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How to price painting jobs: by the foot, the room or the hour
Two bedrooms the same size can take very different days: one has fresh drywall, the other has nail holes, dark red walls and a stained ceiling. Painters price by the square foot, by the room or by the hour, and the careful ones check one against the other. Here's how to measure, how to set each rate, what published guides and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show, and a worked bedroom example.
Three ways painters price
Per square foot is the usual way for walls and exteriors, because it grows with the job. Per room is easier for the customer to follow and works when your rooms are fairly standard. By the hour or by the day suits touch-ups, repairs and jobs where the prep is the unknown. Whichever you quote, work it out from your hours first, so you know what the price pays you.
- Per square foot: walls, ceilings, siding, decks
- Per room: standard bedrooms, bathrooms, hallways
- By the hour or the day: touch-ups, repairs, heavy prep
What published guides and BLS show
HomeGuide's painter cost guide (September 2025) puts painters at $25 to $75 an hour, $200 to $600 a day and $0.50 to $6.00 per square foot for residential work, with most estimates including two coats on interior walls. HomeAdvisor's interior painting guide (June 2026) gives $2 to $6 per square foot including paint and materials, and says labor is 75% to 95% of the total.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median wage for painters, construction and maintenance at $23.75 an hour in May 2025. That's what employees earn; BLS pay figures leave out the self-employed. Your own rate has to cover the van, ladders, drop cloths, insurance and the hours spent quoting.
| Published range | |
|---|---|
| 10 × 12 ft room | $300 to $800 |
| 14 × 16 ft primary bedroom | $700 to $1,300 |
| Bathroom | $200 to $600 |
| Kitchen | $200 to $600 |
| Living room | $400 to $1,200 |
| Whole house interior | $2,900 to $8,800 |
HomeGuide, cost to hire a painter, September 17, 2025. What homeowners are quoted, not a recommendation.
How to measure a room
Measure wall area, not floor area. Add up the wall lengths to get the perimeter, multiply by the ceiling height, then take off doors and windows. Price ceilings and trim as their own lines, because they take different time and often different paint.
For paint, HomeAdvisor's guide says one gallon covers about 350 square feet: multiply the wall area by the number of coats and divide by 350. The same guide puts most gallons at $15 to $40, depending on type and finish. Buy at your price, then add your markup on the estimate.
- Perimeter: add up the wall lengths
- Times the ceiling height: the gross wall area
- Less doors and windows: the paintable area
- Times the coats, divided by 350: gallons of paint
- Ceilings and trim as separate lines
A worked example: a 12 by 12 bedroom
Example numbers, not a quote. The room is 12 by 12 feet with 8-foot ceilings, one door and one window, walls only, two coats. Your rate is $45 an hour, your paint costs $40 a gallon and you mark up materials 20%.
HomeAdvisor's guide says painting a room takes six to ten hours including prep and drying, so the 7 hours below fits. The last line checks the total against the square foot price. If the walls need heavy patching or a big color change, add hours, not a guess.
- Wall area: 48 ft perimeter × 8 ft = 384 sq ft
- Less a 3 × 7 ft door (21 sq ft) and a 3 × 5 ft window (15 sq ft): 348 sq ft
- Paint: 348 × 2 coats = 696 sq ft, ÷ 350 ≈ 2 gallons, × $40 = $80, × 1.20 = $96
- Labor: 7 hours × $45 = $315
- Supplies such as tape, plastic and filler: $25
- Total: $315 + $96 + $25 = $436
- Check: $436 ÷ 348 sq ft ≈ $1.25 a square foot, inside HomeGuide's $0.50 to $2.00 range for a bedroom
Small jobs, extras and exteriors
Touch-ups are where per square foot pricing breaks down: a single wall still means setting up, cutting in and cleaning brushes. Set a minimum, for example a half day of your time, and charge it whenever the job is smaller. Extras get their own lines: wall repair, primer for a color change, moving furniture, high ceilings. HomeAdvisor notes textured walls can need double the paint and push the price up by as much as 50%.
Exteriors follow the same method with different numbers: measure the siding, add trim, soffits and doors, and allow time for ladders and weather. Check your state's rules on contractor licensing and on sales tax for labor and paint.
Putting the price on paper
In Workeey you set your rates once: hourly, travel, call-out, first hour, evenings and weekends, parts markup and a deposit percent. Save the lines you price often, a bedroom, a ceiling, a door, each with a name and a price. A quick estimate prices from those, and you share it from your phone as a quote PDF with the deposit percent printed on it. The customer says yes to you directly.
When the work is done, one tap turns the estimate into the invoice, emailed with a pay link for card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or US bank transfer through your own Stripe account; a small processing fee applies. The free plan includes 23 quick estimates a month and unlimited invoicing; Pro is $5 a month and Premium $19 (pricing). Start from the painting estimate template, or see Workeey for painters.
More for painters: pages and free templates
- Painting business software — quotes, prep days and the final bill
- Invoicing for painters — prep, coats and the balance after a deposit
- How to start a painting business — a step-by-step guide to going out on your own
- Best apps for painting contractors — the apps for this trade compared
- Painting invoice template — free, with a filled-in sample
- Painting estimate template — a free quote sample
- Painting receipt template — a free paid-in-full sample
- Free invoice template — every field a trade invoice needs
- Free estimate template — copy it, price it, send it
- Free receipt template — a paid-in-full receipt to copy
- Work order template — the job written down before you bill it
- Late payment reminder templates — texts, emails and a letter to copy and send
- All free templates and tools
How much should I charge per square foot to paint?
Work it out from your hours, then compare. HomeGuide (September 2025) lists $0.50 to $6.00 per square foot for residential painting; HomeAdvisor (June 2026) gives $2 to $6 per square foot for interiors, including paint and materials.
How much should a painter charge per hour?
HomeGuide's guide (September 2025) puts painters at $25 to $75 an hour. The BLS median wage for employed painters was $23.75 an hour in May 2025; a self-employed rate has to sit above that to cover your own overhead.
How do I price painting a room?
Measure the wall area, work out the paint and your hours, add materials at your markup, then check the price per square foot. HomeGuide (September 2025) lists $300 to $800 for a 10 by 12 foot room.
Should the paint be in my price?
Most per square foot prices in published guides include paint. You can fold it in, or show it as its own line at your markup so the customer sees what a better paint costs.
How long does it take to paint a room?
HomeAdvisor's guide (June 2026) says six to ten hours, including prep, painting and drying time. Time your own rooms for a few jobs and price from that.