How much does each element cost per kilogram?
The periodic table coloured by the price of a kilogram of each element, on a log scale: chlorine costs 8 cents, neptunium $660,000. Gold, at about $75,000, is only the fifth most expensive.
Source: Wikipedia, “Prices of chemical elements”, read September 2026 (quotes 1999–2025, most 2019–20).
What stands out
- Neptunium tops the table at $660,000 a kilo, 4.5 times rhodium ($147,000), the next.
- Platinum, at $27,800 a kilo, is 9th, a little over a third of gold’s price; silver ($521) is 22nd.
- Iron costs 42¢ a kilo: only 6 of the 85 elements here are cheaper.
- The five cheapest all cost under 16¢ a kilo: chlorine, sulfur, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.
The numbers
| Rank | Element | Price per kilogram | Year quoted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neptunium | $660,000 | 2003 |
| 2 | Rhodium | $147,000 | 2019 |
| 3 | Iridium | $144,000 | 2025 |
| 4 | Technetium | $100,000 | 2004 |
| 5 | Gold | $75,430 | 2024 |
| 6 | Cesium | $61,800 | 2018 |
| 7 | Palladium | $49,500 | 2019 |
| 8 | Osmium | $30,000 | 2025 |
| 9 | Platinum | $27,800 | 2019 |
| 10 | Rubidium | $15,500 | 2018 |
| … | |||
| 22 | Silver | $521 | 2019 |
| 59 | Copper | $6.00 | 2019 |
| 74 | Aluminium | $1.79 | 2019 |
| … | |||
| 76 | Hydrogen | $1.39 | 2012 |
| 77 | Arsenic | 100¢ | 2020 |
| 78 | Argon | 93¢ | 2019 |
| 79 | Iron | 42¢ | 2020 |
| 80 | Barium | 25¢ | 2016 |
| 81 | Oxygen | 15¢ | 2001 |
| 82 | Nitrogen | 14¢ | 2001 |
| 83 | Carbon | 12¢ | 2018 |
| 84 | Sulfur | 9¢ | 2019 |
| 85 | Chlorine | 8¢ | 2013 |
The top 10 and bottom 10 of 85, with others for comparison.
Download the chart as an image
Data: Wikipedia, "Prices of chemical elements" (figures from USGS and named suppliers; CC BY-SA 4.0), read September 2026. Each price is from the year its source quotes: 61 of 85 from 2019-20, the rest 1999-2025 (gold 2024, neptunium 2003). Elements with no quoted price are grey. Played as puzzles in Daily Shade.