How Much Does It Cost to Paint the Interior of a House? [2024 Data]

Cost to Paint the Interior of a House by Square Foot

Across the country, the average cost to paint the interior of a house is $2.75 per square foot. If you include walls, trim, and ceilings, the cost per square foot is $4.70. To get the most accurate quote, have your square footage ready when speaking with a pro. For reference, an average room is 10-by-12 feet.

If you’re embarking on a whole-house interior painting project, check out the cost to paint a home interior by square footage, ranging from $2 to $6 per square foot:

To ensure your final cost is as close to the quote as possible, ask your contractor to sign a house painting contract before the first paint drops hit the wall. All contractors should also be able to answer specific questions, such as providing information on their insurance coverage, giving references, and communicating a clear project timeline.

Cost to Paint the Interior of a House by Room

You can determine the estimated cost to paint a room by measuring the square footage of each room. However, remember that this per-room painting cost can change thanks to obstacles, such as sinks and toilets, that a pro will need to avoid with their paint roller.

Interior Painting Cost by Surface

There are varying painting costs associated with different surfaces. Whether you're planning to refresh your walls, revive your ceilings, or give your trim a new lease on life, knowing the average expenses per surface type can help you budget effectively.

Interior Painting Cost by Paint Type

While browsing the paint aisle or speaking with your pro, you’ll probably notice that paint costs about $15 to $40 per gallon, depending on the brand and paint finish. And if you have your heart set on a specific brand-name paint, it can raise the price pretty quickly.  

The average home needs about 6 gallons of paint per coat, excluding primer, so keep that in mind before filling up your cart.

Additional Factors Affecting the Cost of Interior Painting  

In addition to the surface, room, size of the area, and type of paint, there are other factors to consider while budgeting for your painting project. For example, you may need to remove existing wallpaper or repair walls. Here are some of the factors to keep in mind. 

Labor

Professional painters include the cost of labor in the total estimate. On average, a painter will charge $20 to $50 per hour. While there’s no substitute for a professional paint job, you can cut down on labor costs by patching and prepping your walls so they’re ready for painting when the pros arrive.

Site Prep 

If a wall requires sanding and patching (perhaps you recently had a DIY mishap while trying to mount your TV), the cost for wall prep is between $0.50 and $0.75 per square foot. This prep work is vital for a smooth finish on your wall so a pro can apply paint flawlessly. 

Some paint contractors bundle the prep work into their hourly or per-square-foot charges. If a room requires drywall fixes before the paint can glide on, drywall repair costs can add an average of $600 to your budget, depending on the severity.

Materials

Aside from purchasing the paint for each room, if you plan on tackling this project yourself, you’ll need paintbrushes and rollers, paint pans, painter's tape, and drop cloth to ensure rogue paint drops don’t stain your carpet. The cost of these materials will add an average of $200 to $300 to your budget. Depending on the room you’re tackling, you may also need a ladder and a paint sprayer. 

If you hire a painting company, they may roll this into your per-square-foot fee or add an equipment fee that tends to be smaller than if you bought these materials yourself. 

Priming

You may need to use a primer (that costs around $10 per can) before painting interior walls, especially if you’re painting over a dark shade with a light shade. Paint primer helps the paint adhere more effectively, resulting in longer-lasting paint jobs and reducing how often you need to paint your home.

Wall Repairs

If your walls are a bit worse for wear, you may need to do some repairs to provide a clean slate for painting. Scratches, dents, and water stains are common issues you can tackle with spackle and a putty knife. Again, taking on this task yourself can save money if you’re hiring a pro.

Accent Walls

The rule when adding an accent wall is to increase the budget for the room by 20% to 30% to cover the cost of additional paint and materials.

Textured Walls

When adding textured walls to create a richer look that hides paint flaws, prepare to increase your painting budget by up to 50% for this premium technique. Textured walls can require double the amount of paint as a smooth wall. Before hiring a professional painter, ensure that they offer this specialized service.

Multiple Colors

If you plan to paint a room using multiple colors, that design decision can impact the overall cost. Some hues are more expensive than others. However, if the different paint shades cost the same, there shouldn’t be a price difference, as the labor costs likely won’t change.

Wallpaper Removal

Removing wallpaper costs around $3 per square foot. In a 12-by-12-foot room, expect to pay about $535 to tear down wallpaper.

