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Average Prices On 15 Popular Boat Types (With

Pictures)
In Boating (https://www.godownsize.com/category/boating/)by Christopher Schopf / June 12, 2019

All boats are different so average boat prices can be hard to come by.

But… I’ll do my best to demonstrate all of your options and the prices associated with
them.

Table of Contents 

The number of different boat categories seems to be never-ending and the differences
between different categories can often be very subtle.

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Here are some of the larger categories that you’re likely to encounter when searching for a
boat.

Average Price Ranges On Common Boat Types

Before we dive into how much each type of boat typically cost we want you to have a
good overview.

Here are the price range for the most common boat types:

Boat Type Price Range

Airboats $30,000 – $100,000

Bow Rider Boats $15,000 to $50,000

Cabin Cruisers $100,000 to $500,000

Canal Boats $100,000 and up

Catamarans $10,000 and up

Cuddy Cabin $50,000 and up

Deck Boats $20,000 to $50,000

Fishing Boats $25,000 to $100,000

House Boats $100,000 and up

Jon Boats $500 to $3,000

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 Pontoon Boats $15,0000 to $50,000

Sail Boats $12,000 and up

Speed Boats $75,000 and up

Trawlers $90,000 and up

Yachts $300,000 and up

Airboats

Airboats have been around for almost 100 years now but there is a good chance you’ve
never actually seen one in person.  This is because these boats are most popular in the
deep southern parts of the country.

These boats are perfect for navigating the shallow swampy waters that you’ll nd in
places like Florida and Louisiana.  The reason for this is that they do not have a
submerged motor.
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These boats propel themselves through the use of a large fan that is built into the back of the
boat. 

The bottom of the boat is at and the lack of a motor in conjunction with this at bottom
makes it easy for boaters to navigate in extremely shallow depths.

Airboats range in size and you can even buy them with enclosed center consoles and
comfortable captain’s chairs.

Size, comfort and build quality will dictate prices but expect to pay anywhere from
$30,000.00 to $100,000.00 for a brand new one.

This might seem expensive but there is a reason for this.

These boats aren’t generally mass produced so if you decide to buy a new airboat you’ll
probably end up getting a custom-made boat.

Also, the hulls of these boats have to be able to withstand the impact of hitting rocks and
logs so they need to be strong which can drive the costs up.

Bow Rider Boats

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Bowrider boats are versatile crafts that can be used for day cruising, shing, crabbing,
and even watersports.

These boats have driving areas that are set up like a motor vehicle with a driver’s seat on one
side and a passenger seat on the other.

In between these seats, there is a pathway to the front of the boat where there is usually
an empty platform or a recessed seating area.  This area is a great passenger area when
cruising and makes a great area for casting a shing line.

My parents owned a few different boats when I was growing up and I can say without a
doubt that the bowrider they owned was the most comfortable of them all.  Everyone had
their own seating area and it was easy to get around the boat without tripping over each
other.

The back of the boat may also have a couple of seats or a bench seat as well.  This makes
even small bowrider boats great for taking passengers out in.  You may even nd a small
deck at the back which makes water sports easier to do.

Bowrider boats will vary in size, engine size, and luxury.

A person looking for a smaller bowrider can buy one for less than $15,000.00  Larger
bowrider boats can easily sell for more than $40,000.00 so a safe price range to consider
when buying a bowrider is about $15,000.00 to $50,000.00.
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Cabin Cruiser Boats

Cabin cruiser boats are a half boat, half RV.

The reason I say this is that the front half of the boat is an enclosed cabin that usually
features a bathroom, a kitchenette, a dining area and a place to sleep.

These boats are large enough that a couple or family can easily spend a long weekend in
one.  However, many of these boats are also small enough that they can be trailered and
stored at home.  This makes them versatile boats for vacationers who don’t necessarily
live on the water year-round.

People looking for a live-aboard boat can go a little larger and get one with all of the
amenities of home.

Hookup to shore power and they’ll even have air conditioning.

A cabin cruiser also has an area behind the cockpit that is open to the outdoors.  This
makes a great area for lounging in the sun or for shing and crabbing.

Fishing and crabbing aren’t just restricted to the back either.  Usually, there will be an
area that can be used to walk around to the bow of the boat.  The bow will be at and it
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Because the size and amenities of this boat vary so wildly, the prices can vary wildly as
well.

