How much to charge for drywall in 2026
A 4x8 sheet of half inch drywall costs $15 to $23 at the supplier in 2026, and 5/8 inch type X runs $19 to $29. Material for a hung, taped, and finished wall works out to roughly $0.65 to $1.00 per square foot including mud, tape, and screws, while installed prices run $2.00 to $3.50 per square foot in most markets. That gap between material and installed is labor, and it is the whole business. The full table and honest job ranges are below.
drywall material costs, national average
| Item | Unit | Typical range | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 inch drywall sheet | ea | $15 to $23 | per 4x8 sheet |
| 5/8 inch type X sheet | ea | $19 to $29 | fire-rated, per 4x8 sheet |
| 1/2 inch drywall | sf | $0.46 to $0.70 | |
| Moisture-resistant drywall | sf | $0.68 to $1.05 | |
| Cement board | sf | $1.20 to $1.85 | |
| Abuse-resistant drywall | sf | $0.90 to $1.40 | |
| Joint compound | ea | $16 to $25 | 4.5 gallon bucket |
| Setting compound | ea | $11 to $17 | per bag |
| Paper joint tape | ea | $7.50 to $11.50 | 500 ft roll |
| Corner bead | lf | $0.48 to $0.75 | |
| Drywall screws | lb | $2.10 to $3.25 | |
| Metal stud, 3-5/8 inch | lf | $0.82 to $1.30 | |
| Resilient channel | lf | $0.80 to $1.25 | sound isolation |
| Drywall texture | sf | $0.07 to $0.12 | material only |
Sheet, mud, and accessory costs above are national-average supply-house prices from the dataset inside Staxen, the same figures its AI estimator uses as a starting point until a contractor overwrites them with local pricing. They are material only, without labor, overhead, or margin. The job ranges are typical installed totals for 2026 US residential work, labor included, quoted the way drywall actually sells: by scope, with board area three to five times floor area. Prices vary by market and move with commodity board pricing, so confirm before bidding.
What typical drywall jobs run installed
Hang, tape, and finish a 2,000 sf new house: $12,000 to $25,000
Board area runs three to five times the floor area. Ceiling height, vaults, and finish level set the spread; level 4 with knockdown texture is the market baseline in much of the country.
Single 12x12 room, hang and finish: $1,000 to $2,500
Small jobs carry the same trips as big ones: hang day, three coat days, sand. Minimum pricing exists because the truck rolls five times either way.
Ceiling water damage repair: $300 to $900
Cut-out size, matching existing texture, and whether insulation above needs replacement. Texture matching is the skill clients are actually paying for.
Garage drywall with fire tape: $2,000 to $4,500
Type X board where the garage attaches to the house, lid height, and whether the client wants full finish or code-minimum fire taping.
Level 5 skim coat, per room: $500 to $1,500
Existing surface condition and lighting. Rooms with big windows or wall-wash fixtures justify the full skim because critical light shows everything.
Board pricing swings with freight since drywall is heavy and cheap per pound, so markets far from plants pay noticeably more per sheet. Finished installed rates track local labor and run highest in the urban Northeast and West Coast, often $3.00 per square foot and up against $2.00 in lower-cost metros.
Cost factors in drywall work
Fire code board
IRC requires a fire-resistant separation between an attached garage and the house, which in practice means 5/8 inch type X on shared walls and ceilings under living space. Type X at $19 to $29 per sheet versus $15 to $23 for standard is a per-sheet difference the takeoff has to catch.
Sheet length strategy
Twelve foot sheets cost more each but eliminate butt joints on most walls, and butt joints are the slowest joints to finish. Good hangers save the finisher hours, which is why hanging and finishing bid together beat piecemeal.
Finish level
Level 4 is standard for painted walls; level 5 adds a full skim coat for gloss paint and critical lighting. That one spec adds a coat of material and a day of labor per large room, and it belongs in writing on the estimate.
Ceilings and height
Ceilings finish slower than walls, and everything above 9 feet needs benches or stilts. Vaulted great rooms can run half again the rate of flat 8 foot lids.
Stocking and debris
Boarding a house means tons of material through doorways, and demo means tons back out. Stocking fees from the supplier and dump fees for tear-out are real line items, not rounding errors.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for drywall if the sheets are this cheap?
Charge for the finish, not the board. Material is only 20 to 30 percent of a drywall price; the rest is skilled labor across five or more site visits. Most contractors land between $2.00 and $3.50 per square foot of board hung, taped, and finished to level 4, with the sheet cost from this table as the floor underneath.
How many sheets does a room take?
Board area is wall plus ceiling area, so a 12x12 room with 8 foot ceilings carries about 528 square feet, or 17 sheets of 4x8 with waste. Ordering 10 percent over the calculated count covers closets, returns, and breakage, and 12 foot sheets cut the joint count where access allows.
When is type X drywall actually required?
The common residential cases are the wall between an attached garage and the house, garage ceilings with living space above, and some furnace and stair locations depending on local amendments. It hangs the same but costs $4 to $6 more per sheet, so a garage package should be taken off separately from the field board.
What does Staxen do for a drywall contractor at $59 per month?
Eddie, the AI estimator inside Staxen, drafts priced estimates from these same national-average material figures while you talk through the job, and your own board and labor pricing takes over as you edit. Clients e-sign from a text link, and invoicing follows the same thread. It is $59 per month per AI employee, or $149 per month for all three, and the first job is free, no card required.
Start free with Staxen: your first job is on us, no card required.