Drywall Cost 2026: $1,000–$1,750 to Hang and Finish

Hanging and finishing about 500 square feet of new drywall in a US house — the walls and the ceiling of one ordinary room, the board, the tape, the finish, and the labor in one price, on studs that are already there — often clusters around $1,000–$1,750. That is the typical drywall cost. How much does drywall cost in that scope? It is 500 square feet at $2–$3.50 a square foot, not the $1.50 floor of the wider rate. Drywall installation cost, for that room, is the same band. The cost to install drywall is that installed price. Drywall cost per square foot, installed, is typically $1.50–$3.50, and the typical band is the $2–$3.50 part of that rate on about 500 square feet. How much does it cost to drywall a room in that scope? It is $1,000–$1,750. The wider national spread, about $300–$21,000, covers about 200 square feet at $1.50 a square foot at the low end and about 6,000 square feet at $3.50 a square foot at the high end. Paint on board that is already finished is the interior painting guide. A basement that still needs a floor, paint, and electrical is the basement finishing guide. Foam on an open attic roof, before any board covers a room, is the spray foam guide. These are typical planning ranges, not a survey and not a quote.

This page is new board on a single-family room whose studs are already there. A bid may call it drywall, drywall installation, or hanging Sheetrock. The sheets go up. The seams are taped and finished. It is not paint on walls that are already smooth, which is the interior painting guide. It is not a basement build-out, which is the basement finishing guide. It is not spray foam on a roof deck, which is the spray foam guide. A patch the owner fills from the floor is a different product. This page does not price that patch as the installed rate.

The price of the job is the materials and the labor that installs them. Square feet of board are the first cut. Whether the finish is in is the second. A per-foot rate is a way to check a row. It is not a second bill. Price the board you can measure. A finished room and a hang with no finish are ways to buy one job. The hang replaces the finished rate. It is not a second room under a finished price.

The rows below are ways to read one job. They are not added together. The size table is new board at $1.50–$3.50 a square foot, hung and finished, materials and labor included, on studs that are already there. The typical band is the 500 square foot row from $2 to $3.50. A hang with no finish replaces that rate. It is not a second hang on top of it. Use an add-on row only for a line the size row does not include. Texture the proposal already names is not a second texture. A tear-out the proposal already names is not a second tear-out.

Board	Square feet	Typical installed cost
A small area	200	$300–$700
One room	500	$750–$1,750
Two rooms	1,000	$1,500–$3,500
A floor of rooms	2,000	$3,000–$7,000
A whole house	6,000	$9,000–$21,000

Add-on	Typical planning range
Texture, when the bid leaves it out	$1–$2 per sq ft
Old board or paneling removed, when the bid leaves it out	$0.50–$1 per sq ft

The size rows replace one another. Do not add 1,000 square feet on top of a 500 square foot row for the same walls. The add-on row is a line the size row left out. A smooth finish the 500 square foot price already includes is not the texture row on top. A room that goes on bare studs does not get the tear-out row.

About 200 square feet of board — a small area, not this room — is typically $300–$700. Two hundred times $1.50 is $300, the floor of the row and the floor of the wider spread. Two hundred times $2 is $400, inside the row and $600 under the typical floor. Two hundred times $3.50 is $700, the top, and $300 under the typical floor of $1,000. The whole row sits under the typical band. Seven hundred can be this small area at the top of the rate. It is not the 500 square foot room with a discount. From $300–$700 the job is the 200 square foot row. Do not add the 500 square foot row on top of it.

About 500 square feet — one ordinary room, walls and ceiling — is typically $750–$1,750 on the size row, and the typical band of $1,000–$1,750 is that row from $2 to $3.50 a square foot. Five hundred times $1.50 is $750, the floor of the row and $250 under the typical floor. Five hundred times $2 is $1,000, the typical floor. Five hundred times $3.50 is $1,750, the typical top and the top of the row. The overlap of the size row with the typical band is $1,000–$1,750. From $750–$1,000 the job is at or under the typical floor and stays inside the row. Seven hundred fifty is $250 under the typical floor. One thousand is the typical floor. That span below $1,000 is the light end of the rate, not this finished room at a discount. From $1,000–$1,750 the job is the typical band. This is the room the typical band describes, at $2–$3.50 a square foot, not at $1.50. Do not add a per-foot rate on top of this row. The per-foot reading is how the row was built.

