Painting the inside of a house costs $3,500 to $10,000 on average in 2026, by national published figures. We do not publish a Salt Lake City price list, because the walls set the price: how many rooms, how high the ceilings are, how much repair the plaster or textured drywall needs and what you want painted besides the walls.
Price ranges on this page are national figures published by HomeGuide for 2026. They are not our quotes. Local labor, paint prices and the condition of your own surfaces move the number up or down. Last checked October 2026.
How much does it cost to paint the interior of a house?
Nationally it costs $3,500 to $10,000 to paint a whole interior, with a national average of $7,500. HomeGuide lists a low of $2,000 and a high of $15,000. The same page gives $1 to $3 per square foot of wall and ceiling surface, and $350 to $850 per room.
Salt Lake homes vary a lot. A 1920s bungalow in Sugar House has plaster walls, tall baseboards and wood windows with many coats on them. A 2005 house in South Jordan has textured drywall, a two-story entry and a vaulted great room. Both can take more labor than a plain single-level rambler, for different reasons. We see the house before we price it.
How much does it cost to paint a room?
One room costs $300 to $1,000 on average, by HomeGuide's national figures for a single room, with a national average of $750. The low it lists is $150 and the high is $2,500. Many painters have a minimum job price, which the same page puts at $250 to $500 or more.
| Room | National range |
|---|---|
| Bathroom | $150 to $400 |
| Primary bathroom | $250 to $650 |
| Kitchen, walls only | $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 |
| Open-plan basement | $800 to $2,500 |
Finished basements are common in the valley, so many whole-house jobs here include that last line.
How much to paint a 1,500 or 2,000 square foot house inside?
For a 1,500 square foot house the national range is $4,500 to $6,000, and for a 2,000 square foot house it is $6,000 to $8,000. These come from HomeGuide's table by home size on its interior painting page.
| Home size | National range |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| 1,800 sq ft | $5,400 to $7,200 |
| 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 |
Count the basement if it is finished and you want it painted. A rambler listed at 1,500 square feet on the main floor can have the same again downstairs.
How much to paint a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house?
A 3-bedroom house costs $1,200 to $8,500 to paint inside, by the national figures. HomeGuide prices by bedroom count like this: 2-bedroom $1,000 to $6,400, 3-bedroom $1,200 to $8,500, 4-bedroom $2,000 to $10,000.
The range is wide because the bedroom count says little about the rest of the house. The two bathrooms are small jobs, listed at $150 to $400 each for a standard bathroom. The living room, kitchen, halls, stairs and any basement are what move the total. A written room-by-room quote is the only fair way to compare.
How much do painters charge per square foot?
Painters charge $1 to $3 per square foot of surface painted, by the national figures. Measured by floor space instead, the same source gives $3 to $7 per square foot.
Make sure you know which one a quote uses. A 12 by 12 room has 144 square feet of floor but close to 400 square feet of wall. HomeGuide breaks the surface price down as walls only $1.00 to $2.00 per square foot, with ceilings adding $1.00 to $2.00.
Do painters charge by the room or by the square foot?
Both are used, and some painters price by the room for small jobs and by the square foot for whole houses. Others work out the hours and materials and give one total. None of these is wrong.
What matters is that the quote lists what is painted in each room: walls, ceiling, baseboards, doors, window trim and closets. Two prices by the room can differ just because one includes the ceiling and the other does not.
Does it cost more to paint ceilings as well as walls?
Yes. Ceilings add $1.00 to $2.00 per square foot to a walls-only price, by the national figures. Per room, HomeGuide's interior page lists a bedroom ceiling at $150 to $300 and a living room ceiling at $250 to $1,000.
Ceilings in the valley are often textured, and many older ones have popcorn finish. Textured ceilings take more paint and more care. See our page on wallpaper, popcorn ceilings and drywall for those.
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. A whole house of interior trim is listed at $500 to $2,000. Interior doors are $75 to $150 each.
Older Salt Lake homes have wide baseboards, picture rails and paneled doors, which take longer than the flat trim in a newer house. Trim that goes from stained wood to paint needs a bonding primer and extra coats, so it costs more than a repaint in the same color.
How much extra for high or vaulted ceilings and stairwells?
Ceilings higher than 10 feet raise the painting cost by 10% to 50% or more, by HomeGuide's figures. It does not publish a dollar amount, because the extra is ladder, plank or scaffold time.
For stairwells it lists a price per linear foot that rises with height: $16 for walls 8 to 13 feet high, $20 for 13 to 17 feet, $24 for 17 to 19 feet and $30 above 19 feet. Two-story entries and vaulted great rooms are standard in homes built here since the 1990s, so we measure the height when we visit.
Does it cost more to go from a dark color to white?
Usually yes, because it takes more coats. No national figure is published for a dark color change. HomeGuide only says that going from dark to light, or light to dark, may need extra coats, which adds paint and labor.
A deep red or navy wall often needs a primer coat and two finish coats to turn white. Tell the painter the current colors when you ask for a quote, so the number does not change later.
How much more if the walls need a lot of prep?
Sanding and patching add $1 to $3 per square foot where the work is needed, by the national figures. Beyond that, heavy prep is priced by what we find.
In this valley the usual items are cracks in old plaster, nail pops and seam cracks in drywall as the framing dries out each winter, and texture that has to be matched after a patch. Our quotes include normal prep: patching, sanding, caulking and priming. Large repairs are listed as their own line.
Does the price include moving furniture and covering floors?
With us, yes. We move and cover furniture and protect floors as part of the job. We only ask you to put away small and fragile items, pictures and anything valuable.
Not every painter works this way. HomeGuide lists moving furniture as an add-on at $35 to $60 per hour nationally. Ask each company whether it is in the price.
Why are my painting quotes so far apart?
Painting quotes end up far apart because they are rarely for the same job. Labor is 70% to 85% of an interior painting price by the national figures, so any difference in prep or coats shows up fast.
- One coat or two, and whether primer is included.
- Walls only, or ceilings, trim, doors and closets as well.
- How much patching and sanding is allowed for.
- The grade of paint.
- Who moves furniture and how floors are protected.
- Whether the company is licensed and insured.
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 number of coats, the paint and the prep.
You can set it against the national ranges on this page, but treat those as a rough guide. A quote above the range is not wrong if the house has high ceilings, old plaster or a lot of trim. A quote far below every other one deserves questions about coats and prep.
A free estimate with a written quote is the only way to get a real price for your job. Call or text (801) 618-4881.