catalogue, not an exhaustive list of every megaproject. Projects are ordered by their recorded US-dollar equivalent; each detail page shows the source amount and any currency conversion. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, and construction bills, estimates, and programme costs can have different scopes. Unbuilt proposals and cancelled projects are excluded.

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