How much does it cost to paint a 1200 sq ft house in South Boston, MA?
| Typical total$3.63 per ft² of floor area | $4,353 |
|---|---|
| Range you should see in bidsthree bids on the same scope normally land inside this | $2,721 – $8,162 |
| Labor portion78% of the job — this is the part that moves by city | $3,395 |
| Material portion22% — bought at national prices | $958 |
| Painters, Construction and Maintenance pay near South Bostonabout $31/hr · Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro | $64,910/yr |
| U.S. mean for the same tradeSOC 47-2141 | $55,420/yr |
| Versus the national pricetrade pay here runs +17.1% against the U.S. mean | +$513 |
| Narrow exterior window85 freezing days a year. Standard exterior paint needs 50°F and rising, so South Boston 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 South Boston, MA average $64,910 a year against a U.S. mean of $55,420 — a factor of 1.171 — so the labor half is scaled by that and the material half is not. Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 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. 85 freezing days a year. Standard exterior paint needs 50°F and rising, so South Boston 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 $4,353 quote into a $5,441 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 South Boston, MA
$4,353 is the typical number, and three bids on the same scope normally land between $2,721 and $8,162.
That is $513 more than the same job priced at the national average.
Why the city changes the number
About 78% of this job is labor — $3,395 of the $4,353 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 South Boston average $64,910 a year, against a U.S. mean of $55,420. That is a factor of 1.171, so the labor half is scaled by it and the material half is not.
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 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 $4,353 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 $2,721 – $8,162, that is not automatically wrong — but it is the question worth asking out loud.
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Read more
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