How much does it cost to repair a hole in drywall?

On the assumptions in this article, a hole up to 6 inches across (2 labor hours, $15 of materials) works out to about $128 to $185, with $157 at the middle 2.5 times multiplier. A hole up to one foot square (3 hours, $25 of materials) works out to about $195 to $280. These come from the federal median installer wage of $28.33 an hour, not from collected quotes. Local minimum charges can push a very small job above these figures.

Is my drywall quote fair?

Divide the labor line by the hours the contractor states, then divide by $28.33, the national median installer wage. A result between 2.0 and 3.0 is the normal range for a small residential contractor. A $425 labor line for 6 hours is $70.83 an hour, or 2.5 times the median wage, which is typical. A result near 4.0 deserves a question about what the rate includes.

Why is the contractor's hourly rate so much higher than the wage BLS reports?

The BLS median of $28.33 an hour is what an installer is paid. The customer rate also covers payroll taxes, workers' compensation, liability insurance, vehicle, tools, office time, warranty reserve and profit. At an assumed 2.0 to 3.0 times multiplier, a $28.33 wage becomes a billed rate of $56.66 to $84.99 an hour. The multiplier is an assumption, not a measured figure.

How many hours does my drywall quote imply?

Take the quote, remove a materials share (this article assumes 15 percent), and divide by a billed rate. For a $500 quote, labor is $425. At $56.66 an hour that is 7.5 hours, at $70.83 it is 6.0 hours, and at $84.99 it is 5.0 hours. If the contractor says 12 hours for $500, the numbers do not fit this model and you should ask why.

Are drywall prices going up in 2026?

Material prices are nearly flat. The federal Producer Price Index for gypsum products was 484.844 in August 2026 against 484.016 a year earlier, up 0.2 percent. Insulation materials rose 1.1 percent. On a $60 materials allowance, 0.2 percent is about 12 cents. Labor hours and the contractor's overhead multiplier move a quote far more than board prices do.

Reading a Drywall Repair Estimate Line by Line

A drywall repair estimate for a small patch should land near $95 to $280, and a 16 square foot water-damaged section near $400 to $570. Those ranges start from the federal median installer wage of $28.33 an hour, multiplied by an assumed 2 to 3 times burden, plus a materials allowance. If your quote’s hours and rate fit inside them, it is in the normal band.

Key points

The median wage for drywall and ceiling tile installers is $28.33 an hour; the 25th to 75th percentile range is $22.81 to $35.69.
A billed labor rate of $56.66 to $84.99 an hour follows from the median wage at an assumed 2.0 to 3.0 times multiplier.
A 6-hour repair with $60 of materials comes to $400 to $570 across that multiplier range at the median wage.
Gypsum product prices rose only 0.2 percent over twelve months, so board cost is almost never why a quote is high.
One question exposes most padded bids: “How many labor hours is this, and what is the hourly rate?”

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What is a drywall installer actually paid?

The national median is $28.33 an hour, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics series for drywall and ceiling tile installers (survey year 2025). That is what the worker earns. It is not what you are billed.

A striking red pipe casts a shadow on a textured white concrete wall.

Measure	Hourly wage (US, 2025)
25th percentile	$22.81
Median	$28.33
Mean	$30.58
75th percentile	$35.69
Supervisor (first-line, construction trades)	$38.42 median

BLS counts 83,080 people employed in this occupation nationally. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook profile covers duties, entry requirements and outlook for the trade.

The mean ($30.58) sits $2.25 above the median ($28.33). A minority of high earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better figure for a typical worker.

How does a wage become a price?

A billed rate equals the wage times a burden and overhead multiplier. That multiplier covers payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, liability insurance, vehicle and fuel, tools, office time, warranty reserve and profit.

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This article uses 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 times the wage. These are working assumptions for small residential contractors, not measured figures. This site has not surveyed contractors or collected quotes. Here is what each multiplier does to each wage:

Wage level	Wage	2.0x	2.5x	3.0x
25th percentile	$22.81	$45.62	$57.03	$68.43
Median	$28.33	$56.66	$70.83	$84.99
Mean	$30.58	$61.16	$76.45	$91.74
75th percentile	$35.69	$71.38	$89.23	$107.07
Supervisor median	$38.42	$76.84	$96.05	$115.26

Each cell is the wage times the column multiplier, rounded to the cent.

What assumptions drive these numbers?

Four assumptions decide every figure below. Change one and your answer changes.

Wage: the national median of $28.33, except in the comparison table where it varies.
Multiplier: 2.0, 2.5 or 3.0 times the wage.
Hours: my own assumed labor hours per job size. They are not BLS data. They include taping, multiple mud coats, sanding and a return visit for finishing.
Materials: an assumed allowance per job for board, compound, tape, screws and primer. These are not derived from the price index.

What should a repair cost at every job size?

Find your repair in the first column. Totals use one installer at the median wage, with the materials allowance added. Labor is hours times the billed rate.

Repair	Hours (assumed)	Materials (assumed)	Total at 2.0x	Total at 2.5x	Total at 3.0x
A few nail pops or hairline cracks	1.5	$10	$95	$116	$137
Hole up to 6 inches	2	$15	$128	$157	$185
Hole up to 1 foot square	3	$25	$195	$237	$280
Water-damaged section, 4 ft by 4 ft (16 sq ft)	6	$60	$400	$485	$570
Replace most of one wall, about 120 sq ft	12	$150	$830	$1,000	$1,170
Ceiling repair across one room	20	$250	$1,383	$1,667	$1,950

The first row at 2.0x: 1.5 hours times $56.66 is $84.99 of labor, plus $10 of materials, which is $94.99, shown as $95. The last row at 3.0x: 20 hours times $84.99 is $1,699.80, plus $250, which is $1,949.80.

