Interior painting costs $3,500 to $10,000 for a whole home in 2026, by national published figures, or $350 to $850 for an average room. We do not publish a Manhattan price list, because the apartment sets the price: the plaster, the ceiling height, the trim and what your building requires.
Price ranges on this page are national figures published by HomeGuide for 2026. They are not our quotes. Manhattan labor rates, building rules, access and the state of your walls move the number up or down. Last checked October 2026.
How much does it cost to paint the interior of a house or apartment?
Nationally, painting the whole interior of a home costs $3,500 to $10,000, with a national average of $7,500. HomeGuide lists a low of $2,000 and a high of $15,000. Its page on apartments gives these ranges by size.
| Apartment | Size assumed | National range |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 400 to 600 sq ft | $800 to $3,600 |
| 1 bedroom | 600 to 800 sq ft | $1,200 to $4,800 |
| 2 bedrooms | 800 to 1,200 sq ft | $1,600 to $7,200 |
| 3 bedrooms | 1,200 to 1,500+ sq ft | $2,400 to $9,000 |
The same page prices apartment painting at $2 to $6 per square foot of floor space: $2 to $3 for a basic job, $3 to $4 for standard and $4 to $6 for premium. A pre-war apartment with cracked plaster, picture rails and ten-foot ceilings sits at the demanding end of any painter's list. A newer condo with flat drywall is quicker. We cannot say where yours falls until we see it.
How much does it cost to paint a room?
One room costs $300 to $1,000 to paint on average, by the national figures, with a national average of $750. HomeGuide lists a low of $150 and a high of $2,500, and notes that many painters have a minimum project fee of $250 to $500 or more.
| Room | National range |
|---|---|
| Bathroom | $150 to $400 |
| Primary bathroom | $250 to $650 |
| Kitchen (walls) | $150 to $250 |
| Bedroom | $350 to $850 |
| Primary bedroom | $650 to $1,400 |
| Living room | $600 to $2,000 |
| Dining room or hallway | $300 to $1,000 |
An accent wall is listed at $80 to $200. A small Manhattan room is not always a cheap room. Tight spaces packed with furniture, built-ins and old trim take more masking and more brushwork per square foot than a big empty box.
How much to paint a 1,500 or 2,000 square foot home inside?
For 1,500 square feet the national range is $4,500 to $6,000, and for a 2,000 square foot home it is $6,000 to $8,000. Those come from HomeGuide's interior painting page, which prices by floor area.
| Home size | National range |
|---|---|
| 800 sq ft | $2,400 to $3,200 |
| 1,000 sq ft | $3,000 to $4,000 |
| 1,200 sq ft | $3,600 to $4,800 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $4,500 to $6,000 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $6,000 to $8,000 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $7,500 to $10,000 |
| 3,000 sq ft | $9,000 to $12,000 |
HomeGuide's separate page on room painting gives lower whole-house figures: $1,300 to $4,400 for 1,500 square feet and $1,600 to $5,600 for 2,000. The two pages do not agree, which shows how much the scope matters. Walls only is one price. Walls, ceilings, trim, doors and closets is another.
How much to paint a 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment or house?
A 3 bedroom apartment costs $2,400 to $9,000 to paint, by HomeGuide's national apartment figures, and its interior page lists a 3-bedroom house at $1,200 to $8,500. No published figure adds the second bathroom, so here is the sum from the per-room figures.
- Primary bedroom: $650 to $1,400.
- Two more bedrooms at $350 to $850 each: $700 to $1,700.
- Primary bathroom: $250 to $650.
- Second bathroom: $150 to $400.
- Living room: $600 to $2,000.
- Kitchen walls: $150 to $250.
- Hallway: $300 to $1,000.
That adds up to $2,800 to $7,400. It is arithmetic on national figures, not a quote. Closets, ceilings, doors and heavy plaster repair are on top.
How much do painters charge per square foot?
Painters charge $1 to $3 per square foot of surface they cover, or $3 to $7 per square foot of floor space, by the national figures. Walls only are listed at $1.00 to $2.00 per square foot of wall.
Be clear which area a quote uses. A room with 150 square feet of floor can have 450 square feet of wall. HomeGuide also says labor is 70% to 85% of the total, which is why the price follows the hours of prep far more than the gallons of paint.
Do painters charge by the room or by the square foot?
Most painters price by the room or by the whole job, and use square feet and hours behind the scenes to get there. Nationally, labor is listed at $20 to $50 per hour on HomeGuide's interior page and $25 to $75 on its page about hiring a painter.
