Published, sourced, and updated
What painting actually costs in Massachusetts
Only one other painting company in this market publishes any pricing at all. Here is ours, with the sources, so you can hold every bid you receive — including ours — against the same numbers.
Where Target Painting sits in these ranges
Straight answer, because it is the first thing anyone wants to know and the last thing this industry will say out loud: we are usually in the upper half of these ranges, and on some categories at or slightly above the top of them.
These numbers are the market. They are what Massachusetts painting companies published for 2026, sourced below, and they cover everyone — the two-person outfit working out of a pickup and the company carrying workers compensation on twenty employees. Both are in that range. They are not doing the same job.
Four things put us where we are, and each one is a real cost rather than a margin decision:
- Prep time. Scraping to a sound edge, feathering, spot-priming every bare board. It is most of the labour on an exterior and it is the entire difference between a repaint that lasts five years and one that lasts twelve. It is also the first thing cut to win a bid.
- W-2 crews, not day labour. We carry workers compensation on our own people, which is why you can ask for a certificate of insurance and have it the same day. That is a line on our cost sheet and it does not appear on everyone’s.
- In-house carpentry. The rot gets fixed properly before paint goes on it, by our own carpenter, half a day ahead of the paint crew. Subcontracting that is cheaper and it is why so many jobs stall.
- A 3-year written warranty. A warranty you intend to honour has to be priced in. One you do not intend to honour is free.
So: if a bid comes in well under the bottom of these ranges, the honest read is not that someone is being generous. It is that the scope is smaller, and the useful next move is to ask which of those four things has been left out. We will happily go through a competing bid with you line by line — half the time it is genuinely cheaper because it is genuinely less work, and you should know that before you choose rather than after.
What to do with this page
Print it. Take it to every estimate you get, including ours. Ask each contractor where in the range they land and why.
A contractor who can answer that question in specifics has thought about your house. One who cannot has thought about the bid.
We would rather lose a job to a better-scoped bid than win one by pretending the numbers do not exist.
Nothing here is a quote
These are published market ranges for Massachusetts, updated 14 August 2026. Your number depends on the height, the condition, the substrate, the detail and the access — which is what the walk-through is for.
How to use this page
Find your scope, note the range, then ask every contractor you meet the seven questions on our checklist. If two bids sit at opposite ends of a range, the difference is almost always prep and number of coats — not profit.
Exterior painting
| Home size | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 sq ft | $3,000 – $5,000 | Cape, ranch, small colonial |
| 1,500 – 2,500 sq ft | $5,000 – $9,000 | The MetroWest standard |
| 2,500 – 3,500 sq ft | $8,000 – $14,000 | Staging on some elevations |
| 3,500 sq ft and up | $12,000 – $20,000+ | Weston, Dover, Carlisle scale |
| Scope | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Trim, soffit and fascia only | $800 – $2,800 |
| Siding only, no trim | $2,800 – $6,000 |
| Doors and shutters | $280 – $780 |
| Front entry door alone | $250 – $500 |
| Shutters, per pair | $75 – $150 |
| House wash only | From $450 |
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Second storey vs single storey | +20 – 35% |
| Third storey | +20 – 30% again |
| Heavy scraping and sanding | +$500 – $2,500 |
| Full paint stripping | $0.50 – $2.00 per sq ft |
| Pre-1978 home, lead-safe renovation by a licensed contractor | +15 – 30% |
| Each color beyond body and trim | +$300 – $800 |
| Cedar shingle vs vinyl | roughly +25% |
Interior painting
| Room | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Closet | $100 – $315 |
| Bathroom | $200 – $670 |
| Hall or stairwell | $450 – $900 |
| Dining room | $600 – $1,200 |
| Bedroom | $650 – $1,200 |
| Kitchen (walls only) | $850 – $1,500 |
| Living or family room | $1,200 – $1,700 |
| Whole home, ~2,000 sq ft | $5,000 – $10,000 |
| Add-on | Typical rate |
|---|---|
| Walls, per sq ft of floor area | $2.00 – $6.00 |
| Trim — baseboard, casing, crown | $1 – $4 per linear ft |
| Interior door, each | $40 – $150 |
| Adding ceilings to a room | roughly +18% |
| Ceilings above 9ft | +20 – 30% |
Kitchen cabinet refinishing
| Kitchen | Typical total |
|---|---|
| Small — 10 to 15 doors | $1,200 – $2,500 |
| Average — 20 to 30 doors | $2,500 – $4,000 |
| Large — 35+ doors with island and pantry | $4,000 – $6,000 |
| Per door | around $100 in Greater Boston |
| Per linear foot of cabinetry | $30 – $60 |
| Dark stain to light color | +25% |
Decks, fences and washing
| Work | Typical rate |
|---|---|
| Deck staining, per sq ft | $1.50 – $4.00 |
| Stripping and sanding an old finish | $1.00 – $2.20 per sq ft |
| Railing, per linear foot | $6 – $14 |
| House soft wash | From $450 |
Reapplication intervals in New England: clear sealers every 1–2 years, semi-transparent stain every 2–3, solid stain every 4–6.
