That is the modeled cost to deliver plus a fair contractor margin, not a sales quote. Built from BLS metro wages, Craftsman labor hours, a real bill of materials, and hand-verified permit data. 2026-08-28
Show the math
How $10,288 is built
Labor$4,993
Materials$2,321
Direct cost$7,314
Overhead (16% of revenue)$1,666
Cost to deliver (break even)$8,980
Contractor margin (12.7%)$1,308
Typical fair price$10,288
The margin is the gap between break even and a typical quote, not a markup we invent. A fair margin floats by trade and market, most landing at a 15 to 22 percent margin on the bid, about 18 to 28 percent over the cost to deliver, and nobody works for free. Full methodology.
$10,288
Typical installed
119hrs
Skilled labor
12.7%
Contractor margin
3.8% over
vs national avg
Is your painting bid fair?
Cost index by David Olson · reviewed by Leonard "Chuck" Thompson · 2026-08-28
Independent FatBook v3 cost indexVerified permit/source data where availableReviewed by Leonard "Chuck" Thompson
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Scope Check
St Louis
Within the fair range.
Fair range
Fair range$9,698 to $12,929
Typical market bid$10,288
Lowest realistic price$9,698
Your bid$10,288
Gap to the price floor$590
Contractor margin12.7%
Fair range. Break-even sits at the red line: the cost of delivering the job, not a price anyone should demand. The green band above it is fair territory: most solid bids land at a 15 to 22 percent margin on the bid, roughly 18 to 28 percent over the cost to deliver, leaner or richer by trade and market. That band is earned money. No one works for free, and if the job were easy you would not be hiring it out.
Calculate your St Louis true cost.
sq ft
Technical BlueprintLIVE SCHEMA
True Cost Benchmark
$10,288
Typical range: $9,698 to $12,929 · Lowest realistic price: $9,698
Potential savings $590. That is the gap between the true cost benchmark and the lowest realistic price.
At $10,288, St Louis is a competitive painting market. Contractor margins of just 12.7% mean the gap between the average quote and the lowest realistic price ($9,698) is relatively narrow. This usually indicates either strong competition or a mature market where pricing has normalized. Don't expect dramatic discounts, but do expect fair prices if you shop around.
Competitive but inconsistent. St Louis margins are low at 12.7%, but the range from $9,698 to $12,929 is unusually wide. This suggests a mix of contractor quality and scope interpretation, not pricing games. Focus your negotiation on scope clarity: make sure every bidder is quoting the exact same work, then the lowest number is likely legitimate.
Book in the off-season if you can. St Louis contractors price toward the top of the $9,698 to $12,929 range during the warm-weather stretch (April through October), then ease toward the $9,698 floor through winter (December through February) when the work thins out. The gap between the two runs 5 to 12 percent, about $514 to $1,235 on this job. An emergency cannot wait for the calendar, but a planned project can.
With $590 between the average and the floor, St Louis has a relatively modest negotiation window, about 6% of the total job cost. This doesn't mean negotiation is pointless: on a $10,288 job, even 6% savings is real money. But the bigger wins here come from scope optimization and timing, not from beating contractors down on price.
St Louis sits in the upper half of our pricing index, more expensive than 25 of 39 tracked metros but cheaper than 13. This mid-to-upper position reflects moderate regional labor costs. The $590 gap between average and floor pricing is where your negotiating power lives.
Show the math: how St Louis Whole House Painting numbers are derivedClick to expand
Derivation for St Louis, Whole House Painting · updated 2026-08-28
Step 1: Craftsman labor hours
BOM hours from Craftsman National Estimator: 119.28 hrs (typical project: 2500 sq ft)
Craftsman material cost × FRED PPI multiplier (1.0580): $2,321
Materials carry no markup here. Book prices get adjusted to the current market with producer price indexes.
Step 5: Permit fee
St Louis: $0
No standalone permit line in the model for this scope in St Louis. Common exemptions cover cosmetic and finish work and in-kind replacement, but some cities charge separate flat-fee trade permits instead, so confirm with the local permit office. Source: our compiled city fee schedules.
NAHB benchmark: overhead is 16.2% of revenue, the way the NAHB Cost of Doing Business study measures it. Materials pass through at cost and carry no overhead.
overhead = ~16.2% of revenue (NAHB basis) = $1,666
The portion of the typical quote that is not cost-to-deliver. Higher = more room to negotiate.
Step 12: Savings potential
savings = $10,288 - $9,698 = $590
The gap between the typical quote and the lowest likely estimate in St Louis.
Every service in every metro is priced from the same parts. Sources: BLS OES wages, FRED PPI series, Craftsman National Estimator, city permit offices. Updated 2026-08-28. Full methodology →
How the cost breaks down
What you pay for in St Louis.
