# Painting Contractor Pricing Guide

Canonical URL: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/painting-contractor-pricing-guide/
Plain text: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/painting-contractor-pricing-guide/llms.txt
Publisher: SimplyWise, Inc. (https://www.simplywise.com)
Published: August 31, 2026
Updated: October 5, 2026
Category: Project Cost Guides
Summary: Painting contractor pricing done right: the wage floor, the loaded hour, the federal lead rule that gates repaint work, and the fee lines to charge.

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## Painting Contractor Pricing: Set the Rate Before You Bid

Painting contractor pricing starts at the wage floor and the lead rule, not at the shop down the road.

At a glance

1. Start at the wage floor: $49,400 a year, $23.75 an hour, May 2025.
2. Painters sit below the construction trades median of $58,150, so rate discipline is on you.
3. Your billable hour carries taxes, insurance, the van, prep time, and drive time.
4. EPA firm certification gates repaint work in pre-1978 housing, so it is not handyman work.
5. That certification runs five years and carries a fee, so it is overhead.
6. Fall protection starts at six feet in construction, so access belongs on the quote.

## Painting contractor pricing starts at the wage floor

Painting contractor pricing starts with what the work pays. Median pay for painters, construction and maintenance was $49,400 a year in May 2025, or $23.75 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned under $37,440. The highest 10 percent earned more than $78,810.

Those figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction trades workers ran a median of $58,150 in the same survey, and all occupations ran $50,980. So painters sit below both.

| Industry | Median annual wage, May 2025 |
| --- | --- |
| Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals | $69,660 |
| Residential building construction | $52,000 |
| Nonresidential building construction | $49,980 |
| Painting and wall covering contractors | $48,830 |

Read the bottom row twice. Painting and wall covering contractors, the shops most painters work for, pay the least of the four. Meanwhile the trade held 326,900 jobs in 2025, and BLS projects 3 percent growth through 2035.

## The billable hour is never the wage you pay

Still, the wage is only the floor. Payroll taxes, workers comp, liability, the van, spray gear, and ladders ride on the hours you bill. So does drive time. So does the free walk-through.

Painting also buries unbillable hours inside billable ones. Masking, patching, caulking, and sanding happen before a drop of finish goes on. Quote the finish, eat the prep, and the loaded hour is fiction. That gap is labor burden (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/what-is-labor-burden-in-construction/).

Also price the calendar. Most painters work full time, but outdoor painting jobs may be seasonal, per BLS. A June rate will not carry February.

## The lead rule keeps this off a handyman rate

Here is the gate under the whole trade. The EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule covers homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978. Anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces there must be certified. Employees must be trained in lead-safe work practices. The rule covers all firms, even sole proprietorships.

Painting preparation sits on the EPA list of covered activities. Firms cannot advertise or perform covered work without certification. Paint testing is not required, but unless you document that the paint is not lead-based, the rule applies anyway.

The carve-out is narrow. Minor repair and maintenance that disturbs six square feet or less of paint per room inside is exempt. So is 20 square feet or less outside. Still, the rule always covers window replacement and demolition of painted surfaces.

Because the gate is real, price it. EPA firm certification runs five years. The renovation firm certification and recertification fee is $300. Apply for recertification at least 90 days early. Some states and Tribes run their own programs, so confirm where you apply. Then bill the lead-safe work practices, the pamphlet handoff, and the recordkeeping.

## Skip the retyping

Once you settle the rate and the fee lines, hand typing is the slowest part. SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized, branded estimate in about 6 seconds. Every line carries a unit, quantity, and price per unit. Pricing is $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr, about $20/mo on annual, with a 7-day free trial.

## Height and access are a price line

Exterior work is where a rate quietly breaks. Painting takes a lot of bending, kneeling, reaching, and climbing, per BLS. Painters who work on buildings may work at extreme heights.

OSHA requires fall protection at six feet in the construction industry. Staging, ladders, and harnesses are equipment, setup hours, and often a second set of hands. So a two story elevation is not the same price as a ranch.

