Paint cost calculator
Paint for an average room is $50 to $140; hiring the job out runs 5 to 15 times that. Square feet in, dollars out. Pick the grade you're actually going to buy and this page prices the cans, the primer if you need it, and the supplies if you're starting bare, then adds an optional labor band for the hire-it-out total.
Buying the supplies kit instead of using what you have? Shop paint supplies on Amazon (sponsored)
How the math works
Area times coats, divided by 350 sq ft per gallon, rounded up to real cans. A 12x12 room's 334 sq ft of wall needs 2 gallons for two coats: $50 in budget paint, $90 mid-grade, $140 premium. Quarts price at 45% of the gallon (the typical big-box ratio, and the reason the calculator turns three quarts into a gallon). Primer prices at $25 per gallon and covers about 300 sq ft, one coat.
Where to spend: hiding power and scrubbability live in the mid and premium lines. Where to save: ceilings and closets, where budget flat does the job fine.
Turn on the labor estimate and the page adds a band of $1 to $3 per square foot of wall on top of materials, then shows the hired-out total as a range. It is wide on purpose, and not a single number on purpose, because real quotes turn on prep, ceiling height, and market more than on the paint. Use it to see roughly what rolling it yourself saves, not to hold a contractor to a figure.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to paint a 12x12 room?
DIY, about $135: roughly $90 in paint (2 gallons of a $45 mid-grade line) plus $45 in supplies if you are starting bare. Hire it out and the same room's 334 sq ft of wall runs about $330 to $1,000 in labor, the calculator's $1 to $3 per sq ft of wall band. The paint is the cheap part either way; the spread is labor.
How much does it cost to paint a house?
Materials scale with paintable area: a 2,000 sq ft interior repaint is roughly $300 to $600 in paint and primer, and hiring it out adds a labor band several times larger. Whole-house labor swings hard with prep, trim, stairwells, and market, so price the materials here from your total wall area, treat labor as a wide planning range, and get three quotes. The interior and exterior whole-house area pages are linked below.
Is expensive paint worth it?
Usually, if the price buys hiding power. A $70 gallon that covers in two coats beats a $25 gallon that needs three: fewer cans and a whole day of your life back. Where premium stops paying is the fourth wall of a rental you are leaving.
What supplies do I actually need?
Roller frame and two covers, a cut-in brush, tray, tape, and a drop cloth: about $45 new. If you own the hardware from the last job, a fresh roller cover and tape is under $15. The calculator’s supplies line assumes the full kit.
How much do painters charge per square foot?
Two bases circulate: about $1 to $3 per square foot of wall actually painted, or $2 to $6 per square foot of floor area, which land close for a normal-height room. This page uses the wall-area basis to match its materials math. Either way, get line-item quotes: "paint" that includes patching and priming a ceiling is a different job than cutting in around it.
Get the gallons first
This page prices paint you already know the area for. Figure the area with the room paint calculator, a named room like the bedroom page, or a whole house (2,000 sq ft interior). How far a gallon goes: coverage guide.