Every painting dollar in St Louis, split into labor, materials, permit, overhead, and the contractor margin. The first four are the cost to deliver. On top of that sits the margin a fair job earns.
48.5%
22.6%
16.2%
12.7%
Labor$4,993 (48.5%)
Materials$2,321 (22.6%)
Overhead$1,666 (16.2%)
Margin$1,308 (12.7%)
Cost to deliver plus a fair margin = $10,288
Fig. Painting work in St Louis: the 119 hours priced above.See cost by project size
What whole house painting costs at your size.
Scales with project area at this metro's rate. The calculator lets you dial in your exact size.
Size
Typical
Range
1,500 sq ft
$6,937
$6,540 to $8,718
2,000 sq ft
$8,613
$8,119 to $10,824
2,500 sq ft
$10,288
$9,698 to $12,929
3,250 sq ft
$12,802
$12,067 to $16,088
3,750 sq ft
$14,477
$13,647 to $18,193
Scaled from TheFatBook's per-size cost model, the same one behind the calculator.
St Louis painting sits 3.8 percent above the national average. That puts the typical whole house job at $10,288 while the lowest realistic price lands at $9,698. I built TheFatBook Cost Index that pulls these figures straight from Craftsman hours, BLS wages for the area, and FRED material trends. The spread tells you exactly where bids can get weird in this market.
Numbers on this page come from Craftsman labor hours, BLS OES May 2025 wages for St Louis, FRED material prices, and the verified local permit fee. Population, income, home values and housing age come from the U.S. Census Bureau (QuickFacts and the American Community Survey); unemployment from the BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; building permits from the Census Bureau via FRED. How we calculate
City average
$10,288 for whole house painting, 3.8% above the national average of $9,908 (TheFatBook cost index, 2026)
Bid range
$9,698 low to $12,929 high, with the lowest realistic price at $9,698 (TheFatBook cost index, 2026)
Contractor margin
12.7% contractor margin, with $590 between average price and floor (TheFatBook cost index, 2026)
Labor hours
119.3 hours for whole house painting (Craftsman, 2026)
Labor cost
$4,993 labor, at $41.85/hr loaded wage ($30.15 base + 38.79% burden) (BLS OEWS, 2026)
Materials
$2,321 material cost (PPI adjusted) (FRED PPI, 2026)
Permit fee
$0 (no standalone permit for this scope; local taxes or trade fees may still apply at issuance) (PermitCalculator, 2026)
Overhead
$1,666 covering overhead allocation (NAHB, 2026)
Cost to deliver
$8,980 fully loaded, before the contractor's margin (TheFatBook cost index, 2026)
Local Market
St Louis homes carry a median build year of 1969. That means painters often deal with older siding, settled trim and surfaces that have seen decades of Midwest weather. Winter freeze-thaw cycles chew at exterior paint. Spring storms bring hail and wind that knock coatings loose faster than in drier cities. Our data shows 119.3 Craftsman hours for a full whole house painting on a typical 2500 square foot home (TheFatBook cost index, 2026). And honestly, the loaded wage input runs $41.85 per hour after the 38.8 percent burden on the $30.15 base BLS figure. Materials add another $2,321 once FRED PPI adjustments are applied. Those inputs produce a cost to deliver of $8,980 before any margin. The city average of $10,288 therefore carries a 12.7 percent contractor margin. With local median home values at $276,800 and household income around $82,936 this spread feels reasonable. Contractors here absorb real weather risk that crews in milder climates never see. The result is a tighter but still fair band between the $9,698 floor and the $12,929 high end.
I've painted plenty of these 1970s houses around Jefferson City and St Louis. That about thirteen percent margin doesn't surprise me one bit. With the freeze thaw ripping at the siding every winter a good crew spends extra hours on prep. Call it smart money not to lowball the job and end up eating the callbacks.
Understanding Your Bid
I look at a $12,929 painting bid and the first question is simple. Does it sit inside the real range for St Louis? The average quote runs $10,288 yet plenty of contractors clear $12,929 on the same 2500 square foot house. That tells me some bids carry fat that has nothing to do with the actual work. TheFatBook Cost Index puts the true cost to deliver at $8,980. The 12.7 percent contractor margin above that's modest by renovation standards. Yet the gap between the average and the lowest realistic price is still $590. It'll show you instantly whether the number lines up with local labor hours, material costs and overhead realities or whether someone padded the quote because they sensed you were in a hurry before tornado season hits.