A cabin cruiser will generally range anywhere from $100,000.00 to $500,000.00.  Below
$100,000 and you’re probably looking at a cuddy cabin and above $500,000.00 and you’re
probably looking at a yacht or trawler.

Canal Boats

Canal boats can also be known as narrow boats.  You’ll nd them in the old canal towns of
the United States but they’re much more popular in Europe than they are in the states.

These boats are only around seven feet wide but they are usually quite long and big
enough to easily live in.

According to Wikipedia, you can access every canal within the British canal network with a
canal boat that is as long as 57 feet long.

A canal boat is made up of steel which gives it excellent durability and longevity.  The
downside to this is that it can be expensive to make a canal boat.  Not only do you have to
create a strong steel hull but you also have to create living quarters inside of the boat.
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Additionally, a canal boat has a powerful diesel engine which can also drive canal boat
prices up.

Prices generally start out over $100,000.00 but you can buy them as basic shells for around
$50,000.00. 

The shell will give you hull that is ready to be painted, out tted with an engine, and
custom built inside.

People looking for a DIY approach to their canal boat might want to go this route as
they’ll get a safe hull built by professionals but will still be able to design the interior
layout themselves.

They’ll also cut the price in half which is a substantial saving in a boat this expensive.

Catamarans

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A catamaran distinguishes itself from other boats by having two hulls.  These hulls sit
parallel to each other and work to provide a lot of stability to the boat.

Between the hulls, you’ll nd a cabin.

In fact, if you’re on a larger catamaran, you’ll nd a cabin between the hulls as well as cabins
within the hulls themselves. 

This makes larger catamarans a spacious option for seagoing boat owners.

Catamarans can be sailing catamarans or they can be powered catamarans.  While the
sailing versions aren’t as nimble as a traditional sailboat, they do provide more stability
while cruising and while at anchor.  For this reason, people who suffer from sea sickness
and people who are just looking for a more pleasant experience out on the water might
opt for a catamaran over a more traditional sailboat.

With two hulls and a deck, the average catamaran will be much wider than the average
sailboat.  It can also be quite long as well.

Some catamarans on the market today have lengths of well over 150 feet.

Because of their large sizes and multi-hulled designs, you can expect to pay a lot for the
average catamaran.  Used models from the 1980s can sell for over six gures and newer
models will usually start out at over half a million dollars.

In fact, many dealers list the average price of a catamaran at $600,000.00.

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If you’re seeing newer catamarans selling for less than this then you’re probably looking
at the smaller sailing versions that do not have cabins in the middle.

These boats are great for recreational purposes but are not viable for living aboard.  Mini
sailing catamarans like this will often sell for less than $10,000.00.

Cuddy Cabin Boats

Cuddy cabin boats offer day cruisers an interior space to sleep at night.

These boats are often built like bow rider boats in the center and rear of the boat but the
front holds a cabin rather than a sitting area.

Smaller cuddy cabins will consist of a bed only inside of the cabin and larger ones will
hold a sleeping area, a dining area, and even a bathroom.  A major upside to this type of
boat is that it is small enough and light enough to be trailered.

In fact, the average size of a cuddy cabin is between 18 and 30 feet long.  Anything larger
and you’re probably dealing with a cabin cruiser rather than a cuddy cabin.

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The prices on cuddy cabins can still be quite higher than the prices on bowrider boats. 
This is especially true considering some cuddy cabins only differentiate themselves from
bow riders by providing a small space to crawl into to sleep at night.

I’ve seen small cuddy cabins sell for $50,000.00 while a bow rider of similar size was selling
for $25,000.00. 

At the top end, I’ve seen cuddy cabins selling for several hundred thousand dollars.  These
cuddy cabins had multiple outboard motors and they were large enough and deep
enough that you could take them into coastal areas for the night.

Deck Boats

Deck boats are small and versatile crafts that are perfect for calm waters.

You can nd people on lakes, rivers, and bays using their deck boats for watersports, for
shing, for crabbing, and for cruising.

What makes these boats so versatile is the fact that they have much more deck space than
the average cruising boat. 
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These boats usually have a raised front deck at the bow which makes them great for
standing on and casting off of.  It also makes it easy to pull up a crab net onto as the
boater doesn’t have to worry about pulling the basket up, over, and down like they would
have to if the deck was not at.

