Pricing by neighborhood — Painter · Portland, OR
| Neighborhood | Low | High | Why the price moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Hills / Forest Park | $55 | $95 | Luxury cedar-siding stock; elastomeric stain, scaffold access on hillside lots, 3-5yr touch-up cycles |
| Pearl / NW Portland | $50 | $85 | Loft conversions and masonry; brick waterproofing and tall ceilings drive hourly above range |
| Hawthorne / Sellwood / SE inner | $45 | $75 | 1900s craftsman exterior repaints, lead-safe RRP prep, narrow side-yard ladder work |
| Alberta / NE inner | $45 | $72 | Gentrified bungalow stock; color-matching for historic palettes and lead-paint encapsulation |
| Eastmoreland / Laurelhurst / Irvington | $55 | $90 | Historic Resource Code review for visible exterior color changes; premium prep on Tudor and colonial trim |
| Lake Oswego / West Linn | $55 | $88 | Cedar-siding luxury stock; stain over solid color, shake repair, lakefront access logistics |
| Beaverton / Hillsboro | $42 | $65 | Suburban tract built 1985-2010; hardboard and fiber-cement siding, straightforward two-coat exteriors |
| Gresham / Outer East | $41 | $60 | Lowest metro median; ranch and split-level stock, simpler ladder work, fewer historic constraints |
Painter hourly rate by neighborhood in Portland, OR. Ranges reflect typical contractor pricing including travel time, building-type access, and local labor density.
How much does a painter cost in Portland?
Portland painters charge $41-$68 per hour for scheduled work, with an average of $55/hr. Two-person crews bid out around $90-$130/hr total and are usually cheaper per square foot than solo painters on anything past a single room. Neighborhood matters: Northwest Hills, Lake Oswego, and historic Eastmoreland sit at the top of the range because of cedar-siding stain costs, scaffold rigging on sloped lots, and Historic Resource Code review. Gresham and outer Beaverton tract homes sit at the bottom.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the median hourly wage for painters in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro at $27.28. The gap between that and the $55/hr you actually pay is real and explainable, and the rest of this article walks through where every dollar goes, what licensing you need, and what to ask when comparing quotes.
Portland Painter Rates by Neighborhood
The metro is not one market. A 1908 Hawthorne craftsman with original lead-painted siding is a different job than a 2003 Bethany tract home with fiber-cement panels, and the price reflects that. The full per-neighborhood breakdown sits at the top of this page; this section explains the why behind the numbers.
The premium for Northwest Hills and Lake Oswego is not arbitrary. Cedar siding takes solid or semi-transparent stain, not latex paint, and the product itself runs $65-$120 per gallon against $40-$70 for standard exterior latex. Hillside lots also force scaffold or 32-40ft extension ladders on uneven ground, slowing production 25-40% versus a flat suburban lot. Add Portland’s 55.9 inches of annual rainfall and 200+ rainy days, and north and west exposures need a touch-up at year 3-5 instead of year 8-10.
Comparable cities for cross-reference:
- Seattle painter costs — $48-$78/hr
- Boston painter costs — $50-$85/hr
- Austin painter costs — $38-$62/hr
- Miami painter costs — $36-$60/hr
Portland sits roughly 8-15% above the West Coast secondary-metro average for exterior work, mostly because of the rain cycle and the pre-1978 lead-prep overhead on inner-city stock.
Portland Painter Pricing by Building Type
Neighborhood is one axis. Building type is the other, and it often matters more than the address. A 1908 SE craftsman with cedar lap siding and 100 years of paint layers costs more to repaint than a 2005 Beaverton fiber-cement tract home: prep is slower, lead rules are stricter, and the trim profile is more elaborate.
