Cost by metro
Painting Cost in Fort Smith
Painters in Fort Smith average $19.57 an hour, 20% below the national mean. A 2,000 square foot interior here runs roughly $1,850 to $2,800 for labour and materials, of which about 58% is labour.
| Job | Labour | Materials | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interior, 2,000 sq ft | $1,353 | $990 | $1,850 to $2,800 |
| Exterior, 2,000 sq ft | $1,076 | $750 | $1,450 to $2,200 |
| Kitchen cabinets, 30 doors | $2,067 | $660 | $2,200 to $3,250 |
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 Fort Smith compares
Ranking 345 of 361, Fort Smith is one of the least expensive US metros for painter wages, and the market here is tight too: the 25th and 75th percentile sit close at $17.01 and $21.63, so quotes should be fairly consistent, more so than in Winston-Salem.
Nearest by rank: Winston-Salem and Morristown.
Within Arkansas, Fort Smith pays 4% below the state average of $20.28, across 3 BLS-tracked metros in the state. See the full Arkansas painting cost guide.
What it costs in Fort Smith
| Home size | Surface sq ft | Labour | Materials | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | 2,750 | $677 | $495 | $950 to $1,400 |
| 1,500 sq ft | 4,125 | $1,015 | $743 | $1,400 to $2,100 |
| 2,000 sq ft | 5,500 | $1,353 | $990 | $1,850 to $2,800 |
| 2,500 sq ft | 6,875 | $1,691 | $1,238 | $2,350 to $3,500 |
| 3,000 sq ft | 8,250 | $2,030 | $1,485 | $2,800 to $4,200 |
| 4,000 sq ft | 11,000 | $2,706 | $1,980 | $3,750 to $5,600 |
At Fort Smith's own wage of $19.57/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 Fort Smith’s own wage, an exterior job on the same 2,000 square foot home runs $1,450 to $2,200. Cabinets, priced per door rather than by area, run $2,200 to $3,250 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 Fort Smith?
Fort Smith painters average $19.57 an hour, which a contractor bills at roughly $19.57 × 2.2 once payroll burden, insurance, overhead and profit are included.
How much does it cost to paint a house in Fort Smith?
A 2,000 square foot interior runs roughly $1,850 to $2,800 in labour and materials, and the exterior of the same house runs $1,450 to $2,200. Both are modelled from the local wage, not a national figure.
Is painting more expensive in Fort Smith than the rest of the state?
Fort Smith pays 4% below its own state average, and ranks 345 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.