How Much Does It Cost to Paint Interior of House? (Price Guide)

Interior painting is mostly a labor job. The paint itself is a modest share of the bill, and most of the hours go into moving furniture, patching holes, taping edges, cutting in along ceilings and trim, and applying two coats. A painter pricing your home is really estimating how long those steps will take.

Below you will find prices by home size, by room, and by surface, along with the factors that push a quote up and a look at why published guides disagree.

For a whole-house job, square footage is the starting point. The figures below assume walls throughout the home and come from a single source, so they scale in step with size.

A 1,500 sq. ft. home falls at $3,000 – $9,000 in this table, and a 2,500 sq. ft. home at $5,000 – $15,000. These ranges run higher than the overall figure in the summary box above, which comes from a different publisher. The gap is a reminder that what each guide counts as "the interior" differs: some include ceilings, trim, and doors, while others may cover walls only.

Many homeowners repaint one or two rooms at a time rather than the whole house. Room pricing helps here, and painters often quote this way for smaller jobs.

An average bedroom runs $300 – $800. Living rooms span a wider range, $600 – $2,000, because they vary so much in size and often have tall or vaulted ceilings, large windows to cut around, and open sightlines into hallways and stairwells. Dining rooms land at $600 – $1,000, and the price can climb when the room has wainscoting, chair rail, or crown molding to paint.

Painters also tend to charge a minimum per visit. A single small room, such as a powder room, may cost close to that minimum no matter how little paint it uses.

Per-square-foot pricing is useful for checking whether a quote is in line. Be clear about which square footage is meant: the floor area of the home, or the actual surface being painted.

Walls run $1 – $2/sq ft and ceilings $1 – $2.50/sq ft in this table. Ceilings cost a bit more per foot because painters work overhead, often from ladders or scaffolding, and need more drop cloth coverage. Textured ceilings such as popcorn also soak up more paint.

Trim, doors, and baseboards

Trim is priced by the linear foot rather than by area.

At $1 – $3/linear ft, trim looks inexpensive, but a house has a lot of it once you add baseboards, door casings, window casings, and crown molding. Trim also usually takes a semi-gloss or gloss enamel, which needs careful brushwork and longer drying.

• Wall condition. Patching nail holes and cracks, sanding, and spot-priming add hours. Water stains, smoke damage, and peeling paint need stain-blocking primer.
• Color change. Going from a dark color to a light one, or the reverse, often takes a primer coat plus two finish coats.
• Ceiling height. Rooms with high or vaulted ceilings and two-story foyers need extension poles, tall ladders, or scaffolding.
• Furniture and access. A full, furnished home takes longer than an empty one. Some painters charge extra to move and cover furniture.
• Paint grade. Premium paints cost more per gallon but may cover in fewer coats.
• Detail work. Accent walls, two-tone rooms, stairwell spindles, and built-in shelving slow the job.
• Lead paint. Homes built before 1978 may have lead-based paint. Contractors who disturb it must follow the EPA's lead-safe work practices, which adds cost.

For the lead rule, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting program explains what certified contractors are required to do.

DIY saves most of the labor cost, which is the bulk of the bill. You still pay for paint, primer, rollers, brushes, tape, drop cloths, and patching compound, and you take on the time. A professional crew can usually finish a house in days, while a homeowner working weekends may take weeks.

Walls in standard-height rooms are a reasonable DIY project for many people. Ceilings, stairwells, and anything requiring tall ladders are harder and carry a fall risk. Fine trim work and sharp cut lines between colors take practice, and a sloppy job shows. If your home may contain lead paint, sanding or scraping it yourself can spread hazardous dust, so test first or hire a lead-safe certified contractor.

The three publishers below report interior painting per square foot, and their ranges overlap without matching.

This Old House reports $1 – $4/sq ft, while NerdWallet and Taskrabbit both start higher. One reason may be what the square foot measures. A rate based on wall surface usually comes out lower than one based on a home's floor area, because the wall area of a room is larger than its floor. Guides may also differ on whether ceilings, trim, and prep are included, and on the regions their data comes from. Taskrabbit gives a typical figure of $2.75/sq ft, which sits closer to the low end of its own range.

Ask at least two or three painters to walk through the house before they quote. A phone estimate based only on square footage misses wall damage, ceiling height, and trim detail. When comparing quotes, check:

• Which surfaces are included: walls, ceilings, trim, doors, closets
• How many coats, and whether primer is included
• The paint brand and product line, and who buys it
• How patching and minor drywall repair are handled
• Whether moving furniture and cleanup are part of the price
• Proof of liability insurance and, where your state requires it, a contractor license