About 1,000 square feet of board is typically $1,500–$3,500. One thousand times $1.50 is $1,500, the floor. One thousand times $2 is $2,000. One thousand times $3.50 is $3,500, the top. The overlap with the typical band is $1,500–$1,750. Fifteen hundred is $500 over the typical floor. Seventeen hundred fifty is the typical top and inside this row. From $1,750–$3,500 the job has left the typical band and stays inside the wider spread. Thirty-five hundred is $1,750 past the typical top and $17,500 under the wider top of $21,000. Fifteen hundred can be 1,000 square feet at $1.50, or inside the 500 square foot row. Ask which board the bid is. Do not add the 500 square foot row to this one.

About 2,000 square feet of board is typically $3,000–$7,000. Two thousand times $1.50 is $3,000, the floor. Two thousand times $2 is $4,000. Two thousand times $3.50 is $7,000, the top. Three thousand is $1,250 past the typical top. The whole row sits above the typical band. Seven thousand is $5,250 past the typical top and $14,000 under $21,000. Three thousand is also inside the 1,000 square foot row, which runs to $3,500. Those are the same dollars and not the same job. One is 2,000 square feet at $1.50. One is 1,000 square feet near the top of its rate. Ask which board the bid is. Do not add the 500 square foot row under a 2,000 square foot price.

About 6,000 square feet of board — a whole house of walls and ceilings, on the order of a 2,000 square foot floor — is typically $9,000–$21,000. Six thousand times $1.50 is $9,000, the floor. Six thousand times $2 is $12,000. Six thousand times $3.50 is $21,000, the top of the row and the top of the wider spread. Nine thousand is $7,250 past the typical top. The whole row sits above the typical band. Twenty-one thousand is the wider top. Nine thousand is also $2,000 past the 2,000 square foot top of $7,000. A 500 square foot room at $1,750 is not this house. Do not add the one-room row under a whole-house price for the same board.

Drywall installation cost

Drywall installation cost is this page when the board is hung and the labor is in the price. How much does drywall installation cost, for that board, is the same installed price. A bid that says drywall cost and a bid that says drywall installation cost are the same dollars when the square feet, the finish, and the labor match. The typical band, $1,000–$1,750, is about 500 square feet of that finished hang. It is not a second product stacked on a size row you already have.

A hang with no finish, on that same 500 square feet, is typically $400–$500. Five hundred times $0.80 is $400. Five hundred times $1 is $500. Four hundred is $100 over the wider floor of $300. Five hundred is $500 under the typical floor. The whole hang-only row sits under the typical band. It replaces the finished rate. It is not a second visit on top of a room that was already finished. A quote near $400 on 500 square feet should say the sheets are hung and the finish is out, not a finished room.

Cost to install drywall

The cost to install drywall is the installed price, not the price of a stack of sheets. How much does it cost to install drywall, for about 500 square feet with the finish in, is $1,000–$1,750. A sheet at the store, with the hang left out, is not this row. Five hundred square feet is about sixteen 4-by-8 sheets before waste. The sheet price is not the installed price. Keep the labor in the number.

Texture, when the bid leaves it out, is typically $1–$2 a square foot. On 500 square feet that is $500–$1,000. Five hundred times $1 is $500. Five hundred times $2 is $1,000. One thousand plus $500 is $1,500, inside the typical band. Seventeen hundred fifty plus $1,000 is $2,750, which is $1,000 past the typical top and inside the 1,000 square foot row. A smooth finish the proposal already includes is not this texture on top. Orange peel, knockdown, or a skip trowel the bid already names is inside the finished price.

