Compare
Cost per square foot
The same national rates, side by side, in the unit each trade bids.
Trades do not bid the same unit, so one price per square foot is easy to misuse. This page lists the other calculators in the unit each trade actually bids. Paint is per square foot of wall for two coats. Floors, tile, decks, patios, and drywall are per square foot of that surface. Roofs are converted from the per-square price. Fence stays per linear foot.
Each row is the same national low, typical, and high, before small-job minimums. A closet of paint still pays for a roller and a full gallon. The room calculator catches that. This table does not. Pick a row, enter a quantity, and the total is materials, labor, and the three columns, rounded to the dollar.
A simple quantity will match that calculator. It will not match a bathroom or kitchen preset, because those are bundles of lines. Sales tax, permits, and hidden repairs are not in the unit rate. The rates are 2026 US national averages for planning, not a bid.
2026 US national average
Typical total
$327
Materials $42Labor $285
- Low
- $201
- Typical
- $327
- High
- $500
Breakdown
Each line is the typical column, rounded to the nearest dollar. The low and high totals use the low and high price of every line.
Interior paint, standard, 2 coats
100 sq ft of wall
$327Mat $42 · Labor $285
- Two coats. The supplies minimum used on very small rooms is not in this unit rate.
- Scaled from the unit rate. Small-job minimums, sales tax, and permits are not applied.
- Project total is rounded to the nearest dollar. Unit rates in the list keep cents.
National unit rates
The same bands as the other calculators, before small-job minimums. Selecting a row updates the total above. Rates keep cents. The project total is rounded to the nearest dollar.
Worked example
Select interior paint, standard, two coats, and enter 100 square feet of wall. That is the worked case below, and it is the quantity the page opens on if you have not changed it. One hundred square feet is a short wall, not a whole room. The room calculator is the right tool once doors and windows matter.
At the unit rates on this page, 100 square feet is about $42 of materials and $285 of labor on the typical column, or $327 installed. The result panel rounds each part to the nearest dollar, so a one-dollar difference versus this sentence can happen.
The same 100 square feet of mid-grade vinyl plank, porcelain floor tile, or drywall will not match that paint number. Scroll the list and select another row. Fence rows are per linear foot, so 100 there is 100 feet of fence, not 100 square feet of yard.