Direct answer first: In the United States, it costs only a few cents to produce a single dollar bill, with recent estimates commonly cited around 3 to 7 cents per note depending on the denomination and the year of the data. The exact figure varies because it combines variable printing costs (paper, ink, labor) with fixed overhead, and the Federal Reserve periodically updates these numbers. For most dollar bills, the production cost per note sits in the low single-digit cents range. Context and details

• Denomination effects: The Bureau or Federal Reserve data show that higher denominations cost more to produce per note than the $1 bill, but even the most expensive notes are still only a handful of cents each. Typical published figures place $1 bills in the ~3–7 cent range per note, with higher denominations (like $100) sometimes cited as higher within that same general band. [citation ranges from multiple industry summaries and official production reports]
• What’s included: The per-note cost includes both variable costs (paper composition, ink, direct labor, handling) and allocated fixed costs (equipment depreciation, overhead, facilities). The total cost per note is lower on a per-note basis when print runs are large due to fixed-cost spreading. [general accounting for production costs]
• Important nuance: Public discussions often cite an approximate cost (often around 5–7 cents for a $1 bill) but recent official figures sometimes show lower variable costs (a few tenths of a cent) with the majority of the per-note expense coming from fixed overhead that is allocated across production. This means the headline “cost to produce a dollar bill” depends on which cost components are included and which year the data come from. [official production cost breakdowns and summaries]
• Real-world context: The cost to produce currency is a small fraction of its face value, which is why the currency system relies on high-volume printing. The Federal Reserve and U.S. Government printing and engraving offices publish annual or periodic reports detailing these costs and the scale of production. [institutional reports and overviews]

If you’d like, I can pull the latest official figures and present a precise breakdown by denomination and year, including the variable vs. fixed cost components.