Cost to Paint a House Exterior 2026
Exterior painting is one of the few home maintenance jobs where the visible cost and the real cost are easy to confuse. The paint is cheap; the labor and the preparation are not. Painters who quote $1.50 per square foot and painters who quote $4.00 are usually describing two different amounts of prep on the same wall, so the useful question is not what a house costs to paint, but what a house costs to paint in the condition yours is in.
Cost by house size
The figures below are for a standard two-coat repaint on sound siding, with light prep work, in a mid-cost US market. Trim and soffits are included.
| House size | Exterior wall area | Typical cost range | Cost per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small, 800-1,200 sq ft | ~1,000-1,500 sq ft | $1,800-$4,000 | $1.60-$2.80 |
| Medium, 1,500-2,200 sq ft | ~1,800-2,600 sq ft | $2,800-$7,000 | $1.50-$2.70 |
| Large, 2,500-3,500 sq ft | ~3,000-4,200 sq ft | $4,800-$11,000 | $1.60-$2.60 |
| Two-story | Same ranges as above | Add 20-40% for access | $2.00-$4.00 |
Cost by siding material
Siding changes both the paint and the labor, because texture controls how fast a wall can be covered and how much product soaks in.
| Siding | Cost per sq ft | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Vinyl and aluminum | $1.20-$2.50 | Smooth and sealed; fastest to coat, best coverage |
| Smooth lap / hardboard | $1.50-$3.00 | The baseline material for most homes |
| Stucco | $1.80-$3.80 | Absorbent and irregular; often needs a masonry primer |
| Cedar shake and shingle | $2.50-$5.00 | Deep texture, brush work, and back-brushing to fill grain |
| Brick and block | $2.00-$4.50 | Porous; primer and elastomeric products often required |
| Wood with heavy peeling | $4.00-$7.00 | Scraping, sanding, and priming dominate the cost |
Two materials can sit close together in the table and still quote very differently in practice, because the condition of the existing finish matters more than the substrate. A cedar-sided house whose stain has held up might come in near the low end, while a vinyl-sided house with failing caulk and a swollen window head needs repair work before paint is even relevant. When you compare bids, compare the prep scope line by line rather than the per-square-foot rate, since the rate is the part that hides the most.
Regional and seasonal differences
Labor rates, not paint, drive regional spread. Exterior painting in a high-cost metro such as the Northeast or coastal California commonly runs 30 to 50 percent above the national average, while rural areas of the South and Midwest often sit 15 to 25 percent below it. Climate adds a second variable: homes in the Sun Belt and in freeze-thaw regions tend to need repainting sooner, because ultraviolet exposure and moisture cycling break down the film faster than in a mild, stable climate. Season matters too. Painters book up in spring and early fall, when temperatures sit in the range that lets exterior paint cure properly, and a job squeezed into a cold snap or a heat wave risks a poor bond, so a shoulder-season slot is often cheaper and no worse.
Where the money actually goes
On a maintenance repaint in good condition, paint is roughly 15 to 20 percent of the total, with labor taking the rest. On a house with failing paint, prep can overtake painting entirely.
| Task | Typical share of the bill | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure washing and masking | 5-10% | Every job starts here |
| Scraping and sanding | 5-30% | Depends entirely on the condition of the old paint |
| Priming bare and patched areas | 5-15% | Spot-priming, or a full primer coat on new siding |
| Caulking and minor repair | 3-10% | Sealing joints is what stops water from getting behind the siding |
| Body and trim paint application | 40-60% | The visible work |
Trim, doors and extras
- Trim and fascia. Frequently a second color and always brushed, so it is quoted per linear foot, commonly $2 to $4 per linear foot.
- Exterior doors. Roughly $100 to $250 per door, more if it must be removed, stripped, or restored.
- Garage door. $200 to $600 for a standard two-car door including prep.
- Porch ceilings and railings. Detailed surfaces that consume disproportionate labor; often priced per linear foot or as a lump sum.
- Repair after rot. Replacing soft trim and siding before painting adds material and carpentry at $75 to $150 per square foot of repair area.
How to spend less without a bad result
Paint before the siding fails, not after. A repaint every seven to ten years, or on the schedule the manufacturer of your siding recommends, keeps the prep scope small and the job in the low half of every range above. Wash and repair between full repaints. Get three bids on the same stated scope so you are comparing prep, coats, and trim, not just totals. And if you are willing to do the scraping and priming yourself, many painters will quote only the finish work, which is where the visible savings are. To turn your own wall area into a range, use the Exterior Paint Calculator for gallons and the Painting Cost Calculator for cost; the painting tools index lists the full set.