How to price an interior paint job: a worked example
Most painters price interior work one of three ways: by the hour, by the square foot, or by the room. All three can make money. What loses money is a price that doesn't come from your own numbers.
This guide works one bedroom through the hours method step by step, then checks it against square-foot prices, so you can see where each number comes from and swap in your own.
The three ways painters price
- By the hour. Measure, work out how many painter-hours each surface takes, multiply by your labor cost, add paint and supplies, then overhead and profit. The most accurate, because it's built from how fast you actually work.
- By the square foot. A price per square foot of wall and ceiling, per foot of trim and per door. Fast to quote and easy for clients to compare, but it hides your hours: a two-coat color change and a same-color refresh can come out at the same price.
- By the room. A flat price per bedroom or bathroom. The quickest, and the riskiest: a 10×10 bedroom and a 16×14 primary with a vaulted ceiling aren't the same job.
Whichever you quote with, check it against hours on a few jobs. That's how you find out whether your square-foot or per-room prices still pay you.
Step 1: Measure the room
The example is a 12×12 bedroom with an 8 ft ceiling, one door and one window, getting two coats on the walls, ceiling, trim and door.
| Surface | How | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Walls | (12 + 12 + 12 + 12) ft × 8 ft | 384 sq ft |
| Ceiling | 12 ft × 12 ft | 144 sq ft |
| Trim | baseboard 45 ft + door casing 17 ft + window casing 14 ft | 76 ft |
| Door | one door, both sides | 2 sides |
For labor, leave the door and window in the wall area. The PCA standard P10 doesn't deduct openings under 100 sq ft when measuring for labor, because cutting in around them takes about as long as painting the space. For paint, take them out: 384 − 20 (door) − 12 (window) = 352 sq ft of wall to cover.
Step 2: Work out the hours
A production rate is how much one painter covers in an hour. For a repaint with cut-in and rolling, published rates for a first coat on walls run from about 120 to 150 sq ft an hour (Painters Academy 120, PaintScout 125, Estimate Rocket 140), and later coats go faster. The example uses 150 for the first coat and 200 for the second. Use your own if you've timed yourself or your crew.
| Surface | First coat | Second coat | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walls, 384 sq ft | ÷ 150 sq ft/hr = 2.56 | ÷ 200 = 1.92 | 4.5 |
| Ceiling, 144 sq ft | ÷ 120 = 1.20 | ÷ 160 = 0.90 | 2.1 |
| Trim, 76 ft | ÷ 50 ft/hr = 1.52 | ÷ 75 = 1.01 | 2.5 |
| Door, both sides | 0.75 | 0.50 | 1.3 |
| Setup, masking, cleanup | 1.0 | ||
| Total | 11.4 hours |
Then multiply by your labor cost: what a painter-hour costs you, not what you bill. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the mean painter wage at $26.64 an hour (May 2025). Add about 25% for payroll taxes and workers' comp and you get about $33, so the example uses $35. If you paint it yourself, use what you'd pay someone to replace you.
11.4 hours × $35 = $399 of labor.
Step 3: Paint and supplies
Wall paint data sheets promise 350–400 sq ft a gallon per coat. Use 350 for real repaints, and add 10% for waste when brushing and rolling. Trim counts as half a foot wide (76 ft × 0.5 = 38 sq ft), and a door side as 21 sq ft.
| Paint | Area × coats | Gallons, then +10% | Per gallon | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walls | 352 × 2 = 704 sq ft | 704 ÷ 350 = 2.01 → 2.2 | $56 | $123.20 |
| Ceiling | 144 × 2 = 288 sq ft | 0.82 → 0.9 | $38 | $34.20 |
| Trim and door enamel | (38 + 42) × 2 = 160 sq ft | 0.46 → 0.5 | $65 | $32.50 |
| Supplies: tape, plastic, caulk, roller covers | 15% of $189.90 of paint | $28.49 | ||
| Materials | $218.39 |
The per-gallon prices are typical contractor prices for a mid-grade line with sales tax; use your store's. Price the paint the job uses: leftovers go to the next job. If you buy per job and can't use the rest, round up to whole gallons.
Step 4: Overhead and profit
The cost so far: $399 + $218.39 = $617.39. The price still has to pay for the truck, insurance, phone, advertising and the hours you spend bidding, and leave a profit.
Price by margin, not markup. With overhead at 25% of the price and 15% profit, 40% of the price isn't job cost, so:
Price = cost ÷ (1 − 0.40) = $617.39 ÷ 0.60 = $1,028.98, or $1,030 rounded.
The common mistake is adding 40% on top of cost: $617.39 × 1.40 = $864.35. That's a margin of only 28.6%, so after 25% overhead about 3.6% is left as profit. Typical figures: overhead of 15–30% of the price, net profit of 10–20% (Painting Contractors Association), and a gross margin of 40–50% after labor and materials.
Check it against square-foot prices
The same room at common unit prices: walls $2.00 a sq ft, ceiling $1.50 a sq ft, trim $2.25 a foot, $55 a door side.
| Item | Math | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Walls | 384 sq ft × $2.00 | $768 |
| Ceiling | 144 sq ft × $1.50 | $216 |
| Trim | 76 ft × $2.25 | $171 |
| Door | 2 sides × $55 | $110 |
| Total | $1,265 |
That's $235 more than the hours method. Neither is wrong: price guides put a 12×12 bedroom with walls, ceiling and trim at roughly $600 to $2,000. But the gap tells you something. If your unit prices come out far above your hours price, you may be losing bids you could win at a good margin. If they come out below it, you're working for less than your labor cost.
What moves the price
- Ceilings over 9 ft: 15% more labor or more, and up to 50% for vaulted ceilings.
- Heavy prep (patching, sanding, spot priming): 20–50% more labor.
- A furnished, lived-in room: about 15% more labor.
- A big color change: a primer coat or a third coat.
- Small rooms: a minimum job price, so a bathroom still covers the drive and setup.
Sources
- Openings under 100 sq ft in labor area: PCA Industry Standards, P10.
- Production rates: PaintScout help center, Painters Academy, Estimate Rocket.
- Painter wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025.
- Coverage: Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore product data sheets; waste and supplies from the Craftsman National Painting Cost Estimator.
- Margins: PCA on profit; overhead from PaintPricing.
- Unit prices: HomeWyse wall painting costs, ceilings, baseboards.