What Should I Charge for Siding Installation? (2026 Contractor Pricing Guide)
Short answer
Most siding contractors charge about $6 to $12 per square foot to install vinyl siding, roughly $11 to $20 per square foot for fiber cement like James Hardie, and $10 to $19 for engineered wood, before tear-off and trim. Labor is usually a little over half the price; tearing off and hauling old siding runs about $2 to $4 per square foot.
Siding Installation unit prices by work item
Enter a ZIP code to adjust every row to local cost levels. Rates start from a national baseline of 1.00 and scale by the published city cost index for that area.
Showing national baseline rates.
| Work item | Unit | Material | Labor | What to charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vinyl siding, installed Panel grade, trim detail, and wall height for staging change the price. | sq ft | $2.80 | $4.00 | $6.18 to $11.47 |
Fiber cement siding (Hardie), installed Cut-dust control, weight, and factory finish versus field paint add cost. | sq ft | $5.00 | $7.00 | $10.90 to $20.23 |
Engineered wood siding, installed Lap versus panel, pre-finish, and trim packages move the number. | sq ft | $5.00 | $6.00 | $9.97 to $18.52 |
House wrap and weather barrier Taped seams, flashing at openings, and rainscreen add labor. | sq ft | $0.40 | $0.80 | $1.02 to $2.11 |
Tear off and haul old siding Layers, fastener type, and disposal fees drive demo cost. | sq ft | $0.20 | $1.80 | $1.71 to $3.55 |
Trim and corner detailing Corner boards, window and door trim, and material match add up. | linear ft | $2.50 | $3.00 | $4.99 to $9.26 |
Material and labor columns are bare cost per unit before markup. The charge column applies +15% materials, +20% labor, then +10% overhead and profit, and shows a realistic range rather than one false-precision number.
How this number is built
There is no proprietary data feed here and nothing is hidden. Every figure above comes from four visible steps, which is exactly how your own price book should work:
- 1Start from bare material and bare labor cost per unit, at a national baseline.
- 2Multiply both by your local cost factor, from the ZIP table below.
- 3Add markup: 15% on materials, 20% on labor. This covers waste, procurement and supervision.
- 4Add 10% overhead and profit on the marked-up subtotal, then show a range rather than one number.
Regional cost factors
A national average is close to useless on its own. The same siding installation job prices very differently across markets. These are the multipliers applied above, against a 1.00 national baseline.
| Metro | Factor | Vinyl siding, installed (sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 1.38x | $8.52 to $15.83 |
| New York, NY | 1.32x | $8.15 to $15.14 |
| Boston, MA | 1.24x | $7.66 to $14.22 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 1.22x | $7.53 to $13.99 |
| Seattle, WA | 1.20x | $7.41 to $13.76 |
| Chicago, IL | 1.18x | $7.29 to $13.53 |
| Washington, DC | 1.15x | $7.10 to $13.19 |
| Denver, CO | 1.08x | $6.67 to $12.39 |
| Austin, TX | 1.04x | $6.42 to $11.93 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 1.02x | $6.30 to $11.70 |
| Atlanta, GA | 1.00x | $6.18 to $11.47 |
| Houston, TX | 0.98x | $6.05 to $11.24 |
Before you send this number to a client
Worth doing
- Walk the actual site before committing to a fixed price.
- Itemize disposal, permits and prep as their own lines.
- Write down what is excluded, not only what is included.
- Compare these rates against your own last three invoices.
Where bids go wrong
- Using a national average as if it were a local quote.
- Forgetting that overhead is a real cost, not profit.
- Absorbing prep and access problems instead of pricing them.
- Quoting from memory when material prices moved.
Frequently asked questions
How much does siding cost to install per square foot?
Vinyl siding usually runs $6 to $12 per square foot installed, fiber cement like James Hardie $11 to $20, and engineered wood $10 to $19, before tear-off, house wrap, and trim. Wall height and staging for two-story homes add labor.
Is tear-off included in a siding quote?
Price it separately. Removing old siding and hauling it runs about $2 to $4 per square foot, more if there are multiple layers or hidden damage, so it belongs on its own line rather than buried in the install rate.
Why is fiber cement more expensive than vinyl?
Both material and labor. Fiber cement costs more per square foot and is heavier and dustier to cut, so it takes more time and care to hang, which is why the installed price runs roughly double vinyl.
Should house wrap be a separate line?
Yes. Weather-resistive barrier, taped seams, and flashing at windows and doors are about $1 to $2 per square foot and are what keep the wall dry. Listing it separately shows the client you are not skipping it.
Other trades
Turn these rates into a sent proposal
A table is a starting point. Describe the job in plain words and Takeoff Convert prices it with cited starting prices (government wage data for labor, live supplier prices for materials where it can find them) that learn your own as you win jobs, then produces an itemized proposal your client can e-sign.
Try it free