Popcorn Ceiling Removal

Expect to pay between $1 and $2 per square foot to de-pop a popcorn ceiling. Once a popcorn ceiling has been removed, extra costs for texture, painting, or other refinishing options will add to the final total. Contact a popcorn ceiling removal pro near you for assistance. 

Unique Architectural Features

If the interior of your home features unique architectural designs such as archways or columns, painting these will impact the cost. Due to the complexity of the areas, the increase in cost is labor-focused, as it takes more keen attention to detail to make them shine.

Moving Furniture

The last thing you want is to get paint on your furniture, so you’ll want to move your beautiful velvet couch either to the center of the room (covered) or out of the room completely. To reduce labor costs when hiring a painter, move the furniture (if you can safely lift it!) before they get started. 

Location

The cost of painting the interior of your home varies with your location. On the West Coast in Los Angeles, for example, the price can fall between $1,300 to $3,700, but on the other side of the country, in New York City, the cost is slightly lower at around $1,100 to $3,400.

The cost is typically lower outside of major cities. In South Oklahoma City, it can cost between $1,100 and $3,300 to paint your home's interior. Up north in Fargo, North Dakota, the price is on the low side, ranging from $640 to $2,100.

How to Calculate the Cost to Paint the Interior of Your Home

Measuring the square footage of each room you plan to paint is an essential part of the process. To calculate square footage, multiply the length of the room by the width in feet: 

Length x Width = Area in square feet.

If the space isn't a perfect shape, section off the room to make sizable shapes (such as squares or rectangles) and measure each section at a time. Add the square footage areas together to get the total square footage of the room.

How Much Paint Do You Need?

As a general rule of thumb to know how much paint you need, 1 gallon of paint is required per 300 to 400 square feet. If you have textured walls or choose thinner paint formulas, your project may require more materials.

To air on the side of caution, overestimate by purchasing 1 gallon per 400 square feet. To get your estimation, use this equation: 

Total square footage / 400 = Number of gallons of paint. 

For example, if your house is 2,400 square feet, you would need 6 gallons of paint (2,400 / 400 = 6). 

Cost to Paint the Interior of a House Yourself

Interior painting is a pretty common job to take on yourself. Most DIY painters can expect to pay $200 to $300 in painting supplies when grabbing paint, primer, tape, brushes, drop clothes, and other odds and ends. 

Here’s a complete list of items to purchase if you’re looking to DIY your project:

DIY vs. Hiring a Pro to Paint Your Home’s Interior

While it may seem like a fun weekend project, painting a room requires a heavy time commitment, paint skills, and often, previous experience to end up with a result that you’ll want to show off to friends. Hiring a pro is the best way to ensure a paint job is done accurately and efficiently so you can enjoy your refreshed rooms according to schedule.

When hiring a painting interior professional in your area, you can expect to pay $20 to $50 hourly for labor on top of the cost of supplies. A DIY paint job could cost homeowners between $200 and $300, but with this cost savings comes the risk of bubbling paint and drips if you don’t have experience.

Angi Tip

Oil-based paints contain higher volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than latex paints. To limit your exposure to VOCs while painting indoors, keep the area well-ventilated, wear respiratory protection, and avoid the painted area for at least 72 hours once finished.

Diana Bird

Editor

How to Save Money While Painting a Home’s Interior

Whether you decide to DIY your interior painting or hire a professional painter, you can use some money-saving tricks to reduce your overall costs.

• If you’re already working with a contractor on a different job, they may be able to help you purchase paint for a DIY project. They can likely find it at a more affordable rate.

• Save on setup and cleanup by tarping off furniture and fixtures and tapping off the area ahead of time.

• Reduce the time painters spend on repairs by fixing holes or scratches in the walls before they arrive.

How Angi Gets Its Cost Data

Home is the most important place on earth, which is why Angi has helped more than 150 million homeowners transform their houses into homes they adore. To help homeowners with their next project, Angi provides readers with the most accurate cost data and upholds strict editorial standards. We’ve surveyed over 30,000 real Angi customers about their project costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We pair this data with research from reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects. 

Want to help us improve our cost data? Send us a recent project quote to costquotes@angi.com. Quotes and personal information will not be shared publicly.