The numbers break down cleanly once you see the pieces. Labor eats the biggest share. 119.3 Craftsman hours at the local loaded rate of $41.85 per hour produces $4,993 in burdened labor cost (Craftsman, 2026). Add the $2,321 in PPI adjusted paint and supplies and you sit at direct costs of $7,312. NAHB benchmarks layer on $1,666 of overhead allocation for insurance, vehicles, supervision and the rest. That brings the full cost to deliver to $8,980. No standalone permit fee appears in the St Louis data for painting so that line stays at zero. The city average of $10,288 therefore leaves room for a 12.7 percent margin. The verified floor of $9,698 sits only $590 below average. That narrow spread tells you efficiency matters more here than huge markups. Compare any contractor quote against these line items before you sign.
119.3 hours sounds about right for a full house. I see the $4,993 labor at that loaded rate and it matches what my crews used to run. The materials at $2,321 are honest too. Paint goes further on good prep but you can't cheap out on the primer when the old stuff is flaking.
How to Negotiate
Shoulder seasons give St Louis homeowners the best leverage. Painters hate booking exterior work during the uncertain spring storm window or the deep freeze thaw period. Book a whole house repaint for late fall or very early spring and crews often sharpen their pencils. Know the $9,698 floor before you sit down with any contractor. That number isn't an insult bid. It simply marks the bottom of what a competent crew can charge while still covering the $8,980 cost to deliver plus a lean margin. See exactly how it compares on labor hours and material quantities. Then ask the painter to walk you through his quote using the same breakdown. Most honest contractors in this market will respect the data and tighten their number by a few hundred dollars rather than lose the job.
Catch a painter in late fall after the last big storm and he'll deal. Everybody wants to keep crews busy before winter shuts exterior work down. Show him you know the real numbers and he'll shave it. But don't wave the floor price in his face or he walks.
What really sets St Louis painting costs apart is how the old housing stock collides with the brutal weather calendar. Median home age of 1969 means lead paint testing, tricky surface prep on aluminum siding from the sixties, and trim that has been painted six times already. Add the freeze-thaw winters that lift caulk and the spring hail that pits fresh coats before they cure and you get a narrower margin environment than sunnier cities enjoy. Our index shows only 12.7 percent average contractor margin here compared with higher spreads elsewhere. Contractors can't simply pass every weather delay onto the homeowner because median incomes sit at $82,936 and home values at $276,800. Homeowners therefore get tighter bids but they must schedule smarter. The data convinced me that the lowest realistic price of $9,698 isn't charity. It's what an efficient crew that knows these old St Louis houses can actually deliver without losing money when the next storm rolls off the river.
How much does whole house painting cost in St Louis?
Whole house painting costs $10,288 on average in St Louis according to our local Cost Index. The lowest realistic price sits at $9,698 while high bids reach $12,929.
What's the lowest realistic price for exterior house painting in St Louis?
Exterior house painting carries a lowest realistic price of $4,591 in St Louis per our cost database. That compares with an average of $4,870. The $279 gap gives you room to negotiate once you understand the 58.1 Craftsman hours and $1,032 in materials behind the number.
Is my painting bid fair in St Louis?
Our Cost Index shows a 12.7 percent contractor margin on the $10,288 average. If your bid lands near $9,698 it's at the floor and likely fair. Anything well above the $12,929 high end deserves a hard second look at the labor and prep details.
How does St Louis winter weather affect painting prices?
Freeze-thaw cycles and spring storms push St Louis painting costs about 3.8 percent above the national average of $9,908 according to our local Cost Index. Contractors build in extra prep time on 1969-era homes so the lowest realistic whole house price stays at $9,698 instead of dropping further.
TheFatBook models painting from Craftsman labor hours, BLS regional wages, burden, PPI-adjusted materials, permit data where available, and contractor overhead benchmarks. Cost index version: 2026-08-28. Updated Aug 2026.
Typical painting costs in St Louis: low, average, and high for the most common services. Source: TheFatBook Cost Index. The full line-item table is below.Embed this chart on your site (free, with attribution)
These are St. Louis County fees, which apply in unincorporated areas and in municipalities that contract with the County, not in the City of St. Louis. A building permit is the Table 1100.060 fee plus a $47 processing fee, with plan review and inspection included, and each trade takes its own permit.
$8k building fee: $188 $12k building fee: $208 $25k building fee: $232 HVAC base: $94
Source-backed permit facts from PermitCalculator.com and the underlying permits_compiled dataset. Always confirm final requirements with the local building department before filing.
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Cost index built by David Olson, Creator of the Cost Index & Permit Dataset · Methodology reviewed by Leonard "Chuck" Thompson, LC Thompson Construction Co., Owner (retired) · 2026-08-28