Old board or paneling removed, when the bid leaves it out, is typically $0.50–$1 a square foot. On 500 square feet that is $250–$500. Five hundred times $0.50 is $250. Five hundred times $1 is $500. One thousand plus $250 is $1,250, inside the typical band. Seventeen hundred fifty plus $500 is $2,250, which is $500 past the typical top and inside the 1,000 square foot row. A room that goes on bare studs does not get this row. Plaster that has to come off, when the bid leaves it out, is typically $1.50–$3 a square foot and replaces the paneling row. On 500 square feet that is $750–$1,500. Five hundred times $1.50 is $750. Five hundred times $3 is $1,500. One thousand plus $750 is $1,750, the typical top. Seventeen hundred fifty plus $1,500 is $3,250, inside the 1,000 square foot row and $250 under that row’s $3,500 top. Do not add plaster on top of a paneling removal for the same wall.

Drywall cost per square foot

Drywall cost per square foot is the installed board, not the price of a sheet with no labor named. The size rows use $1.50–$3.50, materials and labor included. The typical band uses $2–$3.50 on about 500 square feet. Five hundred times $2 is $1,000, the typical floor. Five hundred times $3.50 is $1,750, the typical top. Five hundred times $1.50 is $750, the floor of the 500 square foot row. Use the foot line when the bid is written that way. Do not add those feet on top of a size row that already includes them.

A hang with no finish is not this foot price. That hang, on 500 square feet, is $400–$500, which is $0.80–$1 a square foot. Eighty cents is under the $1.50 floor. A finished room and a hang-only room are not the same foot. Ask which finish is in the price.

Cost to drywall a room

The cost to drywall a room is this page when the room is about 500 square feet of board and the finish is in. How much does it cost to drywall a room, for that board, is $1,000–$1,750. About 500 square feet is the walls and the ceiling of one ordinary room, on the order of a 12-by-12 with an 8-foot ceiling, after a door and a window. It is board area, not the 144 square feet of floor. A bid that prices the floor as if it were the board will not match this row.

About 200 square feet of board is a smaller area, $300–$700, and it sits under the room. A second room that brings the board to about 1,000 square feet is $1,500–$3,500 and replaces the one-room row. It is not the one-room price twice. Five hundred plus five hundred, each at $1,750, is $3,500, the top of the 1,000 square foot row. Those can be the same dollars. Ask whether the bid is one room or two. Do not add the one-room row to a two-room price that already names both.

What the range includes

The typical band assumes about 500 square feet of new standard board, hung, taped, and finished, on studs that are already there. The board is in. The tape is in. The finish is in. The labor is in. Ordinary screws, corner bead, and compound are in. The rate that lands on $2–$3.50 a square foot is the rate this band uses. Five hundred square feet at $2 is the $1,000 floor. The same board at $3.50 is the $1,750 top. Paint is not in the band. Foam is not in the band. A basement floor, a ceiling grid, and new electrical are not in the band.

A few patches, or one sheet swapped during a paint job, are not this room. That repair, when a paint bid leaves it out, is typically $200–$1,200 on the interior painting guide. Two hundred is $100 under this page’s wider floor of $300. It is a few patches, not 200 square feet of new board. The overlap with the typical band is $1,000–$1,200. From $1,200–$1,750 the full hang has left the repair row and stays on the one-room row. Twelve hundred can be a skim inside a paint visit, or the low part of this finished room. Ask which one the bid is. Do not add the repair row on top of a hang that was already priced as 500 square feet.

What the range does not include

None of the bands include paint, which is the interior painting guide. A 12-by-12 with the ceiling and the trim, painted, is typically $700–$1,400 on that page. One thousand plus $700 is $1,700, inside this typical band. Those are the same dollars and not the same job. One can be drywall. One is paint. Seventeen hundred fifty plus $1,400 is $3,150, which is $1,400 past the typical top and inside the 1,000 square foot drywall row. Thirty-one hundred fifty is also under that painting page’s whole-house floor of $4,000. A room of board plus a room of paint is not a house paint. A drywall bid that leaves the color out does not get the paint row. A paint bid that already names a patch is not this hang on top.