We give one written price for the scope we agreed on, listed room by room, so you can add or drop a room and see what changes.
Does it cost more to paint ceilings as well as walls?
Yes. Ceilings add $1.00 to $2.00 per square foot on top of the wall price, by the national figures. HomeGuide's ceiling page lists a bedroom ceiling at $100 to $300 and a living room ceiling at $300 to $800.
Old plaster ceilings in pre-war buildings often need more than paint. Cracks, sagging patches and stains from a past leak upstairs must be repaired and sealed first, or they show again within months.
How much extra for trim, doors and baseboards?
Trim and baseboards cost $1 to $4 per linear foot to paint, or $25 to $200 per room, by the national figures. Interior doors are listed at $75 to $150 each, and a door with its trim at $80 to $250.
- Crown molding: $1 to $5 per linear foot.
- Chair rail: $1 to $4 per linear foot.
- Interior window frame: $25 to $100 per window, or $50 to $120 with sashes and mullions.
- French doors: $200 to $400 single, $400 to $800 double.
Pre-war apartments have a lot of trim: tall baseboards, picture rails, panel molding, door casings and paneled doors. If the old paint is thick, chipped or alligatored, getting it smooth takes real time, and old trim paint may contain lead.
How much extra for high ceilings and stairwells?
High ceilings above 10 feet raise the painting cost by 10% to 50% or more, according to HomeGuide. It publishes no dollar figure, so we price high rooms after seeing them.
For stairwells it lists a price per linear foot by wall height: $16 for 8 to 13 feet, $20 for 13 to 17 feet, $24 for 17 to 19 feet and $30 above 19 feet. Lofts in Tribeca and Chelsea and brownstone stair halls in Harlem need towers or scaffolding inside, and that set-up time is part of the price.
Does it cost more to go from a dark color to white?
Yes, usually. Covering dark walls with white or a pale color takes a primer coat or an extra finish coat, and that means more paint and more labor. HomeGuide gives no price for it. It only says a big color change may need additional coats.
Tell the painter about color changes before the quote, not after. The number of coats should be written into it.
How much more if the walls need a lot of prep?
A lot of prep can cost as much as the painting itself. Nationally, sanding and patching is listed at $1 to $3 per square foot, and skim coating a wall at $1.00 to $1.30 per square foot.
This is the line that decides most Manhattan quotes. Cracked plaster, old wallpaper under paint, peeling from past leaks and decades of drips and brush marks all take time to put right. A quote that looks cheap often has very little prep in it. Ask each painter to describe the prep in writing.
Does the price include moving furniture and covering floors?
With us, yes: we move and cover furniture and protect the floors, and we ask you to put away small and fragile things. Not every painter includes it. Nationally, moving furniture is listed as an extra at $35 to $60 per hour on one HomeGuide page and $50 to $80 per hour on another.
In an apartment there is nowhere to move things to, so furniture goes to the middle of the room under plastic. Very full rooms slow the job down. Clearing shelves and walls before we arrive helps.
Do co-op and condo building rules add to the cost?
They can. Many Manhattan buildings limit work to weekday daytime hours, require the service elevator to be booked, and want halls and elevator cabs protected. Shorter working days mean more days on site.
Most buildings also ask the painter for a certificate of insurance before the first day. Tell us your building's rules when you call, or give us the managing agent's contact, so the quote reflects them.
Why are my painting quotes so far apart?
Painting quotes end up far apart because they are rarely for the same job. One covers two finish coats over full plaster repair. Another covers one coat over whatever is there.
- How much patching, skim coating and sanding is included.
- Primer: where and what kind.
- One coat or two, and the grade of paint.
- Walls only, or ceilings, trim, doors, closets and radiators as well.
- Floor and furniture protection and daily clean-up.
- Whether the painter carries the insurance your building asks for.
- Whether lead-safe work methods are priced in for an older home.
Line the quotes up item by item before you compare totals.
How do I know if a painting quote is fair?
A painting quote is fair when it is written, complete and close to other complete quotes for the same scope. It should name the rooms, the surfaces, the prep, the number of coats and the paint.
You can set it against the national ranges on this page, but only as a rough guide. A quote above them is not wrong for a pre-war apartment with heavy plaster work. A quote far below every other one deserves questions.
A free estimate with a written quote is the only way to get a real price for your job. Call or text (917) 970-7431.