How much does it cost to paint a 1500 sq ft house in Portland, ME?
| Typical total$3.51 per ft² of floor area | $5,268 |
|---|---|
| Range you should see in bidsthree bids on the same scope normally land inside this | $3,293 – $9,878 |
| Labor portion78% of the job — this is the part that moves by city | $4,109 |
| Material portion22% — bought at national prices | $1,159 |
| Painters, Construction and Maintenance pay near Portlandabout $30/hr · Portland-South Portland, ME metro | $62,350/yr |
| U.S. mean for the same tradeSOC 47-2141 | $55,420/yr |
| Versus the national pricetrade pay here runs +12.5% against the U.S. mean | +$468 |
| Narrow exterior window138 freezing days a year. Standard exterior paint needs 50°F and rising, so Portland 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 Portland, ME average $62,350 a year against a U.S. mean of $55,420 — a factor of 1.125 — so the labor half is scaled by that and the material half is not. Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Portland-South Portland, ME 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. 138 freezing days a year. Standard exterior paint needs 50°F and rising, so Portland 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 $5,268 quote into a $6,585 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 Portland, ME
$5,268 is the typical number, and three bids on the same scope normally land between $3,293 and $9,878.
That is $468 more than the same job priced at the national average.
Why the city changes the number
About 78% of this job is labor — $4,109 of the $5,268 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 Portland average $62,350 a year, against a U.S. mean of $55,420. That is a factor of 1.125, so the labor half is scaled by it and the material half is not.
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Portland-South Portland, ME 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 $5,268 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 $3,293 – $9,878, that is not automatically wrong — but it is the question worth asking out loud.
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Read more
- Interior Painting Cost by State — From BLS Painter PayPainting is 78% labor — more than any other trade on this site — so state lines move the price here more than they move a roof or a slab. Here is all 51 states, arithmetic shown.
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- What Painters Charge to Paint a Ceiling, and Why It Costs More Than a WallA ceiling is the same square footage as a floor and costs 30 to 60 percent more than a wall to paint. Height, gravity and light are all working against it.