How much does whole house painting cost in 2026?
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
The margin is the gap between break even and a typical quote, not a markup we invent. Margins float by trade and city, with most fair jobs at a 15 to 22 percent margin on the bid, about 18 to 28 percent over the cost to deliver. Nobody works for free. Full methodology.
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 | $6,727 | $6,157 to $8,144 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $8,318 | $7,613 to $10,070 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $9,908 | $9,069 to $11,996 |
| 3,250 sq ft | $12,295 | $11,253 to $14,885 |
| 3,750 sq ft | $13,886 | $12,709 to $16,811 |
Scaled from TheFatBook's per-size cost model, the same one behind the calculator.
What the 2026 data shows.
- The 2026 U.S. average whole house painting cost is $9,908, with a typical range of $9,069 to $11,996.
- Across the 39 metros TheFatBook tracks, San Antonio is the lowest at $8,334 and New York is the highest at $14,905.
- Figures are modeled from BLS wages, Craftsman labor hours, FRED material indices, and verified permit fees, not survey self-reports or scraped quotes.
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.
Tracked markets.
| Metro | Average | Range | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio | $8,334 | $7,704 to $10,086 | -16% vs national |
| Orlando | $8,493 | $7,876 to $10,374 | -14% vs national |
| Charlotte | $8,524 | $7,857 to $10,379 | -14% vs national |
| Tampa | $8,600 | $8,061 to $10,533 | -13% vs national |
| Nashville | $8,695 | $8,016 to $10,573 | -12% vs national |
| Miami | $8,716 | $8,219 to $10,703 | -12% vs national |
| Raleigh | $8,716 | $7,935 to $10,411 | -12% vs national |
| Dallas | $8,774 | $7,999 to $10,472 | -11% vs national |
| Richmond | $8,794 | $8,144 to $10,721 | -11% vs national |
| Houston | $8,810 | $8,026 to $10,415 | -11% vs national |
| Austin | $8,867 | $8,011 to $10,380 | -11% vs national |
| Springfield, MO | $8,889 | $8,476 to $11,356 | -10% vs national |
| Tucson | $8,925 | $8,232 to $10,809 | -10% vs national |
| Jacksonville | $9,004 | $8,355 to $11,190 | -9% vs national |
| Boise | $9,029 | $8,279 to $11,145 | -9% vs national |
| Atlanta | $9,105 | $8,297 to $10,849 | -8% vs national |
| Indianapolis | $9,417 | $8,818 to $11,542 | -5% vs national |
| Salt Lake City | $9,502 | $8,703 to $11,600 | -4% vs national |
| Baltimore | $9,616 | $8,993 to $11,804 | -3% vs national |
| Columbus | $9,643 | $8,915 to $11,322 | -3% vs national |
| Phoenix | $9,656 | $8,771 to $11,372 | -3% vs national |
| Kansas City | $9,659 | $9,032 to $11,843 | -3% vs national |
| Pittsburgh | $9,746 | $9,051 to $12,151 | -2% vs national |
| Detroit | $10,125 | $9,549 to $12,651 | +2% vs national |
| Portland | $10,277 | $9,369 to $12,499 | +4% vs national |
| St Louis | $10,288 | $9,698 to $12,929 | +4% vs national |
| Minneapolis | $10,599 | $9,772 to $13,067 | +7% vs national |
| Denver | $10,645 | $9,679 to $12,747 | +7% vs national |
| Las Vegas | $10,834 | $9,863 to $13,034 | +9% vs national |
| San Diego | $10,927 | $9,879 to $13,230 | +10% vs national |
| Seattle | $11,122 | $10,063 to $13,145 | +12% vs national |
| Los Angeles | $11,584 | $10,482 to $13,695 | +17% vs national |
| Philadelphia | $11,989 | $10,998 to $14,341 | +21% vs national |
| Boston | $12,057 | $10,906 to $14,376 | +22% vs national |
| Sacramento | $12,260 | $11,091 to $14,432 | +24% vs national |
| Chicago | $12,802 | $11,905 to $15,392 | +29% vs national |
| San Jose | $13,308 | $11,887 to $15,404 | +34% vs national |
| San Francisco | $13,728 | $12,320 to $15,887 | +39% vs national |
| New York | $14,905 | $13,505 to $17,232 | +50% vs national |
Common questions about whole house painting costs.
How much does whole house painting cost in 2026?
The U.S. average is $9,908, with a typical range of $9,069 to $11,996, modeled by TheFatBook's cost index from BLS wages, Craftsman labor hours, material price indices, and verified permit fees.
Which city is cheapest and most expensive for whole house painting?
Of the 39 metros TheFatBook tracks, San Antonio is the lowest at $8,334 and New York is the highest at $14,905.
Citing these numbers? Here is the source line.
Free to cite with attribution. Copy a formatted citation, or grab the HTML credit line to link back to the live data.
Source: <a href="https://thefatbook.com/painting/stats/">Average Whole House Painting Cost (2026 Data) | TheFatBook</a>- Independent FatBook v3 cost index for Whole House Painting cost data.
- BLS OEWS wage inputs (https://www.bls.gov/oes/) and FRED PPI material inflation (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/) references.
- Craftsman labor-hour references and contractor overhead benchmarks.
- Verified permit/source data from PermitCalculator.com and permits_compiled where available.