House Painting Cost in Albuquerque, NM (2026)
Updated October 2026 · Albuquerque, NM · index 0.91
How much does it cost to paint a house in Albuquerque? For 2,500 sq ft of paintable surface with interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doors, homeowners in Albuquerque, NM pay about $6,600 on average, and most quotes land between $4,250 and $8,950 — $1.70 to $3.58 per sq ft painted. The price covers protection and masking, prep and spot priming, two finish coats, trim and doors on a full interior, and the final walk-through.
The house painting price in Albuquerque runs 9% below the U.S. average: construction labor in the Albuquerque area runs 16% below the national mean, materials 2% above. The same job averages $7,250 nationally and about $6,650 at the New Mexico statewide index.
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House painting price in Albuquerque by painting scope
What 2,500 sq ft of paintable surface costs in Albuquerque with each painting scope, installed:
| Option | Average · range |
|---|---|
| Interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doorstwo coats throughout, the full repaint$2.64 per sq ft painted | $6,600$4,250 – $8,950 |
| Interior: walls & ceilingstwo coats, trim and doors left as they are$2.03 per sq ft painted | $5,100$3,250 – $6,900 |
| Exterior: siding & bodywashed, prepped and two coats; trim priced apart$1.82 per sq ft painted | $4,550$2,800 – $6,300 |
The least expensive option in Albuquerque is exterior: siding & body, at about $4,550; interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doors averages $6,600, 1.4 times as much.
Cost to paint a house in Albuquerque by size
With interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doors, priced for Albuquerque, NM:
| Size | Average · range |
|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft of paintable surface$2.79 per sq ft painted | $2,800$1,800 – $3,800 |
| 2,500 sq ft of paintable surface$2.64 per sq ft painted | $6,600$4,250 – $8,950 |
| 4,000 sq ft of paintable surface$2.60 per sq ft painted | $10,400$6,700 – $14,100 |
Some costs stay the same whatever the size — walk-through and touch-ups — so a bigger job costs less per unit: $2.60 per sq ft painted for 4,000 sq ft of paintable surface against $2.79 for 1,000 sq ft of paintable surface.
What a house painting in Albuquerque includes
Line by line, the $6,600 average for 2,500 sq ft of paintable surface breaks down like this: 83% labor, 17% materials and equipment.
| Line | Low – high |
|---|---|
| Floor and furniture protection | $100 – $220 |
| Patch, sand and caulk | $330 – $900 |
| Spot primer | $100 – $200 |
| Walls, two coats | $1,950 – $3,950 |
| Ceilings, two coats | $640 – $1,250 |
| Trim and baseboard | $490 – $1,050 |
| Doors, both sides | $490 – $980 |
| Walk-through and touch-ups | $140 – $360 |
Each line is the price book's U.S. rate for that step times Albuquerque's index of 0.91; permit fees are not scaled.
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What affects house painting prices in Albuquerque
Labor and materials in Albuquerque
Construction wages in the Albuquerque metro run 15% below the U.S. mean (BLS, May 2025), and specialty-contractor pay in the city's county moves that down by 1%, to 16% below the national mean. Materials in the area's ZIP codes price 2% above the national average. Together they give Albuquerque a construction cost index of 0.91.
Where Albuquerque sits in New Mexico
Albuquerque is the most expensive of the 3 New Mexico cities in our index, against a statewide index of 0.92. Las Cruces is the least expensive at 0.86.
Against the rest of the country
Of the 306 U.S. cities in JobFlex's index, Albuquerque ranks 256th from the most expensive. The job that averages $6,600 here averages $7,250 at the national rate.
Sales tax in New Mexico
New Mexico's base state sales tax is 4.875%, and cities and counties can add their own. New Mexico also taxes installation labor on real property, so ask whether a quote includes tax on the whole job. Prices on this page are before tax.
What a Albuquerque contractor will ask before quoting
- Surfaces, condition and colors
- Ceiling height and trim scope
- Occupied — phasing and protection
House painting cost in other New Mexico cities
2,500 sq ft of paintable surface with interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doors averages $6,600 in Albuquerque; $6,500 in Santa Fe, $6,250 in Las Cruces.
| City | Average · range |
|---|---|
| Santa Fe, NM1% less | $6,500$4,200 – $8,850 |
| Las Cruces, NM5% less | $6,250$4,000 – $8,450 |
house painting price in Albuquerque: questions
How much does it cost to paint a house in Albuquerque, NM?
About $6,600 for 2,500 sq ft of paintable surface with interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doors, and most Albuquerque quotes fall between $4,250 and $8,950. That is 9% below the U.S. average, where the same job averages $7,250.
What is the painting price per square foot in Albuquerque?
$1.70 to $3.58 per sq ft painted, about $2.64 on average with interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doors. Smaller jobs cost more per unit, because the fixed costs are spread over less.
How much is 4,000 sq ft of paintable surface in Albuquerque?
$6,700 to $14,100, about $10,400 on average, with interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doors — $2.60 per sq ft painted.
Do you need a permit for house painting in Albuquerque?
Usually not: finish or repair work that changes no wiring, plumbing or structure is exempt under the International Residential Code, though Albuquerque or an HOA can still ask for one.
Does the price include sales tax in New Mexico?
No. The prices here are before tax; New Mexico's base state rate is 4.875%, plus any local rate. New Mexico taxes installation labor too.
What is the cheapest painting scope for house painting in Albuquerque?
Exterior: siding & body, at about $4,550 for 2,500 sq ft of paintable surface. Interior: walls, ceilings, trim & doors runs about $6,600.
Other home projects in Albuquerque
House painting cost in New Mexico
How these prices are built
Every price on this page comes from JobFlex's contractor price book: what a homeowner pays a licensed contractor for each step of the job, as a U.S. national average per unit, with the contractor's overhead and profit included and sales tax left out. The house painting is priced step by step, then multiplied by Albuquerque's construction cost index of 0.91.
Where the price book's steps for an option add up to more than 20% over the installed price a published source gives for the whole job, every step but a permit fee is scaled down to the middle of that range: exterior: siding & body × 0.52 (HomeGuide 2026: $1.00–$3.00 per sq ft painted).
The index weighs local construction wages (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025) at 60% and the area's material prices (Craftsman ZIP-area factors) at 40%. Published indices for Albuquerque, each on its own base: RSMeans residential 0.90, HUD 0.90, Craftsman 0.98. Treat any city figure as about ±5%; a contractor's quote for your house is the number to plan with.
Contractors in Albuquerque build quotes like these with JobFlex's Smart Proposal estimator.
- HomeGuide 2026: painters charge $1-$3/sqft; a room $350-$850; trim $1-$4/linear ft
- HomeGuide 2026: whole-home interior $3,500-$10,000 (1,500 sqft home $4,500-$6,000); labor 70-85% of the job