Commercial
| Work | Typical rate |
|---|---|
| Commercial interior, per sq ft | $2 – $6 |
| Hourly, Greater Boston | $60 – $100 |
| Portfolio and association work | Agreed unit rates, held for the term |
Paint, so you can read any quote
| Product | Approx. per gallon |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore ben | $45 – $48 |
| Benjamin Moore Regal Select | $64 – $73 |
| Benjamin Moore Aura | $80 – $94 |
| Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint | $43 – $70 |
| Sherwin-Williams Duration | $62 – $88 |
| Sherwin-Williams Emerald | $73 – $104 |
Labour is 75–85% of the cost of any paint job. Which is why “we’ll use a cheaper paint to save you money” is an offer to reduce a fifth of the cost by degrading the thing that determines how long the other four fifths last.
Deposits and payment, under Massachusetts law
A Massachusetts home improvement contractor may not require an advance deposit of more than one third of the total contract price, or the actual cost of special-order materials, whichever is greater. Contracts over $1,000 must be written, must carry the contractor’s HIC registration number, and must state start and substantial completion dates. Final payment is due on completion.
Mass.gov — home improvement contract requirements · MGL c.142A §2
Where these numbers come from
Massachusetts painting companies publishing 2026 ranges: Paint Pro New England, SL Painting, Fine Coat Painters, Quality Preferred, JM All-Pro, Vision Painting, Catchlight Painting. National datasets: HomeGuide, Angi, Improovy. Regulatory: Mass.gov, MGL c.142A. Paint pricing: Prudent Reviews, PaintStrategies.
Where sources conflicted we used the lower, more widely corroborated figure and said so. Figures last reviewed 14 August 2026.
FAQ
About our pricing
Why publish prices when nobody else does?
Because hiding them is what makes this trade feel adversarial. When nobody publishes, the homeowner cannot tell a well-prepped job from a cheap one and the lowest bid wins by default. Publishing the range means we compete on what is in the scope instead of on who guessed lowest.
Are these your prices, or the market’s?
These are the published 2026 Massachusetts market ranges, sourced below. Our quotes land inside them. If your job comes in above the range, the estimate will show you which part of your house is responsible — height, prep, lead, detail — before you sign anything.
Do you price-match?
No, but we will scope-match. Send us a competing bid and we will show you line by line where the two scopes differ. Half the time the other bid is genuinely cheaper because it is genuinely less work, and you should know that before you choose.
How much deposit do you take?
Massachusetts law caps a home improvement deposit at one third of the contract price, or the cost of special-order materials if that is greater. We do not ask for more than the statute allows, and the balance is due after the punch list is complete — not before. How that works →
Do you offer financing?
Yes, for larger projects. Details →
Get a real number, in writing, within one business day.
Walk-through, measurements, a fixed price and a start date. No pressure, no “today only” discount, no obligation.