Janka Hardness Chart: 69 Wood Species, Sortable
Short answer: the Janka rating is the force, in pounds-force (lbf), needed to press a 0.444-inch steel ball halfway into a piece of wood. Higher means harder and more dent-resistant. Red oak, at 1,290 lbf, is the benchmark most flooring is compared to. Softwoods like pine and cedar sit around 350-900; common hardwood floors run 950-1,450; exotics like ipe and cumaru go past 3,000.
The chart below lists 69 species from softest to hardest. Click any column heading to re-sort, type in the box to find a species, or narrow it to one group. The "vs red oak" column is the quickest way to judge a flooring choice: 120% means 20% harder than a standard red oak floor.
| Species | Janka (lbf) | Newtons | vs red oak | Group | Common uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balsa | 70 | 310 | 5% | Imported | Models, floats, core material |
| Western red cedar | 350 | 1,560 | 27% | Softwood | Siding, fences, outdoor furniture |
| Aspen (quaking) | 350 | 1,560 | 27% | Domestic hardwood | Sauna benches, crates, paper |
| Eastern white pine | 380 | 1,690 | 29% | Softwood | Trim, rustic furniture, carving |
| Basswood | 410 | 1,820 | 32% | Domestic hardwood | Carving, drawer parts, models |
| Western white pine | 420 | 1,870 | 33% | Softwood | Trim, millwork |
| Redwood | 450 | 2,000 | 35% | Softwood | Decks, outdoor furniture, siding |
| Ponderosa pine | 460 | 2,050 | 36% | Softwood | Windows, doors, trim |
| Butternut | 490 | 2,180 | 38% | Domestic hardwood | Carving, furniture |
| Hemlock | 500 | 2,220 | 39% | Softwood | Framing, beams |
| Sitka spruce | 510 | 2,270 | 40% | Softwood | Instrument tops, boat spars |
| Bald cypress | 510 | 2,270 | 40% | Softwood | Outdoor projects, siding, boats |
| Yellow poplar | 540 | 2,400 | 42% | Domestic hardwood | Paint-grade furniture, drawers, trim |
| American chestnut (reclaimed) | 540 | 2,400 | 42% | Domestic hardwood | Furniture, reclaimed flooring |
| Red alder | 590 | 2,620 | 46% | Domestic hardwood | Cabinets, furniture |
| Sassafras | 630 | 2,800 | 49% | Domestic hardwood | Furniture, boats |
| Douglas fir | 660 | 2,940 | 51% | Softwood | Framing, beams, rustic flooring |
| Southern yellow pine (loblolly, shortleaf) | 690 | 3,070 | 53% | Softwood | Framing, pressure-treated decking |
| Silver maple (soft maple) | 700 | 3,110 | 54% | Domestic hardwood | Furniture, pallets |
| Radiata pine | 710 | 3,160 | 55% | Softwood | Moulding, plywood, furniture |
| Box elder | 720 | 3,200 | 56% | Domestic hardwood | Turning (figured stock) |
| Sycamore | 770 | 3,420 | 60% | Domestic hardwood | Furniture, butcher block, turning |
| Genuine mahogany (Honduran) | 800 | 3,560 | 62% | Imported | Fine furniture, boats, instruments |
| African mahogany (khaya) | 830 | 3,690 | 64% | Imported | Furniture, cabinets, boats |
| American elm | 830 | 3,690 | 64% | Domestic hardwood | Furniture, bentwood |
| Southern yellow pine (longleaf) | 870 | 3,870 | 67% | Softwood | Flooring, framing |
| Eastern red cedar | 900 | 4,000 | 70% | Softwood | Closet lining, chests, fence posts |
| Paper birch | 910 | 4,050 | 71% | Domestic hardwood | Turning, spools, plywood |
| Black cherry | 950 | 4,230 | 74% | Domestic hardwood | Fine furniture, cabinets |
| Red maple | 950 | 4,230 | 74% | Domestic hardwood | Furniture, flooring |
| Black walnut | 1,010 | 4,490 | 78% | Domestic hardwood | Fine furniture, gunstocks, turning |
| Teak | 1,155 | 5,140 | 90% | Imported | Outdoor furniture, boat decks |