The back of a deck boat also bene ts from a at area that can be used for launching
people with water skis, kneeboards, and oats.  I’ve been pulled by these boats in the past
and always found them easy to get in and out of.

The only drawback for me was that I didn’t feel safe climbing in and out near the ones that
had outboard motors on them. 

Of course, the driver turned off the motor but even still, I think deck boats with inboard
motors are a bit safer for people doing water sports.

Deck boats are more economical than many of the other types of boats we’ve discussed
so far.  Two reasons for this are their small size and their hull designs.  Since these boats
weren’t meant for seafaring, they do not have very deep hulls and are thus less expensive
to build.

If you’re in the market for a deck boat, expect to pay somewhere between $20,000.00 to
$50,000.00 on average.

Fishing Boats

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The term shing boat can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

For instance, a bass sherman might consider their at decked bass boat to be their
shing boat while a commercial sherman might consider their large trawler to be their
shing boat.

For this example, we’ll be talking about small and mid-size center-console boats that are used
in rivers, lakes, channels, and back bays. 

These boats are what the average weekend sherman might buy to use in a wide variety
of locations during different shing seasons throughout the year.

A center console boat has the steering column built into the center of the boat.  This
leaves the rest of the boat open for walking.  The design is great for shing because
multiple poles can be set up all around the boat so one or two shermen can easily get to
any pole that they see has movement on it.

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Typically, at the back of the boat, you’ll nd a few built-in seats.

These seats are designed in an unobtrusive way so that they do not get in the way of
shing.

The hull designs of these boats will vary based on their size and their intended use.

Center console boats built for rougher waters will have deeper Vs while boats meant mainly
for use in still waters will have a atter bottom.

The downside to a center console boat is that you don’t have much protection from the
elements like you would with a cuddy cabin or cabin cruiser.  Also, these boats really
aren’t meant for watersports.  If that is your intended use, you’d be better off buying a
deck boat or bowrider boat.

Smaller center console shing boats can sell for less than $25,000.00 while larger ones will
sell closer to $100,000.00. 

Go even larger and you could pay hundreds of thousands of dollars but in this case, you’ll
probably have a cabin inside which moves outside of the de nition of a shing boat that
we outlined here.
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House Boats

A houseboat is exactly what it sounds like.

These boats are built for people to live in for extended periods of time.  The boat itself
often has much more interior space than exterior space and some boats will sit in docks
for years without ever leaving the harbor.

In fact, I’ve seen many used houseboats for sale that are sitting in docks without running
engines on them.

According to the owners, they’ve been using the boat as if it were a oating condo that they
enjoy each weekend.

Often-times, these boats will actually offer much more square footage than a condo and
you can easily nd them in lengths well above 50 feet.

However, you won’t nd too many smaller houseboats and you’ll be hard pressed to nd
ones that can be moved on a trailer.

This isn’t to say that houseboats aren’t seaworthy.

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Houseboats can be built to withstand choppier waters and some people even use them to
go cruising on the coast.

These boats will often have interiors that look similar to what you’d nd in a home.

They’ll have residential fridges and full-size ovens and they won’t lack for anything.

Of course, all of this luxury comes at a cost and you won’t nd too many people that can
buy a houseboat on a whim.

A tiny houseboat incapable of going into rough waters will still cost over $100,000.00 and a
large houseboat can be a multi-million dollar expenditure.

Luckily, these boats are usually around for a while and you can buy them at attainable
prices on the used market.  Some older models may sell for less than $20,000.00.

Jon Boats
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Jon boats are at the opposite spectrum of the boating world.  A Jon boat is a small
rectangular boat that is easy to launch in and out of lakes, streams, and channels.

People use these boats for shing and waterfowl hunting.  In fact, the name Jon boat is often
interchangeable with a duck boat.

Jon boats are usually made of aluminum but some enthusiasts will make them out of
wood instead.  These boats can have gas-powered engines but often times they’ll take
advantage of small electric motors instead.

A Jon boat can be as tiny as 8 feet long and as long as 18 feet long.  Longer ones may have
consoles built into them but for the most part, the driver will steer the motor from the
back.

These boats are easy to gain ownership over as you can buy many different models for
less than $1,000.00.  Also, if you have a pickup truck or a sturdy roof rack, you may not
even need to buy a trailer to tow your Jon boat.

