How much does it cost to paint a room? (US prices, 2026)

Price per square foot: check what is measured

Painters and cost guides quote per square foot in two different ways. Some use the room's floor area: about $2 to $6 per square foot of floor, so a 10 × 10 ft room comes to $200 to $600^[1]. Others use the wall area to be painted: about $1 to $3 per square foot of wall for labor^[2], or $1 to $2 for walls only^[4].

The two are not comparable, because a room has much more wall than floor. A 12 × 12 ft room with 8 ft ceilings has about 312 square feet of wall to paint after doors and windows, more than twice its 144 square feet of floor^[5]. When you compare quotes, ask which area each one uses.

Cost to paint a room by size

Cost to paint a bedroom, living room, kitchen or bathroom

Labor and hourly rates

Labor is most of the bill: 60% to 90% of a room's price in one guide^[1] and 70% to 85% in another^[2]. Painters who bill by the hour typically charge about $20 to $50 an hour^{[1, 2]}, and one guide reports a national average of about $60 an hour from the quotes it collects^[3].

That billed rate covers more than the painter's pay, such as insurance, travel and profit. For comparison, the median wage of employed painters in the US was $23.75 an hour in May 2025^[7]. Many painters quote per room or per square foot instead of per hour, and some have a minimum charge of $250 to $500 per job^[2].

How much paint costs

How much paint a room needs

Paint makers' data sheets give about 350 to 450 square feet per gallon for one coat on smooth, primed walls^{[8, 9, 10]}; rough or porous walls take more. Most rooms need two coats, and a big color change may need a primer coat first^{[4, 8]}.

To estimate, measure the wall area, subtract about 21 square feet for each door and 16 for each window, divide by 400 and double it for two coats^{[1, 2]}. A 12 × 12 ft room with 8 ft ceilings usually needs about 2 gallons for two coats on the walls, plus about half a gallon for the ceiling^[5].

Leave each coat to dry before the next. Paint makers’ data sheets give about 1 hour until the paint is dry to the touch and 1 to 4 hours before a second coat, depending on the paint, at 77 °F (25 °C) and 50% humidity^{[8, 9, 10]}. Cooler, damper rooms take longer^[8], and darker colors can need more time between coats^[12].

What it costs to paint a room yourself

For a 12 × 12 ft room, paint and supplies usually come to about $150 to $300, counting a ladder if you need to buy one^[2]. Paint alone is about $30 to $150, depending on its grade^[2]. A full kit of brushes, rollers, drop cloths and tape can cost $150 to $300 on its own^[6], while one guide puts the materials for a small room under $100^[1]: what you already own makes most of the difference.

Plan a weekend rather than an evening: about a day to prepare and prime, then a day or two for the coats^[1]. For comparison, a professional usually spends about 6 to 10 hours on a room, including preparation and cleanup^[2].

• Paint: two coats for the walls, plus ceiling paint if you paint the ceiling.
• Primer, if the walls are new drywall, stained, glossy or much darker than the new color.
• Rollers and covers, an angled brush for cutting in, a tray, painter's tape and drop cloths.
• Patching compound and sandpaper for small holes and cracks.

What makes painting a room cost more

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• Ceiling: about $1 to $2.50 per square foot of ceiling^{[2, 4]}.
• Trim and baseboards: about $1 to $3 per linear foot^{[1, 4]}. Painting the walls only can cut a quote roughly in half^[1].
• Interior doors: about $40 to $250 each, depending on the guide and the door^{[2, 4]}.
• Wall repairs: patching and sanding about $75 to $350 per room^[5]; major drywall repairs cost more^[2].
• Textured walls: about $0.50 to $1 more per square foot^[4], and they can take up to twice as much paint^[11].
• Big color changes: each extra coat adds about $50 to $70 in paint for 300 to 400 square feet of wall, plus labor^[1].
• High ceilings: over 10 feet can add 10% to 50% or more^[2].
• An accent wall: about 20% to 30% more than the other walls^[2].
• Moving furniture: about $50 to $70 per room^[5].
• Location: average room prices by state run from about $1,000 in Texas and Georgia to $1,570 in California in one guide^[1].

Ways to pay less

• Paint the walls only, or leave trim that is in good shape; skipping trim can cut a quote roughly in half^[1].
• Clear the room and move the furniture yourself; some painters charge about $50 to $70 per room for it^[5].
• Some painters quote lower in their slower months, often November through February, when fewer people book exterior work^{[1, 5]}.
• Compare quotes on the same basis: the same rooms, surfaces, number of coats and paint grade.
• Choose the color before the painter arrives, so you pay for one color, not two.

See the color before you pay for it

A repaint costs the same whether you love the color or not. Before you buy paint or book a painter, try the colors on a photo of your own room with the paint color visualizer: it repaints the walls, an accent wall, the trim or the ceiling and keeps the rest of the room as it is. Treat the result as a close preview and test a sample on the wall before you buy.

About these numbers

These ranges come from US cost guides updated between January 2025 and July 2026, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and paint makers’ data sheets^{[1, 2, 5, 7, 8]}. Pages that could be opened were read on October 14, 2026; pages that block automated reading were read from their most recent public archive copy, and the date in the source list is that copy’s date. Cost guides assume different room sizes and amounts of work, so their averages differ; where they disagree, this guide gives the range and says what it assumes. Local prices vary, so treat these as a starting point and get quotes.