None of the bands include a basement finish, which is the basement finishing guide, often $30,000–$40,000 for about 1,000 square feet of floor, and $15,000–$25,000 for about 500 square feet of floor. Fifteen thousand is $13,250 past this page’s typical top. The board in that finish is already in the basement price. One thousand seven hundred fifty is not a second drywall line on a basement that was already priced with walls. A room of board at $1,750 and a 500 square foot basement at $15,000 are not the same opening. Do not fold the basement into the board price.

None of the bands include spray foam, which is the spray foam guide, often $3,000–$5,000 for about 1,000 square feet of open-cell foam on an attic roof deck. One thousand plus $3,000 is $4,000, inside the foam band. Those are the same dollars and not the same job. One can be drywall. One is foam. Seventeen hundred fifty plus $5,000 is $6,750, which is $1,750 past the foam top and inside that page’s wider spread, which runs to $14,000. A drywall bid that leaves the attic alone does not get the foam row. A foam bid that already names a lid is not this room of board on top.

The band is the installed price. A sale on a bundle of sheets is not subtracted. Read the form before you take a number off the bid. A credit you have not received is not inside the planning range. This page does not price a sale, and it does not name a percentage of the cost that comes back at resale.

Warranties are part of the contract, and this page is not a reading of one company’s form. A drywall warranty commonly splits the material and the installation, and a crack at a seam is a question for that form. Read it. The warranty is not a dollar line in the planning range.

A permit the city requires because a wall is moving, not because a sheet is going up, is a line on the bid. This page does not price a city’s fee. A permit the proposal already includes is not a second permit. New wiring or new plumbing behind the board is a different trade, and it is not this hang.

As a cross-check, not a bid: 500 square feet at $2–$3.50 is $1,000–$1,750, the typical band. Five hundred times $2 is $1,000. Five hundred times $3.50 is $1,750. Two hundred square feet at $1.50–$3.50 is $300–$700, under that band. Six thousand square feet at $3.50 is $21,000, the top of the wider spread. If a bid and that reading are far apart, the bid is a different square-foot count, a hang with no finish, texture, a tear-out, plaster, paint, a basement, foam, or a price that left the labor out.

What moves the price

Driver	How it changes the bid
Size	About 200 square feet is $300–$700. About 500 square feet is $750–$1,750, and the typical band is the $2–$3.50 part of that row, $1,000–$1,750. About 1,000 square feet is $1,500–$3,500. About 2,000 square feet is $3,000–$7,000. About 6,000 square feet is $9,000–$21,000.
Finish	A finished room at $2–$3.50 is the typical band on 500 square feet. The wider rate is $1.50–$3.50. A hang with no finish on that room is $400–$500 and replaces the finished rate. A sheet price with the labor left out is not the installed row.
Texture	A smooth finish is inside the size row. Texture the bid leaves out is $1–$2 a square foot. On 500 square feet that is $500–$1,000. Texture the proposal already names is not a second texture.
Tear-out	Bare studs are inside the size row. Old board or paneling the bid leaves out is $0.50–$1 a square foot, or $250–$500 on 500 square feet. Plaster the bid leaves out is $1.50–$3 a square foot, or $750–$1,500 on 500 square feet, and it replaces the paneling row.
The rest of the room	Paint on a 12-by-12 with ceiling and trim is $700–$1,400 on the interior painting guide. A basement finish is $15,000–$40,000 on the basement guide, by the floor area. Open-cell foam on about 1,000 square feet of attic roof is $3,000–$5,000 on the spray foam guide. None of those is a second copy of this board.
Access	An open room with 8-foot ceilings is the hang this page prices. A stair hall, a ceiling over about 10 feet, and a high-cost metro can clear the top of the typical band on a straightforward 500 square foot finish.

