Painting a house can be extremely expensive if you pick the wrong contractors to get the job done, so one of the most important parts of painting your house is shopping around and getting multiple quotes.
You may need to paint the interior or exterior of a house with varying costs for each project, and depending on the size, style, and construction material, the costs can start to go up for trickier painting jobs.
However, a fresh coat of paint can help you get a better price for selling or renting your house, or it can simply improve your living conditions and make your home more enjoyable to live in.
Detailed below is everything you need to know about the average cost to paint a house.
Average Cost To Paint The Interior Of A House
The average cost to paint the interior of a house is between $1,200 to $3,900, which includes the paint and labor costs to paint the walls of an average size house with eggshell paint.
Once you start to include baseboards, trim, specialty colors, paints, and other features, your prices start to go out.
| Area Painted | Average Cost |
| Per Square Foot | $1 – $3 |
| Per Room | $350 – $850 |
| Interior Of House | $1,200 – $3,900 |
In basic interior painting, you may only need to paint the walls with a single coat, especially for things like rental units where you’re only trying to spruce up the area for a new tenant.
Average Costs Of Additional Interior Painting
The average cost to paint the entire interior of a house ranges from $700 to $7,500, and the paint can play a factor in the price when you go from eggshell paints up to gloss finishes as that increases the painting price and the labor requirements.
| Interior House Painting Costs | Price |
| Average Cost | $2,100 |
| Average Range | $1,200 to $3,900 |
| Minimum Average Cost | $700 |
| Maximum Average Cost | $7,500+ |
The more of the interior you need to paint that isn’t just walls, the more likely you will be paying on the higher end of the price range, this can include doors, ceilings, baseboards, and trim that doesn’t always need to be painted, but at some point, you will have to paint them.
| House Square Feet | Average Cost Range |
| 800 | $700 – $3,000 |
| 1,000 | $800 – $3,600 |
| 1,500 | $1,300 – $4,400 |
| 1,800 | $1,500 – $5,300 |
| 2,000 | $1,600 – $5,600 |
| 2,500 | $1,800 – $6,300 |
| 3,000 | $2,000 – $7,500 |
Average Cost To Paint An Apartment
The average cost to paint an apartment is $900 to $3,000, and many of the same principles apply to the cost being higher if you want to paint ceilings, baseboards, trim, and any other specialty paint features.
Apartments are slightly different as they often have fewer rooms but are compacted with kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, bedrooms, and living spaces altogether.
| Apartment Type | Average Cost |
| Studio Layout | $700 – $1,600 |
| 1-Bedroom Layout | $900 – $2,500 |
| 2-Bedroom Layout | $1,100 – $3,000 |
Average Cost To Paint Interior Walls
Painting interior walls with white eggshell paint is, in most cases, your cheapest option unless you’re covering up a darker color underneath. The average price to paint an interior wall with white eggshell paint is $1 to $2 per square foot.
| Item | Cost Per Square Foot |
| Walls only | $1 – $2 |
| Add texture | $0.50 – $1 |
| Add ceilings | $1 – $2 |
By adding texture to the wall painting, you can $0.50 to $1 on top of the base price. So if you want to paint the ceilings, you’re looking at $1 – $2 per square foot. Painting the baseboards and trim will cost you around $1 – $4 per linear foot.
So once you start adding an entire room into the price, everything starts adding up, so it’s often better to only paint the walls for rental units.
Average Price To Paint Accent Walls
The average price to paint accent walls in a house is $80 to $200 for an average room, including the wall.
There are often minimum prices for accent walls, so you may need to be paying a higher price unless you have multiple walls to do, such as $250 to $500.
Accent walls are a striking or standout color painted on a single wall in a room and aren’t typically used in rentals but are popular if you’re looking to sell your house.
Average Cost To Paint An Interior House By The Hour
It’s almost universally better for you to get a fixed price for your interior painting; however, you may need or want to pay hourly in some situations. The average hourly cost for a single painter is $20 – $50, and they can typically cover 80 to 120 square feet per hour when painting.
| Activity | Hourly Estimate |
| Prep – Sanding, Masking, etc. | 1 – 3 per room |
| Moving Furniture | 1 – 3 |
| Painting Ceiling & Trim | 1 – 2 per coat and per room |
| Painting Walls | 1 – 2 per coat and per room |
| Painting Windows | 1 |
| Cleanup | 1 – 3 |
| Moving Furniture Back In | 1 – 3 |
Professional Interior Painting Vs. DIY Interior Painting
Typically, it will cost you much less money to DIY paint the interior of your house. However, if you only need to paint the walls in eggshell white, then the skill level is limited, and almost anyone can do it.
| Item | Professional Painting | DIY Painting |
| Scraper | $6 – $20 | |
| Sandpaper | $5 – $15 | |
| Patching Compound | $10 – $20 | |
| Painters Tape | $3 – $10 | |
| Brushes | $2 – $15 | |
| Paint Roller Kit | $10 – $25 | |
| Paint Tray | $2 – $5 | |
| Drop Cloth | $5 – $30 | |
| Paint | $54 – $132 | |
| Total Price | $800 – $3,600 | $97 – $272 |
The issues you’ll face are if you want glossy paint, trim, and baseboards painted and if you want darker colors or are even joining areas with two different colors.
You also need to factor in the time it will take you to prep and paint each room, though in general, you should be able to paint a 1,000 square foot house or apartment in 1 – 3 days max unless you run into issues.
