Wood flooring hardness chart

This chart ranks the wood species profiled on Mister End Grain by their Janka hardness, in pounds-force (lbf) and newtons (N). Each figure comes from the species page linked in its row, where the original source is cited. Click a column heading to re-sort the table, or download the data as CSV to use in your own comparisons.

How to read it

The Janka test measures the force needed to press a steel ball halfway into a wood sample. A higher number generally means the wood resists denting better. Hardness is only one part of the picture, though:

• Finishes and construction matter: a hard finish, or the core of an engineered board, changes how a floor behaves under point loads.
• Values vary: published figures differ between sources and between samples of the same species, because density varies with growing conditions and moisture content. Where sources disagree, the species page gives the range.
• Grain direction matters: Janka figures are usually measured on the side grain. End-grain blocks present the wood's end grain at the surface, which behaves differently.

For the test method and its limits, read Janka hardness explained. For the European Brinell method and the product standards that cite it, see flooring standards.

Using the data

You're welcome to cite or reuse the chart. Please link back to this page and to the species pages, which hold the original sources, so readers can trace every figure back to where it was first published.