Cost Guide
How Much Does It Cost to Paint an Apartment Between Tenants?
By All Purpose Anytime Services LLC
Painting runs $2 to $6 per square foot, and a 600 sq ft apartment costs $1,200 to $3,600 nationally. In Washington, DC a single room averages $1,198. The paint is the cheap part. The walls underneath it, and whether a touch-up will disappear, decide where you land.
Market rates
- Interior painting: $2 to $6 per square foot; $2.75 walls only, $4.70 with trim and ceilings
- 600 sq ft apartment: $1,200 to $3,600
- Two-bedroom, walls only: from about $1,600
- Two-bedroom, walls, ceilings and trim: $2,400 to $7,200
- Washington, DC, one room: $436 to $1,742, $1,198 on average
- Washington, DC painters: $50 to $82 per hour, per painter. Ceilings add $1 to $3 per square foot
Sources: Angi, interior painting (Jul. 2026); HomeGuide, apartment painting; Angi, Washington DC room painting (Jul. 2026). Published averages only. We price your repaint room by room after the walkthrough.
The short answer
Painting between tenants is priced per unit after the walkthrough. The biggest single factor is touch-up versus full repaint. Touch-ups cost less but only work when the existing paint is clean, the same color and the same sheen. When they would flash under window light, a repaint is the honest answer.
Paint is usually the largest single line on a unit. For the rest of the bill, see the average cost of turnover.
What makes one unit cost more to paint than the next?
The walls, more than the floor plan. A unit with clean walls in your standard color can take touch-ups, while one with patches in every room or a dark accent wall needs primer and extra coats. These are the lines that move the number:
- Touch-up or full repaint
- How much wall patching has to happen first
- Ceilings, doors and trim, or walls only
- Stains that need sealing before paint
- Color changes, which need more coats
How is turnover painting priced, per unit, per room, or per square foot?
Market surveys quote by the square foot, $2 to $6, because that is how painters compare jobs. We price per unit, built room by room. Each room is marked touch-up or full repaint at the walkthrough, ceilings, doors and trim are listed on their own lines, and the unit total is the sum of those lines, so a single bad room is priced as a single bad room.
Are paint and materials included in a turnover painting price?
In ours, yes. When we supply the paint, it sits on the written price with the labor. If your property keeps stocked paint, we use that instead and the scope says so, so you are not billed for material you already bought. Primer for patches and stain blocker for water marks are listed in the rooms that need them.
Why cheap paint jobs cost more
A patch that is not primed shows through. A stain that is not sealed bleeds back. Both mean the next turnover repaints the same wall. The prep is what makes the paint last to the next move-out.
Price the repaint
Tell us the unit and your standard colors. Every room is marked touch-up or full coat, and the price comes in writing.
Get the Repaint Priced Room by Room
We mark touch-up or full repaint for each room, so you only pay for paint the walls need.
Request a Unit Walkthrough
Marking each room for spot work or a full coat is free. The paint price is written down before a roller comes out.