Cost by metro
Painting Cost in Burlington
Painters in Burlington average $18.89 an hour, 23% below the national mean. A 2,000 square foot interior here runs roughly $1,850 to $2,750 for labour and materials, of which about 57% is labour.
| Job | Labour | Materials | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interior, 2,000 sq ft | $1,306 | $990 | $1,850 to $2,750 |
| Exterior, 2,000 sq ft | $1,039 | $750 | $1,450 to $2,150 |
| Kitchen cabinets, 30 doors | $1,995 | $660 | $2,100 to $3,200 |
50 painters are employed in this metro. Wage source: BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-2141. Billed labour rate is the mean wage × 2.2. Full method.
How Burlington compares
Burlington is among the more affordable metros in the country for painting labour, ranking 351 of 361. The spread is still wide locally though, $13.98 to $23.11, so the cheapest metros are not always the most predictable ones to get a quote in.
Nearest by rank: Greenville and Monroe.
Within North Carolina, Burlington pays 13% below the state average of $21.59, across 15 BLS-tracked metros in the state. See the full North Carolina painting cost guide.
What it costs in Burlington
| Home size | Surface sq ft | Labour | Materials | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | 2,750 | $653 | $495 | $900 to $1,400 |
| 1,500 sq ft | 4,125 | $980 | $743 | $1,400 to $2,050 |
| 2,000 sq ft | 5,500 | $1,306 | $990 | $1,850 to $2,750 |
| 2,500 sq ft | 6,875 | $1,633 | $1,238 | $2,300 to $3,450 |
| 3,000 sq ft | 8,250 | $1,959 | $1,485 | $2,750 to $4,150 |
| 4,000 sq ft | 11,000 | $2,612 | $1,980 | $3,650 to $5,500 |
At Burlington's own wage of $18.89/hr. Change job type or home size in the calculator.
Exterior work costs more per square foot here for the same reason it does everywhere: slower coverage, heavier prep, and ladders instead of a flat wall. At Burlington’s own wage, an exterior job on the same 2,000 square foot home runs $1,450 to $2,150. Cabinets, priced per door rather than by area, run $2,100 to $3,200 for an average 30 door kitchen.
The local trade
50 painters are employed in this metro area, out of 201,860 tracked nationally across 361 metros. That headcount is a rough guide to how much choice you have locally: a deep local market usually means more competing quotes, a thin one means fewer and a longer wait for a good crew.
Every figure above uses the same method as the rest of this site: the metro mean wage multiplied by 2.2 for payroll burden, overhead and profit, then a coverage rate for the job type. Nothing here is specific to this metro beyond the wage itself. See the methodology page for the full chain and to check the arithmetic.
Common questions
What do painters charge per hour in Burlington?
Burlington painters average $18.89 an hour, which a contractor bills at roughly $18.89 × 2.2 once payroll burden, insurance, overhead and profit are included.
How much does it cost to paint a house in Burlington?
A 2,000 square foot interior runs roughly $1,850 to $2,750 in labour and materials, and the exterior of the same house runs $1,450 to $2,150. Both are modelled from the local wage, not a national figure.
Is painting more expensive in Burlington than the rest of the state?
Burlington pays 13% below its own state average, and ranks 351 of 361 nationally.
What this page does not tell you
- The wage is a metro-wide mean. A large metro can span suburbs with genuinely different local rates.
- This is a modelled range, not a quote, and nobody has seen your walls.
- Excludes repairs, wallpaper removal, lead-safe work and scaffolding.
- Wage data is the BLS May 2025 release and lags the current market.