Pricing guide
How to Price an Interior Paint Job
Measure the walls, subtract the openings, price labor by the square foot, and add paint, supplies, and tax. Here is the full method with a real room worked out line by line.
Three ways painters price work
| Method | How it works | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|
| Per square foot | Wall and ceiling area × your rate | Most repaints; easy to explain to homeowners | Needs accurate measurements |
| Per room | Flat price by room size | Fast quotes on standard rooms | Loses money on tall ceilings and big rooms |
| Hourly | Crew hours × hourly rate + materials | Repairs and jobs with unknown prep | Homeowners dislike open-ended totals |
Per square foot is the most common approach for interior repaints because the number scales with the job and a homeowner can check it. The rest of this guide uses it.
The formula
Wall area = 2 × (length + width) × height − (doors × 21) − (windows × 15)
Ceiling = length × width
Labor = wall area × wall rate + ceiling area × ceiling rate
Gallons = round up (area × coats ÷ coverage) ← walls and ceilings separately
Total = labor + paint + supplies + sales tax on materials
The 21 and 15 come from a standard 3' × 7' door and a 3' × 5' window. Use your own measurements for patio doors or picture windows.
Figure gallons for walls and ceilings separately. They are different products, so a half gallon left over from the walls can't finish the ceiling.
Worked example: one living room
An 18' × 14' living room with 9' ceilings, 2 doors and 3 windows. The ceiling gets painted too. Rates: $2.25 per sq ft for walls, $1.50 per sq ft for the ceiling, 2 coats, paint at $52 a gallon covering 350 sq ft.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|
| Gross wall area | 2 × (18 + 14) × 9 | 576 sq ft |
| Minus openings | 2 × 21 + 3 × 15 | −87 sq ft |
| Net wall area | | 489 sq ft |
| Ceiling area | 18 × 14 | 252 sq ft |
| Wall labor | 489 × $2.25 | $1,100.25 |
| Ceiling labor | 252 × $1.50 | $378.00 |
| Wall paint | 489 × 2 ÷ 350 = 2.8 → 3 gal × $52 | $156.00 |
| Ceiling paint | 252 × 2 ÷ 350 = 1.4 → 2 gal × $52 | $104.00 |
| Supplies | 12% of paint | $31.20 |
| Sales tax | 7.5% of paint + supplies | $21.84 |
| Total | | $1,791.29 |
Sales tax rules differ by state. Many states tax the materials on a residential repaint but not the labor, which is how this example is set up. Check with your state's revenue department.
Setting your square-foot rate
Your rate has to cover more than wages. Build it from your own job history instead of copying a competitor.
- Find your real production rate. On your last few jobs, divide the wall square feet finished by the total crew hours, including prep, masking, cutting in, and cleanup. Many crews land far below the speed of rolling alone.
- Find your loaded hourly cost. Wages plus payroll taxes, workers' comp, and general liability insurance, per labor hour.
- Divide, then add overhead and profit. Loaded cost ÷ sq ft per hour gives your cost per sq ft. Add your overhead (vehicle, phone, software, marketing) and a profit margin on top.
Example: $40 loaded cost per hour ÷ 40 sq ft per hour = $1.00 per sq ft
$1.00 × 1.25 overhead × 1.20 profit = $1.50 per sq ft for walls
Homeowner cost guides commonly quote interior repaints at roughly $2 to $6 per square foot including materials. If your number lands far outside that range, recheck your production rate before you change your price.
What should raise the price
- Ceilings over 10 feet. Extension poles, taller ladders, or scaffolding slow every pass.
- Heavy prep. Large patches, peeling paint, wallpaper removal, or skim coating. Price these as separate lines.
- Big color changes. Going from deep red to off-white often needs primer or a third coat.
- Trim, doors, and cabinets. These are slow brush work. Price them per piece or per linear foot, apart from wall area.
- Homes built before 1978. Work that disturbs painted surfaces falls under the EPA's lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule, which requires a certified firm and lead-safe practices. That adds time and materials.
- Occupied rooms. Moving and covering furniture takes time. State in writing who moves it.
Common pricing mistakes
- Combining wall and ceiling area into one gallon count and coming up a can short.
- Leaving out supplies. Tape, plastic, caulk, patching compound, and roller covers add up on every job.
- Sending an estimate with no expiry date. Paint prices change, so a 30-day validity window protects you.
- Forgetting drive time and daily setup on multi-day jobs.
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