How accurate is this painting cost calculator?

It is a model, not a quote. It is built on real published wage data for your specific metro, which makes it considerably more useful than a national range, but it cannot see your walls, your ceiling height or your prep condition.

Why does it ask for my metro area?

Because labour is about 63% of a painting bill and painter wages vary nearly threefold across US metros. Location changes the answer more than any other input.

Do I enter floor area or wall area?

Floor area, the number you would use to describe your home. The calculator converts it to paintable surface using a standard multiplier.

Painting Cost Calculator, by US Metro Area

This calculator estimates painting cost from the actual mean painter wage in your metro area, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 361 US metros. It shows the labour and materials split, so you can see what you are really paying for.

How to use it

Pick your metro area first, because it matters more than anything else you will enter. Painter wages range from $12.48 to $36.62 an hour across the country, so the same job genuinely costs very different amounts in different places.

For interior and exterior, enter the floor area of your home, the number you would use to describe it. The calculator converts that to paintable surface. For cabinets, count every door and every drawer front as one unit.

What the result means

You get a range, not a number, and it covers labour and materials for a straightforward repaint in two coats. It does not cover wallpaper removal, repairs, lead-safe work or scaffolding.

Use it as a sanity check. If a quote sits inside the range, the pricing is normal for your area and the conversation should be about scope and quality. If a quote is far below it, ask how many coats, how much prep, and whether the crew carries insurance. If it is far above, ask what the extra covers, because there is often a legitimate answer such as repairs you had not accounted for.

Where the numbers come from

Wages are BLS OEWS May 2025 for occupation 47-2141. The billed labour rate is the local mean wage multiplied by 2.2 to cover payroll burden, insurance, overhead and profit. Coverage rates and materials rates are published in full on the methodology page, along with the reasoning for every one.

Painting cost calculator