| Heart pine (reclaimed longleaf) | 1,225 | 5,450 | 95% | Softwood | Flooring, beams |
| Yellow birch | 1,260 | 5,600 | 98% | Domestic hardwood | Flooring, cabinets, furniture |
| Red oak (northern) | 1,290 | 5,740 | 100% | Domestic hardwood | Flooring, furniture, cabinets |
| American beech | 1,300 | 5,780 | 101% | Domestic hardwood | Flooring, tool handles, bentwood |
| White ash | 1,320 | 5,870 | 102% | Domestic hardwood | Tool handles, bats, flooring |
| White oak | 1,360 | 6,050 | 105% | Domestic hardwood | Flooring, barrels, outdoor furniture |
| Australian cypress | 1,375 | 6,120 | 107% | Imported | Flooring |
| Natural bamboo (vertical/horizontal) | 1,380 | 6,140 | 107% | Bamboo | Flooring, cutting boards |
| Hard maple (sugar maple) | 1,450 | 6,450 | 112% | Domestic hardwood | Cutting boards, flooring, workbenches |
| Sweet birch | 1,470 | 6,540 | 114% | Domestic hardwood | Flooring, furniture |
| Sapele | 1,510 | 6,720 | 117% | Imported | Furniture, doors, instruments |
| Zebrawood | 1,575 | 7,010 | 122% | Imported | Accents, veneer, boxes |
| Honey locust | 1,580 | 7,030 | 122% | Domestic hardwood | Furniture, posts, turning |
| Wenge | 1,630 | 7,250 | 126% | Imported | Flooring, accents, turning |
| Black locust | 1,700 | 7,560 | 132% | Domestic hardwood | Fence posts, decking, outdoor furniture |
| Kempas | 1,710 | 7,610 | 133% | Imported | Flooring |
| Merbau | 1,712 | 7,610 | 133% | Imported | Flooring, decking |
| African padauk | 1,725 | 7,670 | 134% | Imported | Accents, turning, flooring |
| Hickory / pecan | 1,820 | 8,100 | 141% | Domestic hardwood | Flooring, tool handles, smoking wood |
| Tigerwood (goncalo alves) | 1,850 | 8,230 | 143% | Imported | Flooring, decking, turning |
| Purpleheart | 1,860 | 8,270 | 144% | Imported | Accents, decking, flooring |
| Jarrah | 1,910 | 8,500 | 148% | Imported | Flooring, decking |
| Bubinga | 1,980 | 8,810 | 153% | Imported | Tabletops, instruments, turning |
| Osage orange | 2,040 | 9,070 | 158% | Domestic hardwood | Bows, fence posts, turning |
| Santos mahogany | 2,200 | 9,790 | 171% | Imported | Flooring |
| Mesquite | 2,345 | 10,430 | 182% | Domestic hardwood | Furniture, flooring, smoking wood |
| Brazilian cherry (jatoba) | 2,350 | 10,450 | 182% | Imported | Flooring, stair treads |
| Live oak | 2,680 | 11,920 | 208% | Domestic hardwood | Shipbuilding (historic), turning |
| Olive | 2,710 | 12,050 | 210% | Imported | Kitchen utensils, turning, boxes |
| Bloodwood | 2,900 | 12,900 | 225% | Imported | Accents, turning, inlay |
| Cocobolo | 2,960 | 13,170 | 229% | Imported | Knife handles, instruments, turning |
| Strand-woven bamboo | 3,000 | 13,340 | 233% | Bamboo | Flooring (value varies by maker) |
| Ebony | 3,220 | 14,320 | 250% | Imported | Fingerboards, inlay, knife handles |
| Cumaru (Brazilian teak) | 3,330 | 14,810 | 258% | Imported | Flooring, decking |
| Ipe (Brazilian walnut) | 3,684 | 16,390 | 286% | Imported | Decking, outdoor furniture |
| Lignum vitae | 4,500 | 20,020 | 349% | Imported | Bearings, mallets, turning |
| Australian buloke | 5,060 | 22,510 | 392% | Imported | Turning, specialty (hardest listed) |
How the Janka test works
A 0.444-inch (11.28 mm) steel ball is pressed into the face of a sample until half of it is buried, and the force it took is the Janka rating. Samples are dried to about 12% moisture content first, because wet wood reads softer. In the US the result is given in pounds-force (lbf); elsewhere it is often in newtons (1 lbf = 4.448 N) or kilonewtons, which is why the chart shows both.
