What painting really costs in 2026: paint, sundries, and jobs
Contractor-grade interior paint costs $145 to $225 per 5 gallon bucket in 2026, which works out to roughly $0.20 to $0.32 per square foot of coverage per coat. Exterior product runs higher at $170 to $265 per five, and elastomeric coatings nearly double the per-foot number. Materials are typically only 15 to 25 percent of a paint job's price, and the tables below show both halves: what the product costs, and what finished jobs sell for.
painting material costs, national average
| Item | Unit | Typical range | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interior paint | sf | $0.20 to $0.32 | per sf of coverage, per coat |
| Ceiling paint | sf | $0.18 to $0.28 | |
| Primer | sf | $0.14 to $0.23 | |
| Exterior paint | sf | $0.28 to $0.45 | |
| Stain and sealer | sf | $0.23 to $0.36 | |
| Elastomeric coating | sf | $0.47 to $0.75 | stucco and masonry |
| Interior paint, 5 gallon | ea | $145 to $225 | contractor grade |
| Interior paint, 1 gallon | ea | $34 to $52 | |
| Exterior paint, 5 gallon | ea | $170 to $265 | |
| Primer, 5 gallon | ea | $110 to $170 | |
| Painter's caulk | ea | $4.25 to $6.50 | per tube |
| Painter's tape | ea | $5.70 to $8.80 | per roll |
| Roller cover | ea | $4.85 to $7.50 | |
| Drop cloth | ea | $10.75 to $17 | canvas, 9x12 |
The product costs above are national-average supply-house figures from the pricing dataset inside Staxen, the same defaults its AI estimator begins with before a painting contractor adjusts them to their own store pricing and product tier. They are bare material costs with no labor, overhead, or profit included. Installed job ranges are typical 2026 contractor totals including labor for common US residential repaints. Both shift by region, product line, and season, so treat them as a benchmark rather than a bid.
What typical painting jobs run installed
Interior repaint, 3 bedroom house, walls only: $3,500 to $7,500
Color changes needing two full coats, wall repair, and furniture handling move it up. Empty house, one color, minimal patching sits at the bottom.
Exterior repaint, 2,000 sf house: $4,500 to $10,000
Substrate and prep decide this trade. Peeling paint that needs scraping and spot priming can double the labor of a sound chalky surface, and two-story elevations add ladder and lift time.
Kitchen cabinet painting: $2,500 to $6,000
Door count, sprayed versus brushed finish, and how much degreasing and sanding the existing finish demands. A sprayed factory-look finish is a multi-day process.
Single room, walls, trim, and ceiling: $400 to $1,200
Ceiling height, trim quantity, and repair work. Bathrooms and kitchens run high per square foot because of cutting-in density.
Deck stain and seal: $700 to $2,000
Stripping a failed finish versus cleaning a maintained one, plus railing complexity, which often takes longer than the deck boards themselves.
Paint itself costs nearly the same everywhere because the big manufacturers price nationally and painters buy on account pricing. The installed prices swing hard with local labor: the same interior repaint can sell for $3,800 in Memphis and $7,200 in Seattle with an identical material load.
Cost factors in painting work
Coverage math
A gallon covers roughly 350 to 400 square feet on smooth previously painted drywall, but only 250 to 300 on texture and as little as 150 on raw stucco or masonry. Misjudging spread rate on porous surfaces is the classic way to lose a bucket of margin.
Prep is the job
Washing, scraping, sanding, caulking, and masking routinely consume 40 to 60 percent of total hours on exterior work. Two bids on the same house that differ by thousands usually differ in prep scope, not paint.
Product tier
The same brand sells interior wall paint from roughly $30 to $90 per gallon retail across tiers. Premium lines hide better and touch up cleaner, which saves labor; the cheap bucket is rarely the cheap job.
Color and sheen changes
Going dark to light or light to deep reds and blues can force a tinted primer plus two finish coats. That single spec change adds 30 to 50 percent to material and a full coat of labor.
Height and access
Two-story foyers, stairwells, and exterior gables need planks, ladders, or a lift. A $300 per day lift rental on a tall exterior is cheaper than the hours it saves, but it has to be in the number.
Frequently asked questions
Is this what I should be charging for a paint job?
No, these are material costs, and materials are usually the small half of a paint price. Your charge has to cover prep and application labor, ladders and sprayer costs, insurance, callbacks, and profit. Most residential painters price by production rates, hours per room or per 100 square feet, with material added on top at 15 to 25 percent of the job.
How many gallons does an average house repaint take?
Interior walls of a 2,000 square foot home typically take 12 to 18 gallons for two coats, plus 3 to 5 gallons of ceiling paint and 2 to 3 gallons for trim. At 2026 five-gallon pricing of $145 to $225, whole-house interior material usually lands between $500 and $1,000.
Do I really need primer on a repaint?
Not always. Sound, previously painted surfaces in a similar color usually need spot priming only over patches and stains. Full priming earns its cost on raw drywall, glossy surfaces that need adhesion, water or smoke stains, and drastic color changes, where skipping it costs a third finish coat.
How do painters estimate faster with Staxen?
You describe the rooms or elevations by voice and Eddie, the AI estimator in Staxen, drafts the priced estimate starting from these same national-average material figures, with your own rates taking over as you edit. Clients e-sign from a text link and can pay a deposit on the same page. It runs $59 per month per AI employee, or $149 per month for all three, and the first job is free with no card required.
Start free with Staxen: your first job is on us, no card required.