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How much does it cost to paint a 1500 sq ft house in Appleton, WI?

A full interior repaint in Appleton, WI
$4,768
1,500 ft² of floor area · typical range $2,980 – $8,940
Typical total$3.18 per ft² of floor area$4,768
Range you should see in bidsthree bids on the same scope normally land inside this$2,980 – $8,940
Labor portion78% of the job — this is the part that moves by city$3,719
Material portion22% — bought at national prices$1,049
Painters, Construction and Maintenance pay near Appletonabout $26/hr · Appleton, WI metro$54,950/yr
U.S. mean for the same tradeSOC 47-2141$55,420/yr
Versus the national pricetrade pay here runs −0.8% against the U.S. mean−$32
Narrow exterior window142 freezing days a year. Standard exterior paint needs 50°F and rising, so Appleton exterior work is a summer job whatever the quote says—

Notes

  • Where the number comes from. The national price for a full interior repaint is $3.20 per ft² of floor area — interior painting pricing published for 2026, $2–$6 per ft² of floor area. Labor is about 78% of that. Painters, Construction and Maintenance near Appleton, WI average $54,950 a year against a U.S. mean of $55,420 — a factor of 0.992 — so the labor half is scaled by that and the material half is not. Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Appleton, WI metro area, SOC 47-2141.
  • Why the city matters, not just the state. Trade pay moves inside a state as much as it does between states. Crews do not commute across a state to bid a job, and materials ship at national prices either way — so a metro wage is the honest input here and a state average quietly rounds four different cities into one number.
  • Narrow exterior window. 142 freezing days a year. Standard exterior paint needs 50°F and rising, so Appleton exterior work is a summer job whatever the quote says.
  • What is in the price: walls and ceilings, two coats, minor patching, masking, and labor.
  • What is not: trim and doors priced separately by most crews, wallpaper removal, and drywall repair beyond nail holes. These are the lines that turn a $4,768 quote into a $5,960 invoice, so ask about each one before signing.
  • Use this as a bid check, not a quote. It prices an average job in average condition. Difficult access, the state of what is being replaced, the season, and a crew booked out three months all move the real number, and none of them are in a per-unit average.

a full interior repaint in Appleton, WI

$4,768 is the typical number, and three bids on the same scope normally land between $2,980 and $8,940.

That is $32 less than the same job priced at the national average.

Why the city changes the number

About 78% of this job is labor — $3,719 of the $4,768 above. Labor is the only part that moves locally; a bundle of material costs what it costs wherever it is nailed down.

Painters, Construction and Maintenance near Appleton average $54,950 a year, against a U.S. mean of $55,420. That is a factor of 0.992, so the labor half is scaled by it and the material half is not.

Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Appleton, WI metro area, SOC 47-2141.

What the quote should include

Narrow exterior window

The lines that turn a quote into an invoice

Ask about each of them before you sign. On a job this size they are the difference between $4,768 and something a quarter higher.

Use it as a bid check, not a quote

This prices an average job in average condition. Access, the state of what is being replaced, the season, and a crew booked out three months all move the real number, and none of them are in a national average.

If a bid lands outside $2,980 – $8,940, that is not automatically wrong — but it is the question worth asking out loud.

Nearby sizes

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