The ball's size is chosen to leave a 100 square millimeter dent, so the number is a fair stand-in for what happens when a chair leg, a dropped pan or a dog's claw hits a floor. What it doesn't measure is scratch resistance (that's mostly the finish), stiffness, or how the wood behaves when it gets wet.
Choosing flooring by Janka
For a normal home, anything from about 1,000 lbf and up holds up well. That covers red oak, white oak, ash, hard maple and hickory - the species most floors are made from. A few practical points:
- Pets and kids: go harder (hickory at 1,820, or white oak and hard maple at 1,360-1,450) and pick a matte or wire-brushed finish, which hides scratches far better than gloss.
- Soft species can work: pine and Douglas fir floors dent, and some people like the lived-in look that gives them. Heart pine (1,225) is the exception - reclaimed longleaf is nearly as hard as red oak.
- Harder isn't free: past about 2,000 lbf, boards are harder to cut and nail, and exotic species move more with humidity. Our wood movement calculator shows how much a board swells by species.
- Engineered flooring: the Janka rating is for the solid species, but a thin wear layer on a soft core dents more easily than the number suggests.
If it's down to the two most common choices, see red oak vs white oak flooring for the full comparison.
Janka for woodworking projects
Hardness tells you as much about working the wood as about how it wears:
- Cutting boards: hard maple (1,450) is the classic because it's hard enough to shrug off knife marks but not so hard that it dulls the knife. Walnut and cherry are softer, easier on edges, and show marks sooner. Very hard exotics are tough on knives. Whatever you pick, oil it regularly.
- Tools and machining: above roughly 2,000 lbf, pre-drill every screw, use sharp carbide blades, and expect burn marks if you feed slowly. Many dense exotics (cocobolo, ipe, teak) are also oily, so wipe joints with acetone before gluing.
- Carving: soft, even-grained woods (basswood at 410, butternut at 490, white pine at 380) are the carver's standard for a reason.
- Sanding: hard species need more work at each grit, and softwoods clog paper fast. Our sandpaper grit chart lists the sequences.
- Firewood: harder woods are generally denser, and denser wood holds more heat per cord. That's why hickory and oak out-burn pine; the firewood cord calculator has BTU by species.
Why Janka numbers differ between charts
Don't be surprised if another chart says black cherry is 995 instead of 950, or red oak is 1,220 instead of 1,290. Wood is a natural material and every value is an average of samples from different trees, regions and growth rates. Flooring retailers often use figures from their own suppliers' tests, while reference books use government lab data, and the gap can be 10% or more for exotics. Use the chart to compare species, not to split hairs: a 50 lbf difference won't show up in a floor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hardest wood in the world?
Australian buloke, at about 5,060 lbf, is usually cited as the hardest wood measured with the Janka test. Quebracho, lignum vitae and snakewood are also above 3,800. Among woods you can actually buy as lumber or decking, ipe (3,684) and cumaru (3,330) are the hardest common options.
What is the softest wood?
Balsa, at around 70 lbf, though individual samples vary widely. Among building woods, western red cedar and aspen (350) and eastern white pine (380) are the softest on the chart.
Is a higher Janka rating always better?
No. Higher means more dent-resistant, but also heavier, harder to cut, harder on tools and, in flooring, often more expensive and more prone to movement. For most furniture and floors, the 1,000-1,500 range is the practical sweet spot.
What is the hardest North American wood?
Of the species on this chart, live oak (2,680) and mesquite (2,345) are the hardest, followed by Osage orange (2,040) and hickory (1,820). Hickory is the hardest domestic wood that's widely sold as flooring and lumber.
Is bamboo harder than hardwood?
Depends how it's made. Natural bamboo flooring rates around 1,380, about the same as white oak. Strand-woven bamboo, which is shredded and pressed with resin, is often rated around 3,000 or higher, but that number varies a lot from one maker to the next and isn't a species value.
Are softwoods always softer than hardwoods?
No - "softwood" and "hardwood" are botanical terms (conifers vs broadleaf trees), not a hardness rating. Longleaf pine (870) is harder than hardwoods like red alder (590) and yellow poplar (540), and balsa is technically a hardwood.