## Put the invisible work on its own line

Prep is the job. Masking, sanding, patching, priming, and cleanup are where the hours go. Bury them in one finish number and you lose the bid to a cheaper quote. Then you lose money on the next one.

So state each one: surface prep, masking, lead-safe setup, access and staging, and the extra coat a color change demands. Clients rarely argue with a line they can read. In addition, those lines recover your overhead (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/what-is-overhead-in-construction/) instead of burying it.

## Build your painting contractor pricing in this order

1. Start at the loaded hour Take the wage you pay. Add taxes, insurance, the van, and the hours nobody bills. Then divide by the hours you can sell.
2. Price the compliance line If the address predates 1978, price the certified crew and the lead-safe setup first. Add the pamphlet handoff too.
3. Split prep from finish Give prep, masking, and access their own lines. Then the finish coat is not carrying the whole job.
4. Apply margin last Margin goes on after labor, materials, and fees are on the page. Applied earlier it hides a cost you forgot.

## Keep reading

- Estimate a Painting Job (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/how-to-estimate-painting-job/)
- Painting Estimate Template (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/painting-estimate-template/)
- Electrical Contractor Pricing Guide (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/electrical-contractor-pricing-guide/)
- Paint Coverage Calculator (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/paint-coverage-calculator-sq-ft-to-gallons/)
- Cost to Paint a House (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/cost-to-paint-a-house/)
- Project Cost Guides (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/cost-guides/)

## Sources

- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.htm) (painter medians, percentiles, and industry medians; released May 15, 2026, verified 2026-08-24).
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Painters (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/painters-construction-and-maintenance.htm) (employment, projections, schedules, work environment; verified 2026-08-31).
- EPA, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program (https://www.epa.gov/lead/lead-renovation-repair-and-painting-program) (pre-1978 scope; verified 2026-08-21).
- EPA, RRP Program: Contractors (https://www.epa.gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program-contractors) (covered activities and thresholds; verified 2026-08-21).
- EPA, RRP Program: Firm Certification (https://www.epa.gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program-firm-certification) (five year term, $300 fee; verified 2026-08-21).
- OSHA, Fall Protection (https://www.osha.gov/fall-protection) (six foot construction trigger; verified 2026-08-21).
- SimplyWise Cost Estimator, App Store (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simplywise-cost-estimator/id6670619664) (4.8 rating; verified 2026-08-21).

## Common questions from painters

**What should painting contractor pricing be based on?**

Your loaded cost per billable hour, not the wage. Median pay for painters was $23.75 an hour in May 2025, per BLS. Burden rides on top of that.

**Do I need EPA certification to paint a pre-1978 house?**

If someone pays you to disturb painted surfaces in pre-1978 housing, yes. EPA requires firm certification and trained renovators. That includes sole proprietorships.

**How long does EPA lead-safe firm certification last?**

Five years. The renovation firm certification and recertification fee is $300. Apply at least 90 days before the current one expires.

**Is there a size exemption from the lead rule?**

A narrow one. Minor repair that disturbs six square feet or less of paint per room inside is exempt. So is 20 square feet or less outside. The rule always covers window replacement.

**Should exterior work price higher than interior work?**

Access is a real cost, so quote it. OSHA requires fall protection at six feet in construction. Staging and ladders are equipment and hours.

**Can SimplyWise price a painting job from a photo?**

Yes. SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized, branded estimate in about 6 seconds. Free to try, at $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr.

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## About SimplyWise

SimplyWise, Inc. (New York, NY) builds mobile apps for contractors, tradespeople, and small business owners. The SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a job site photo into an itemized estimate with labor and material costs in about 6 seconds, and the client signs the branded quote to approve it. It is rated 4.8 on the App Store. It is free to try with a 7-day free trial, then $29.99 per month or $239.99 per year (about $20 per month on the annual plan), and one subscription includes every app in the SimplyWise suite.

- Download: https://www.simplywise.com/download
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