Even on the upper end, you’ll probably pay less than $3,000.00 on the boat and you won’t
spend much on the engine either as it won’t need to be very big to move the Jon boat.

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Pontoon Boats

Pontoon boats consist of a deck that sits atop a set of pontoons.  In most cases, the larger
and heavier the boat, the more pontoons you’ll have underneath the deck.

These boats are fantastic for day cruising in calm water.

People living near large lakes and rivers will often turn to pontoon boats.

The deck of these boats makes them perfect for jumping in and out of so they make
perfect swimming platforms.  In fact, every time I’ve been on a pontoon boat I’ve ended
up in the water at some point.  Jumping in the water just becomes too hard to resist when
you’re on a pontoon boat for any length of time.

These boats also make great little party boats as their at deck makes them spacious and
many of the boats actually have grills built right into them.

When buying a boat like this, expect to pay between $15,000.00 to $50,000.00 depending
on the size you buy and the number of amenities the boat has to offer.

Sail Boats
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Sailboats have been around for thousands of years and we’re all at least a little familiar
with how they work.  These boats can range in size and can have large cabins or none at
all.

BoatUs.com does a nice job categorizing the different types of sailboats that you can buy. 
They break them up into:

Cruising boats
daysailers,
motor sailers,
and racing boats.

You could probably break these categories out even further but this is a good place to
start.

Cruising sailboats and daysailers are smaller sailboats that can be compared to bow
riders and cuddy cabins.

Motor sailers can be compared to cabin cruisers, yachts, and trawlers while racing sailboats
can be compared to speed boats.

Prices for each of these boats come in a wide variety and you could expect to pay as little
as $12,000.00 to well over a million depending on the type of boat you decide to go with.

Speed Boats
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Speed boats are designed for racing along the water.

They usually have long and narrow hulls with large engines on the back.  In many cases,
you’ll see multiple outboard motors strapped to the rear of the boat.

In other cases, the motor is a built-in inboard motor.

A speed boat has many expenses associated with it.  The boat itself is expensive, the
engines used to power the boat is expensive, and the cost of insurance on a speed boat is
expensive.

Also, these boats can’t just be used anywhere.

You’ll need to nd a place without no-wake zones and a lot of open water to safely operate a
speed boat.

A smaller speed boat can be had for around $75,000.00 while high-performance speed
boats can go over the million dollar mark.  If you’re just looking into getting a speed boat
for some fun out on the water, you can get a small used speed boat for much less money.

This is because speed boats tend to depreciate even quicker than other types of boats.

Trawlers

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Trawlers are large power boats that share many similarities with cabin cruisers.

These vessels have powerful and ef cient engines that make them great for long distance
travel.

In fact, trawlers are the go-to ships for people looking to travel the Great Loop.

A trawler is small enough that it can be used for day cruising but large enough that you
could easily live in it for extended periods of time.  In fact, many full-time RVers
eventually make the transition from RVing to boating by purchasing a large trawler.

They get about the same length that they would get from a class A or class C motorhome
but gain a lot more width.

Smaller trawlers can be purchased at around the $90,000.00 range while larger trawlers
will cost several hundred dollars.

The difference usually comes in size and amenities.

Yachts
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At rst glance, a fancy trawler might seem very similar to a yacht.   The differences come
in the sizes, hull designs, and engine designs.

A yacht has multiple engines and a less fuel-ef cient hull.

This makes the cost of ownership more expensive for a yacht than a trawler.

At the low end, a yacht might cost as little like a high-end trawler while on the high end, a
yacht might cost several million dollars.

Also, a very large yacht might require a very large crew.

If you’re in the market for a yacht, you’ll probably want to take a look at the ongoing cost
and inconvenience of hiring a crew.

In Summary
Here is a list of the boats we discussed as well as their associated prices.

As you can see, the wide variety of boat styles, sizes, and types makes it dif cult to just
give a blanket price on boats but hopefully, this will give you an idea of what you might
need to spend to get the type of boat you want.

Was this article helpful?

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 Christopher Schopf
(https://www.godownsize.com/author/christo
pher/)
Christopher Schopf is an avid camper, hiker, and an
advocate for a better environment.  He likes to write
about alternative lifestyles and small spaces.

W E LC O M E !

Maria & Morten reach half a million people monthly through the blog and social media. They started downsizing 8

years ago to get out of debt and start traveling more. It was a bumpy ride!  Visit the About Us page

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