Cost by metro
Painting Cost in Lima
Painters in Lima average $24.52 an hour, level with the national mean. A 2,000 square foot interior here runs roughly $2,150 to $3,200 for labour and materials, of which about 63% is labour.
| Job | Labour | Materials | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interior, 2,000 sq ft | $1,695 | $990 | $2,150 to $3,200 |
| Exterior, 2,000 sq ft | $1,349 | $750 | $1,700 to $2,500 |
| Kitchen cabinets, 30 doors | $2,589 | $660 | $2,600 to $3,900 |
40 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 Lima compares
At rank 166 of 361, Lima sits above the national midpoint without being one of the most expensive markets outright. The percentile spread is wide though, $17.99 to $29.31, so a below-average quote and an above-average one can differ by more than the metro’s overall ranking suggests.
Nearest by rank: Watertown-Fort Drum and Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville.
Within Ohio, Lima pays 6% below the state average of $26.21, across 10 BLS-tracked metros in the state. See the full Ohio painting cost guide.
What it costs in Lima
| Home size | Surface sq ft | Labour | Materials | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | 2,750 | $848 | $495 | $1,050 to $1,600 |
| 1,500 sq ft | 4,125 | $1,272 | $743 | $1,600 to $2,400 |
| 2,000 sq ft | 5,500 | $1,695 | $990 | $2,150 to $3,200 |
| 2,500 sq ft | 6,875 | $2,119 | $1,238 | $2,700 to $4,050 |
| 3,000 sq ft | 8,250 | $2,543 | $1,485 | $3,200 to $4,850 |
| 4,000 sq ft | 11,000 | $3,391 | $1,980 | $4,300 to $6,450 |
At Lima's own wage of $24.52/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 Lima’s own wage, an exterior job on the same 2,000 square foot home runs $1,700 to $2,500. Cabinets, priced per door rather than by area, run $2,600 to $3,900 for an average 30 door kitchen.
The local trade
40 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 Lima?
Lima painters average $24.52 an hour, which a contractor bills at roughly $24.52 × 2.2 once payroll burden, insurance, overhead and profit are included.
How much does it cost to paint a house in Lima?
A 2,000 square foot interior runs roughly $2,150 to $3,200 in labour and materials, and the exterior of the same house runs $1,700 to $2,500. Both are modelled from the local wage, not a national figure.
Is painting more expensive in Lima than the rest of the state?
Lima pays 6% below its own state average, and ranks 166 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.