| Building type | Hourly rate | Why the price moves |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-1939 craftsman bungalow (SE/NE inner) | $55-$85 | Cedar lap siding, lead-paint scraping and RRP containment, intricate trim, narrow side yards limit ladder placement |
| Tudor or colonial in historic district (Laurelhurst, Irvington) | $60-$95 | Stucco patching, mahogany trim, BDS design review for visible color changes, premium prep on dormers and bays |
| Mid-century ranch (1950s-1970s outer SE/NE) | $48-$72 | Mostly latex over latex, simpler one-story access, fewer surprises during scrape |
| Modern tract (post-1985 Beaverton, Hillsboro, Bethany) | $42-$65 | Hardboard or fiber-cement siding, vinyl trim, standardized two-coat exterior |
| Cedar-shake hillside home (Northwest Hills, Lake Oswego) | $60-$95 | Elastomeric solid stain, scaffold rigging on sloped lots, shake repair before stain |
The pre-1978 premium is the biggest variable in Portland. Over 40% of the inner metro housing stock predates the federal lead-paint ban, and EPA RRP rules require certified containment, plastic sheeting 10ft from the work surface, HEPA vacuum cleanup, and lead-safe disposal. That adds $500-$2,000 and 1-2 days of prep time. Reputable painters line-item it. If a quote on a pre-1978 home does not mention RRP, the painter is either uncertified or planning to skip it.
What Your Billed Hour Actually Covers
The $27.28 BLS wage is take-home pay for the painter, not what the customer pays. The customer rate of $41-$68/hr covers everything the business needs to legally operate in Oregon.
Roughly: 50% labor, 13% commercial liability and bonding insurance ($8,000-$15,000/yr per crew in Portland because exterior work and ladder claims drive painter premiums above the trades average), 10% vehicle and specialty tools (HVLP sprayers, 32-40ft extension ladders, HEPA vacuums for lead-safe work), 11% Oregon-specific licensing and overhead (CCB registration and bond, EPA RRP firm certification, dispatch and CRM), and 16% contractor profit margin. Strip any of those out and the business cannot stay open.
This is why the cheapest quote is not always the right one. A painter bidding $25/hr is either operating without CCB registration (you cannot file a complaint or claim the bond if the work fails), without EPA RRP on a pre-1978 home (the liability is yours if a child tests positive for lead), or losing money and about to disappear three days into the job.
Portland Painter Permits and What They Cost
Most paint work in Portland needs no permit. The exceptions matter and trip up homeowners who assume that holds for every project. Lead-safe RRP enforcement and historic district design review are the two things to flag before signing a contract.
| Work | Authority | Typical cost | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard interior or exterior repaint | None | $0 | n/a |
| Pre-1978 home (lead-safe RRP) | EPA RRP rule (federal) | $0 fee, $500-$2,000 added prep | Built into job |
| Visible exterior color change in historic district | BDS Historic Resource Code review | $200-$500 review fee | 4-8 weeks |
| Color change in Conservation Zone (Eastmoreland, parts of NW) | BDS Type I/II review | $150-$400 | 2-6 weeks |
| Multi-unit building, commercial, or HOA work | Owner or HOA approval + CCB endorsement | Varies | 1-4 weeks |
The historic-district review is the trap. Irvington, Ladd’s Addition, parts of Eastmoreland, Alphabet Historic District in NW, and smaller Portland conservation zones require BDS design review before a visible exterior color change. A neighbor complaint after a repaint can pull a stop-work order and a $500-$2,500 fine. Reputable painters in those neighborhoods file the review on your behalf and build the timeline into the contract. For larger renovations across multiple trades, coordinate paint scope with a Portland general contractor already managing BDS filings.
Common Painter Job Pricing in Portland
These are typical all-in prices, including labor, mid-grade Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore product, Portland-specific lead-prep where applicable, and a 1-2 year workmanship warranty. Cedar-siding hillside homes and historic-district work sit at the high end; suburban tract work sits at the low end.
