Interior Painting Cost Calculator
Use this free calculator to find the cost to paint the interior of a house or a single room. Enter the floor area or your rooms, choose what gets painted, and see the price for a painter, the price to do it yourself, the paint to buy, and where your painter’s quote sits. Tap the i button beside any field for a plain-English explanation.
Quick answer: the cost to paint the interior of a house = labor for walls, ceilings, trim, and doors + paint. For a 1,500 square foot house with the calculator’s illustrative rates, walls only come to about $4,383, and walls, ceilings, trim, and doors come to about $7,610 with a painter or about $1,365 if you paint it yourself. Replace the rates with your local prices.
Estimate your interior painting cost
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More options (prep, texture, location, tax)
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Your price against the planning range
Your answer, step by step
Cost map
Labor and paint
Hire a painter or do it yourself
Same job, three paint prices
Estimates for planning only. The starting rates are illustrative, not quotes. Confirm prices with local painters and suppliers. See our Disclaimer.
What this interior painting cost calculator does
Search for the cost to paint the interior of a house and you get ranges like $350 to $5,800. That is true, and it does not help you.
This calculator builds the number from your own house. You enter the floor area, or each room’s length and width, then choose what gets painted and how. It returns a price for hiring a painter, a price for doing it yourself, the gallons to buy, and a planning range. A cost map shows which room or surface takes the biggest share, and a quote check compares a painter’s number with the range. Tap the i button beside any field for a plain-English explanation. If you only need to know how much paint to buy, use the paint calculator or the paint coverage calculator. This page answers the other question: what the job costs.
How much does it cost to paint the interior of a house?
Before you trust any single number, check what it covers. Angi lists an average of $2,022 for interior jobs, a range of $350 to $5,800, and $2 to $6 per square foot of home size. HomeGuide gives a typical range of $3,500 to $10,000 and $4,500 to $6,000 for a 1,500 square foot house. Homewyse puts its May 2026 national figure at $4.22 to $8.19 per square foot, assuming two coats, some patching and sanding, and up to two doors per room.
The gaps come from scope. A figure that covers only walls will always sit below one that includes ceilings, trim, and doors. That is why the calculator asks what you want painted before it gives a price. Its starting rates are illustrative planning figures that I set to sit inside these published ranges. They are not quotes, and you can change the paint price, the coats, and the conditions yourself.
Interior painting cost per square foot
Interior painting cost per square foot has two meanings, and a quote can use either without saying so. One is per square foot of floor, the size of the home. The other is per square foot of wall, the surface the painter covers. HomeGuide shows both: $3 to $7 per square foot of floor and $1 to $3 per square foot of wall. The two HomeGuide ranges imply about 2.3 square feet of wall for every square foot of floor, and that is the ratio the whole-house mode uses.
For the 1,500 square foot example in this article, the calculator’s illustrative rates give $2.92 per square foot of floor for walls alone and $5.07 per square foot of floor when the ceilings, baseboards, window frames, and doors are included. If a quote says “per square foot” and does not say which, ask.
Cost to paint a 1,500 sq ft house interior
A 1,500 square foot house is the size most people ask about, so it is the default in the calculator. With 8 foot ceilings, six interior doors, eight windows, standard paint at $38 a gallon, and two coats, the walls come to about $4,383. Adding the ceilings, baseboards, window frames, and doors brings the total to about $7,610. Painting it yourself costs about $1,365 for paint and supplies.
That works out to about 20 gallons of wall paint, 9 gallons for the ceilings, and about 3 gallons of trim paint. The same rates applied to other house sizes give these totals, with doors and windows scaled to the size (one door per 250 square feet and one window per 190):
| House size | Walls only | Walls, ceilings, trim, doors | Do it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | $2,947 | $5,091 | $948 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $4,383 | $7,610 | $1,365 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $5,856 | $10,167 | $1,819 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $7,292 | $12,664 | $2,235 |
| 3,000 sq ft | $8,765 | $15,220 | $2,689 |
These are planning figures. If you only know the outside dimensions, the square footage calculator helps you find the floor area.
How much does it cost to paint a room?
For a single room, Angi gives about $1,100 as an average, with a range from $200 to $2,000, and its 12 by 12 foot room runs $290 to $870. The size of the room matters more than any average. A 10 by 12 foot bedroom with 8 foot ceilings has about 280 square feet of paintable wall after two doors and two windows are deducted. At the calculator’s rates it costs $372 for walls alone and $827 with the ceiling, baseboards, and doors.
