How much does it cost to paint a house?
Painting a house exterior runs roughly $1.50–$4.00 per square foot of home — about $3,000–$8,000 for an average house. A whole-home interior is about $2–$6 per square foot of floor area, often $2,000–$6,000 for a three-bedroom home. The single biggest cost is labor, so what you pay depends mostly on whether you hire out or pick up a roller yourself.
Average house painting cost
| Job | Typical cost | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Interior — single room | $300–$1,200 | $2–$6 / floor sq ft |
| Interior — whole home | $2,000–$6,000 | $2–$6 / floor sq ft |
| Exterior — whole home | $3,000–$8,000 | $1.50–$4 / home sq ft |
| Inside + outside together | $5,000–$14,000 | — |
These are professional, all-in ranges (paint, materials, and labor). Doing it yourself removes most of the cost — see the DIY section below.
Interior painting cost by room
Interior pricing is usually quoted per square foot of floor area, but it's easier to picture by the room. These cover walls with two coats; add ceilings and trim for more:
| Room | Typical cost (pro) |
|---|---|
| Bathroom | $200–$500 |
| Bedroom | $300–$800 |
| Living / dining room | $600–$1,200 |
| Kitchen (walls only) | $300–$800 |
| Whole interior (3-bed home) | $2,000–$6,000 |
Exterior painting cost by house size
Exterior cost scales with the size of the home and the height — a two-story house costs more per square foot than a ranch because of staging and access. Typical all-in pro pricing:
| Home size | Exterior cost ($1.50–$4/sq ft) |
|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | $1,500–$4,000 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $2,250–$6,000 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $3,000–$8,000 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $3,750–$10,000 |
Estimate the paint you'll need
Room by room or wall by wall, the paint calculator turns your measurements into gallons (with coats, doors, and windows handled) and an editable cost.
Open the Paint CalculatorWhere the money goes
On a professional job, the paint is the small part of the bill. Here's roughly how the cost splits:
- Labor — 70–85%. Prep, masking, cutting in, rolling, and cleanup. This is the line item you erase by doing it yourself.
- Paint — 10–20%. A gallon runs $20–$60 and covers ~350–400 sq ft per coat. Premium paint costs more but covers in fewer coats and lasts longer.
- Prep materials & sundries. Tape, plastic, caulk, filler, primer, brushes, and roller covers.
- Prep work. Scraping, sanding, patching, and priming bare or repaired surfaces — the biggest swing factor on older homes.
What changes the price
- Surface condition. Sound walls paint fast; peeling, chalky, or water-stained surfaces need scraping, sanding, and priming first.
- Number of coats. A big color change, or going light over dark, often needs primer plus two coats instead of one.
- Paint quality. Better paint hides in fewer coats and lasts years longer — usually worth the upgrade on both labor and lifespan.
- Height & access. Two-story walls, steep rooflines, and tall stairwells add staging time and risk.
- Trim, ceilings & detail. Cutting in around lots of trim, doors, and windows is slow, detailed work that adds up.
- Region. Local labor rates move the total as much as anything else.
DIY vs. hiring a pro
Because labor is 70–85% of a paint job, painting yourself is one of the highest-payoff DIY projects there is. The paint and supplies for a whole interior often total only a few hundred dollars — versus several thousand to hire out. Interior walls are very DIY-friendly: the work is patient prep, careful cutting in, and even rolling. Exterior and two-story work is a bigger ask — power-washing, scraping, ladder or scaffold safety, and weather windows all raise the stakes, and that's where many homeowners bring in a pro. Whatever you choose, the finish quality lives or dies on prep; see our methodology for how we build these ranges.