| Job | Total cost | Labor hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single room repaint (12x12, walls + trim) | $400-$900 | 6-12 | Add $150-$300 for ceiling or accent wall |
| Full interior repaint (2,000 sq ft, walls + trim + ceilings) | $4,500-$9,500 | 60-110 | Mid-grade paint; +20-30% for low-VOC premium products |
| Kitchen cabinet refinish (avg 25 doors) | $2,800-$6,500 | 35-60 | $75-$150 per door or drawer face; HVLP spray in shop or on-site |
| Exterior repaint, fiber-cement tract home (1,800 sq ft) | $4,800-$7,500 | 45-70 | Beaverton, Hillsboro, Bethany; two coats latex |
| Exterior repaint, 1908 craftsman with RRP (1,400 sq ft 1.5-story) | $7,500-$12,000 | 80-130 | SE or NE inner; lead-safe scrape, trim repair, two coats |
| Cedar-siding solid stain, hillside (2,200 sq ft) | $9,000-$15,000 | 95-150 | NW Hills, Lake Oswego; elastomeric stain + shake repair |
| Trim and fascia only (whole-house) | $1,800-$3,800 | 25-45 | North-facing trim repaint cycle every 3-5 years |
| Power-wash + spot-prime (no full paint) | $400-$900 | 4-8 | Annual maintenance for north exposures |
| Lead-safe RRP setup + cleanup (added to any pre-1978 job) | $500-$2,000 | 6-16 | Plastic containment, HEPA vac, disposal manifest |
The annual touch-up market is a Portland-specific quirk. North-facing trim on inner SE and NE craftsman bungalows weathers faster than the field paint and needs a year-3 spot recoat to avoid a full year-5 repaint. Painters with a maintenance program offer a power-wash and trim-touch package at $1,200-$2,500 that buys 4-6 extra years from a single full repaint. Skipping it and stretching to year 10 usually means stripping siding back to bare wood, which doubles the next repaint cost.
How to Get and Compare Portland Painter Quotes
Three things separate a useful quote from a useless one in Portland, and they all come down to specificity.
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Tell the painter the build year and siding type. “1912 SE Hawthorne craftsman, cedar lap siding, original lead paint on west side” gets a different number than “2008 Bethany tract, fiber-cement, no lead.” Painters price the job partly off RRP-prep hours, so generic “I want my house painted” estimates are worth less than a more detailed brief with siding material and approximate year.
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Ask for an itemized written estimate that breaks out labor hours, surface prep, primer, finish coats with brand and product line (Sherwin-Williams Duration, Benjamin Moore Aura, Miller Acri-Lume), lead-safe RRP line items where applicable, and historic-district review fees. Verbal estimates are not enforceable in Oregon and tend to grow once the crew shows up.
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Verify CCB registration and EPA RRP certification before you book. Pull the registration number from the Oregon CCB public license search and confirm the firm-level EPA RRP certificate. Both checks take five minutes and rule out 90% of the contractors who later become complaints. Ask for a current Certificate of Insurance showing $1M general liability; painter ladder-fall claims drive premiums and a COI is easy to fake, so call the carrier listed if anything looks off.
How We Calculated These Prices
The Portland painter hourly rate of $41-$68 starts with the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median hourly wage for painters, construction and maintenance, in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro MSA: $27.28 as of May 2024. We apply a 1.5x-2.5x consumer multiplier covering business overhead, insurance, Oregon CCB and EPA RRP licensing, vehicle costs, employer taxes, and contractor profit margin, calibrated against current quotes from CCB-registered Portland painting companies and benchmarked to Portland’s 1.32 cost-of-living index.
Neighborhood adjustments reflect siding material (cedar shake/lap vs. fiber-cement vs. hardboard), access logistics (hillside scaffold vs. flat suburban lot), and lead-prep overhead on inner SE/NE pre-1978 stock. The full formula and source list lives on our methodology page.
Other Portland Service Costs You Might Need
Paint work rarely happens in isolation. A full exterior refresh often pulls in 2-3 trades, and getting quotes from all of them at the same time is faster than serial calls.
- Portland roofer costs — when fascia and soffit repaint is overdue, the roof line usually needs work too
- Portland carpenter costs — for cedar-shake repair, trim replacement, and rot remediation before paint
- Portland handyman costs — for sub-$500 cosmetic touch-up that does not need CCB
- Portland flooring installer costs — interior repaint timing coordinates with floor refinish to avoid double moves
- Portland general contractor costs — when the project crosses 3+ trades or needs BDS coordination