Home Depot and other home hardware stores may offer workshops on DIY painting the interior of your house.
Average Cost To Paint The Exterior Of A House
The average cost to paint the exterior of a house is $2,957, with the range across the US being $1,747 to $4,168. However, the size and complexity of your exterior paint job will significantly impact the overall cost.
| Average Cost | $2,957 |
| Minimum Cost | $1,747 |
| Maximum Cost | $4,168 |
| Price Per Square Foot | $1 – 4 |
| Average Hourly Cost | $25 – $75 |
Typically you will either pay a fixed rate or can pay hourly if you or your painter prefer that. In most cases, it will be much cheaper with fewer surprises if you get a fixed rate.
If you’re paying hourly for your painter, you may need to purchase the paint on top of the hourly rate, which could be an additional $20 to $80 per gallon of paint.
Factors In Average Cost For Painting The Exterior Of A House
A broad range of factors contribute to the cost of painting the exterior of a house, which are often different from the interior painting factors. These can include the area that needs to be painted, location, type of paint, condition of the exterior, prep work required, and many other factors.
While the average cost to paint the exterior of a house is $2,957, these factors can help you determine whether your costs will be higher or lower and help you make decisions.
Labor Costs
Whether you get an hourly rate or a fixed rate, the complexity, paintable area, and regional wages will impact the labor costs for your painting and increase or decrease costs. Average hourly rates range from $20 – $75 per hour, depending on the skill level of the painter.
There isn’t much you can do about labor costs, though shopping around will help you find a range of overall costs. You may also be given an option for the number of workers used on your job, with lower cost but more time or higher cost but faster.
Paintable Area
The paintable area of the exterior of your house will heavily impact the cost; smaller jobs are cheaper and bigger jobs will cost more. On average, the cost to paint the exterior of your house is $1 – $3.50 per square foot; costs can double for 2+ story houses.
Costs may also increase if you need multiple paint colors or there is intricate detailing needed.
Type Of Exterior Material
The material used for the exterior of your house can impact the overall cost, so you can factor that into your own estimate for what should be reasonable. Typically brick is the most expensive to paint, so spending more on higher-quality paint, so it lasts longer would be advisable.
| Type Of House Siding | Average Cost |
| Metal or Aluminium | $400 – $3,500 |
| Brick | $3,500 – $10,500 |
| Wood | $700 – $3,000 |
| Vinyl | $600 – $3,500 |
| Stucco or Plaster | $600 – $3,500 |
| Concrete | $500 – $3,000 |
Wood and vinyl siding are generally much cheaper as it’s less porous and requires fewer coats of paint. Whereas stucco, concrete, and brick require additional materials like primer and will need more coats of paint. You may also find that other materials need specialty paints, such as metal.
Prices on exterior materials can significantly increase if repairs or stripping of old paint is required.
Average Cost For Primer
You’ll also find that prices increase if you’re trying to change the color significantly from a darker to a lighter color or if you’re painting a surface for the first time, as the primer will also need to be applied before painting.
| Type Of Primer | Average Cost Per Gallon |
| Latex | $20 – $80 |
| Oil | $20 – $50 |
| Shellac | $20 – $60 |
Primer may not always be needed, but it can make the paint adhere to the house better and increase the life expectancy of your paint job. You’ll need a similar amount of primer as the paint you’re using, which could be 1 – 4 gallons for average houses.
Prep Work Required
The condition of the exterior of your house will need to be checked and repairs made. Painters will also likely need to powerwash the entire house and then sand it all down.
If significant repairs need to be done, the price can be much higher, especially if you rely on a painter to do the work, so pre-checking the house’s exterior and making repairs yourself would be advisable.
You may be able to reduce costs if you’re willing to do the power washing and cleanup yourself. However, sanding should typically be left to the painter as they may be redoing the work anyway.
Paint Options
The type of paint you use will determine costs as well. Higher-cost paint will last longer and go on thicker, meaning less overall is used. On the other hand, cheaper paints may require redoing much sooner, and more coats may be required.
So you’ll need to determine the cost benefits between your two options based on your requirements for the paint job.
You can choose between water-based latex paint, which costs around $20 – $50 per gallon, and it’s a good choice for most sidings but isn’t as durable as oil-based paint. Otherwise, you can choose oil-based paints, which cost around $20 – $70 per gallon and provide longer-lasting results and more durability for high usage areas but do have a higher cost and additional labor required.
Your paint finish will also impact the price for the actual paint and the complexity and coats required for different types of finish. Eggshell is the most commonly used as exterior paint, it provides a reasonable finish, and it’s very easy to put on.
| Type Of Paint | Average Cost Per Gallon |
| Flat | $15 – $40 |
| Eggshell | $30 – $50 |
| Satin | $30 – $50 |
| Semi-Gloss | $40 – $60 |
| High-Gloss | $50 – $70 |
You can recover paint costs by returning unopened cans of paint to stores like Home Depot; however, customer paint options may not be accepted back unless there is an issue.
Professional Exterior Painting Vs. DIY Exterior Painting
Exterior painting can be much more challenging than interior painting, so it isn’t typically advised for novice painters, especially if there is a lot of prep work to do. The average cost of professional exterior painting is $2,957, while DIY exterior painting could be done for under $500.
The more complex your exterior paint job is, the more likely you will run into issues; this involves multiple stories, complex trim or siding, and if your house has odd shapes and multiple colors or types of siding.