The table shows typical rooms. The first cost column paints the walls only. The second paints walls, ceiling, baseboards, window frames, and doors.
| Room | Size | Walls only | Walls, ceiling, trim, doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bathroom | 5 × 8 ft (40 sq ft) | $220 | $458 |
| Primary bathroom | 8 × 10 ft (80 sq ft) | $342 | $634 |
| Bedroom | 12 × 12 ft (144 sq ft) | $406 | $890 |
| Primary bedroom | 14 × 16 ft (224 sq ft) | $508 | $1,228 |
| Kitchen | 12 × 14 ft (168 sq ft) | $439 | $952 |
| Hallway | 4 × 20 ft (80 sq ft) | $416 | $889 |
| Living room | 15 × 18 ft (270 sq ft) | $579 | $1,261 |
Compare these with the published room costs. HomeGuide lists $350 to $850 for a bedroom, $150 to $400 for a bathroom, and $600 to $2,000 for a living room. Angi lists $300 to $750 for a kitchen and $900 to $2,000 for a living room. The calculator’s walls-only column falls inside those ranges, and the second column shows what the ceiling and trim add. Choose room-by-room mode to enter your own rooms and see the cost map.
Repainting a bathroom
A bathroom is the smallest job, and here it comes out as the most expensive per square foot. It has little wall, but it still has a door, a window or fan, and tight cutting around the tub, vanity, and trim. A 5 by 8 foot bathroom comes to about $220 for the walls and $458 with the ceiling, baseboards, and door, which is $11.45 per square foot of floor, against about $5.07 for the whole house. Some painters set a minimum charge for small jobs.
What the price is made of
Labor is the biggest part. In the 1,500 square foot example it is about 85% of a professional price, and Angi puts labor at 75% to 95% of the total and HomeGuide at 70% to 85%. The rest is paint, at $15 to $40 a gallon in Angi’s guide and $15 to $50 in HomeGuide’s. Each surface is priced on its own. Angi lists walls at $1 to $2 per square foot, a smooth ceiling at $1 to $3, and trim at $1 to $3 per linear foot, while HomeGuide lists interior doors at $75 to $150 each.
What raises or lowers the price
The same house can be priced very differently depending on its condition. I tested each of these against the 1,500 square foot example, with everything else unchanged:
- Coats. One coat takes the total to $4,785, two coats to $7,610, and three coats to $10,113. A big color change often needs more.
- Prep. Heavy prep, with a lot of patching, sanding, and repair, takes the total to $9,862. Angi lists sanding and patching at $0.50 to $0.75 per square foot.
- Texture. Heavily textured walls take the total to $8,878. Angi says textured walls can raise the budget by up to 50%.
- Where you live. Moving the labor rate from a lower-cost area to a very high-cost metro changes the total from $6,645 to $10,184.
- Paint quality. Builder-grade paint brings the total to $7,115 and premium paint to $8,136, a difference of $1,021.
Paint quality changes the price less than the coats do, because the painter’s time does not depend on the paint.
How much paint do you need?
The calculator works out the area, divides by the coverage, and rounds up to whole gallons. For the walls, take the perimeter of the room and multiply by the ceiling height. Then, as Dummies explains, subtract 20 square feet for each door and 15 square feet for each average window. That guide also uses about 350 square feet per gallon. Angi uses 300 to 400 square feet per gallon and HomeGuide says up to 400, so the calculator defaults to 350 and lets you choose 300 or 400.
Multiply the area by the number of coats before you divide. Two coats on 3,450 square feet of wall needs about 20 gallons, not 10. Ceilings are priced at 80% of the wall paint price and trim and doors at 125%. Those are my planning allowances, so replace them if your supplier’s prices differ.
Hiring a painter or doing it yourself
For the 1,500 square foot example, a painter comes to about $7,610 and doing it yourself comes to about $1,365, a saving of $6,246. The do-it-yourself figure covers paint, primer if you choose it, tape, plastic, and rollers, with an allowance of $40 plus $0.03 per square foot painted. It leaves out ladders, sprayers, and your time.
The saving is real, but so is the work. A whole house takes many days, and a mistake on a ceiling or a dark color costs a second coat. One middle route is to paint the walls yourself and pay a painter for the ceilings. Switch the ceilings off in the calculator to see each half.
How to check a painter’s quote
Ask for an itemized quote that lists the surfaces, the number of coats, the prep, the brand and finish of the paint, and who buys it. Then enter the total in the quote box. The calculator draws your quote on the same line as the planning range and tells you whether it falls below, inside, or above it.