Square feet of board are the first cut, and they are not the floor area. A 12-by-12 floor is 144 square feet. The walls and the ceiling of that room are about 500 square feet of board. One hundred forty-four times $3.50 is $504, which is a hang-only reading or a small-area reading, not this finished room. Measure the board.

The finish is the second cut. One thousand dollars at $2 a foot and one thousand dollars as a hang-only number are not the same opening. Five hundred times $2 is the typical floor. A hang-only 500 square feet stops at $500. Ask whether the tape and the finish are in the price.

The same 500 square feet in a lower-cost area and in a high-labor city can sit at opposite ends of $1,000–$1,750 without either bid being wrong. Ask whether the finish is in, and ask whether anything has to come off the wall first. Paint on board that is already smooth, a basement finish that includes the board with the floor and the lights, and spray foam on a roof deck are the projects that show up beside this one. Price them on their own pages. Two bids that disagree about the square feet, the finish, and whether the labor is in are not the same job.

DIY or hire

Hire the hang and the finish. The seams, the corners, and the ceiling are the job. A weekend crew is most likely to leave a ridge that shows up after the paint, and the sanding is the part that takes the time.

A patch the owner fills, from the floor, on a wall that is otherwise sound, is a different product. It is not the installed rate on this page, and it is not 500 square feet of new board with the finish in. The installed row is the pro price. On that room, the job is $1,000–$1,750. That is the labor and the materials together. A drywall job of a full room is a hire.

Do not treat a stack of sheets as the price of the room. If you are pricing a lift, a taper, and a ceiling you have not finished before, you are pricing a contractor’s job without the crew. The person who hangs the board should say what happens if a stud is out of plane when the sheets go up. A soft ceiling can be looked at from the room, with a flashlight, before anyone starts.

Repair or replace

Patch the board when the hole is local, the field is sound, and the studs are dry. Nail holes and a hairline crack are prep for paint, and they are not this page. A repair a paint bid leaves out is typically $200–$1,200 on the interior painting guide. A quote near $200 should say a few patches, not 500 square feet of new board.

Hang new board when the wall is open, the board is soft, the paper has let go across the field, or the ceiling has to come down. That job, at about 500 square feet with the finish in, is the typical band, $1,000–$1,750. A quote near $300 should say about 200 square feet, not this room. A quote near $400 on this room should say the finish is out.

Finish the basement when the floor, the paint, and the electrical have to change with the walls. That job is the basement finishing guide, typically $30,000–$40,000 for about 1,000 square feet of floor. Thirty thousand has left this page’s wider top. A room of board at $1,750 is not that basement. Foam that has to go on an attic roof before a lid closes the room is the spray foam guide. If the same season includes any of those, they are separate scopes. Do not fold them into the drywall price.

How long a new hang lasts is not a number on this page. A taped seam is not a warranty that a leak will miss the wall. A finished ceiling is not a warranty that the joists were straight. The bid’s scope is the work you bought.

How to use this number

Ask two or three drywall installers for a written price that names the square feet of board, whether the finish is in, whether the price is a lump sum, whether the materials and the labor are both included, and what happens if a wall has to come off. Compare about 500 square feet, hung and finished, with $1,000–$1,750. Compare 200 square feet with $300–$700, 1,000 square feet with $1,500–$3,500, 2,000 square feet with $3,000–$7,000, and 6,000 square feet with $9,000–$21,000. Keep the materials and the labor inside those rows. Put left-out texture at $1–$2 a square foot, and a left-out tear-out of old board or paneling at $0.50–$1 a square foot, on their own lines.

A very low bid on one room is a reason to ask whether the labor and the finish are both included, not a reason to celebrate. A quote near $300 should say about 200 square feet, not a finished 500 square foot room. A high bid should point at square feet, a whole house, texture, a tear-out, plaster, height, or the labor market. Two or three local bids on the same board, the same finish, and the same studs are the number that matters. How this site sets the band is explained on the methodology page.