House Painting Business Income — How Much Does It Make?

Monthly Revenue

$8K–$25K

realistic range

Startup Cost

$2K–$8K

to get started

Hourly Rate

$60–$100

per hour billed

Complexity

3/4

skill required

The Business

Residential exterior painting is the highest-ticket volume service in home improvement. A single exterior job runs $3,000-8,000 for a 2,000 sq ft home. Interior jobs are smaller ($500-2,000/room) but cluster in winter. The key skill is bidding accurately — margin comes from speed, not cheap materials.

How to Start

Start with interior painting (less weather dependency, easier to learn). Get quotes from 3 competitors to calibrate your pricing. Charge 10% less while you build reviews. After 20 jobs and 5-star Google reviews, raise prices to market rate. Exterior painting season (April-October) is where the real money is.

REAL EXAMPLE

Miguel in Atlanta has a 3-person crew doing exterior painting March-November, generating $22K/month in peak season.

Equipment Needed

▸Brushes and rollers
▸Painter's tape
▸Drop cloths
▸Ladders
▸Sprayer (optional)
▸Scaffolding (rental)

Licensing

Contractor license in some states

Monthly Search Volume

1,400

people/month search for this business

READY TO START?

Form your LLC and protect your assets. Start operating legally in days.

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Revenue Calculator

Jobs per Week1

Revenue per Job$3,500

Weekly Hours40 hrs

Startup Cost$5,000

Weekly Revenue

$3.5K

Monthly Revenue

$15.1K

Annual Revenue

$180.6K

Monthly Profit

$13.8K

Break-Even

1 month

Hourly Rate

$88

Monthly costs: $1,200/mo (insurance, fuel, supplies)

CHRIS'S TAKE

“Painting is one of the highest revenue-per-hour businesses at scale. The entrepreneurs who win here treat it like a staffing operation — you're the sales guy, your crew does the work. One good crew can do $800K/year.”

PRO TIP

Exterior painting is the easiest sell — homeowners can see the problem. Do exterior to get in the door, then pitch interior while you're on-site.

READY TO MAKE IT OFFICIAL?

Form Your LLC Today

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ACQUISITION ROUTE

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TOOLS TO RUN THIS BUSINESS

Tools we'd use if we were starting this business today. Affiliate links — we may earn a small commission.

ZenBusinessFROM $0

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