A quote above the range may include repairs, primer, cabinets, or accent walls. A quote far below it deserves more attention, because the missing items are usually prep, ceilings, or a second coat. Ask what is left out before you compare prices.
How this calculator works
In whole-house mode, the paintable wall area is the floor area × 2.3 × (ceiling height ÷ 8). In room-by-room mode, it is each room’s perimeter × ceiling height, minus 20 square feet per door and 15 per window. Ceilings equal the floor area. In room-by-room mode baseboards are the room perimeter less 3 feet per door, and in whole-house mode they come from the wall area ÷ ceiling height. Each window adds 12 feet of trim. Every surface has a professional labor rate: $1.00 per square foot of wall, $0.85 per square foot of ceiling, $1.75 per linear foot of trim, and $80 per door, for two coats, light prep, and an average-cost area. One coat multiplies labor by 0.65 and three coats by 1.3. Prep, furniture, texture, and location are multipliers on top.
Paint is the area × coats ÷ coverage, rounded up to whole gallons, at your price per gallon. The professional total is labor plus paint, with sales tax if you enter it. The do-it-yourself total is paint plus supplies. The planning range runs from 80% to 130% of the professional total. Everything runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
What it assumes: the rates are illustrative and are not market data or quotes. The whole-house wall ratio is a rule of thumb, so enter a known wall area if you have it. The tool does not price cabinets, exterior painting, wallpaper removal, or repairs. I am a software engineer, not a painting contractor, so confirm the scope and the price with a local painter. Change log: October 12, 2026, first published with a whole-house mode, a room-by-room mode, a cost map, a do-it-yourself comparison, and a quote check.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to paint the interior of a house?
Published guides give wide ranges. Angi lists an average of $2,022 for interior jobs, with a range of $350 to $5,800, and HomeGuide gives a typical range of $3,500 to $10,000. For a 1,500 square foot house with walls, ceilings, trim, and doors, this calculator’s illustrative rates come to about $7,610 with a professional and about $1,365 if you do the work yourself.
How much does it cost to paint a 1,500 sq ft house interior?
HomeGuide lists $4,500 to $6,000 for a 1,500 square foot house. With the calculator’s illustrative rates, painting only the walls comes to about $4,383, and painting walls, ceilings, trim, and doors comes to about $7,610. The difference is mostly the ceilings, which are 1,500 square feet on their own.
How much does interior painting cost per square foot?
It depends on whether the price is per square foot of floor or of wall. Angi gives $2 to $6 per square foot of home size and HomeGuide gives $3 to $7 per square foot of floor or $1 to $3 per square foot of wall. At the calculator’s rates, walls only come to about $2.92 per square foot of floor, and all surfaces come to about $5.07.
How much does it cost to paint a room?
Angi puts the average at about $1,100 with a range of $200 to $2,000, but size matters more than the average. At the calculator’s illustrative rates, a 12 by 12 foot bedroom comes to about $406 for the walls alone and about $890 with the ceiling, baseboards, and a door.
How much does it cost to repaint a bathroom?
HomeGuide lists $150 to $400 for a bathroom and Angi lists $200 to $400. For a 5 by 8 foot bathroom, the calculator’s illustrative rates give about $220 for the walls and about $458 with the ceiling, trim, and door. Small rooms cost more per square foot, and some painters set a minimum charge for small jobs.
How do I calculate the cost to paint the interior of a house?
Find the wall area (perimeter × ceiling height, minus 20 square feet per door and 15 per window), add ceilings, trim, and doors if you are painting them, then add paint at about 350 square feet per gallon per coat and labor for each surface. The calculator shows each step.
Is it cheaper to paint the house myself?
Yes, because labor is the largest part of a professional job. For the 1,500 square foot example, paint and supplies come to about $1,365 against about $7,610 for a painter, which is a saving of about $6,246. You pay with your time, and results depend on your prep and technique.
Does the paint quality change the price much?
Less than most people expect. Moving the 1,500 square foot example from builder-grade paint at $22 a gallon to premium paint at $55 a gallon adds about $1,021, because the painter’s labor stays the same.
How can I check a painter’s quote?
Ask for an itemized quote that names the surfaces, the coats, the prep, and who buys the paint. Type the total into the calculator to see where it sits against the planning range. A quote outside the range is a prompt to ask questions, not proof that it is wrong.
Sources and further reading
For published costs, see Angi’s interior painting cost guide, Angi’s cost to paint a room, HomeGuide’s interior painting costs, and Homewyse’s room painting cost page. For estimating paint, see Dummies’ guide to how much paint to buy. Prices change with region and season, so confirm all numbers with local painters and suppliers.