How is one estimate built, step by step?

Take the 4 ft by 4 ft water-damaged section. Here every line is separated so you can argue with any of them.

Step	Working	Result
Crew	1 installer	1 person
Labor hours (assumed)	Cut out, replace board, tape, three coats, sand, prime	6 hours
Median wage	BLS OEWS	$28.33 per hour
Direct wages	6 × $28.33	$169.98
Burden multiplier (assumed)	2.5	$169.98 × 2.5 = $424.95
Materials (assumed)	Board, compound, tape, primer	$60.00
Total	$424.95 + $60.00	$484.95

Two people for 3 hours each is the same 6 labor hours. The crew size changes the schedule, not the total. A supervisor on site adds cost: at $38.42 an hour and 2.5 times, an hour of supervision is $96.05.

How much does the answer move with wage and markup?

Two things vary most between contractors: what they pay and how much overhead they carry. This table holds the job fixed (the 6-hour, $60 water-damage repair) and varies both.

Wage level	Wage	Total at 2.0x	Total at 2.5x	Total at 3.0x
25th percentile	$22.81	$334	$402	$471
Median	$28.33	$400	$485	$570
75th percentile	$35.69	$488	$595	$702

The cheapest cell is $333.72 and the most expensive is $702.42. The top is 2.1 times the bottom, for the same wall. Of that, the wage spread alone is 56 percent: $35.69 divided by $22.81 is 1.565. The multiplier adds the rest.

This data does not break wages out by metro area in the figures supplied, so this article makes no city comparison. It does not claim a Seattle price differs from a Memphis price. The percentile spread above is the closest honest stand-in: a region paying at the 75th percentile will price this repair about $200 above one paying at the 25th at the same markup.

Can I work backward from my quote to hours?

Yes, and this is the fastest sanity check. Assume 15 percent of the quote is materials. Subtract it, then divide the remaining labor by each billed rate.

Quote	Labor (85%)	Hours at $56.66	Hours at $70.83	Hours at $84.99
$300	$255	4.5	3.6	3.0
$500	$425	7.5	6.0	5.0
$800	$680	12.0	9.6	8.0
$1,200	$1,020	18.0	14.4	12.0

A $500 quote therefore buys between 5 and 7.5 hours of work. If the contractor says the job takes 12 hours at that price, either the rate is below the 2.0 times floor or the hours are overstated. Both are worth asking about.

Did material prices change this year?

Barely. The Producer Price Index for gypsum products (series WPU137) stood at 484.844 in August 2026 against 484.016 a year earlier. That is 0.828 index points, or 0.2 percent. Insulation materials (series WPU1392) went from 285.999 to 289.038, up 1.1 percent. These are index levels with 1982 equal to 100, not dollars, and they cannot be turned into a board price.

You can still see the scale. If a $60 materials line tracked gypsum, 0.2 percent is about $0.12. Even at 1.1 percent it is $0.66. Board cost is not where a quote gets expensive.

Which common beliefs about drywall quotes are wrong?

“The contractor is charging $70 an hour for a $28 job.” The $28.33 is the wage. At 2.5 times, $70.83 is the normal billed rate once insurance, vehicle, tools and profit are inside it. A $70 rate is not padding by itself.

“Drywall got more expensive because of materials.” Gypsum products rose 0.2 percent in twelve months. A $150 materials line moved by about 30 cents.

“A tiny patch should cost $50.” One and a half hours at even the 2.0 multiplier is $84.99 in labor before any materials. Under about $95, someone is absorbing a loss or skipping a coat.

“The average wage is the right number to use.” The mean is $30.58 and the median is $28.33. Using the mean raises the 2.5x rate to $76.45 from $70.83, which is $5.62 an hour of difference that comes from a few high earners.

When is this estimate wrong?

These cases break the model, and they usually break it upward:

Minimum charges. Many contractors set a floor for any visit. A 1.5-hour nail-pop job can carry a higher minimum than the table shows.
Texture matching. Orange peel, knockdown or popcorn texture adds hours and sometimes a second visit.
Water, mold or smoke damage. The board is the small part. Drying, treatment and the cause of the leak are separate costs.
Older homes. Paint in homes built before 1978 may contain lead, and the EPA sets rules for work that disturbs it. Older textured ceilings may contain asbestos and should be tested before sanding or scraping.
Tall or awkward access. Stairwells, vaulted ceilings and scaffolding add setup hours.
Painting. The table ends at primer. A finished paint coat is its own line.

What can this calculation not see?

Several real costs sit outside a wage-based model:

Permits. Small repairs rarely need one, but structural or fire-rated wall work may. Fees depend on the jurisdiction.
Disposal. Debris hauling or a dumpster is separate from labor.
Code upgrades. Replacing a fire-rated garage wall or ceiling means the replacement must meet the rating, which can add layers and hours.
Access and difficulty. Roof pitch matters for ceilings under attic space. Furniture moving and floor protection take time.
Season. Winter heating needs and humid weather slow compound drying and can add a visit.
Emergency call-out premiums. After-hours or same-day work is commonly priced above normal rates. This model does not estimate the premium.

How do I read a real quote against these numbers?

A quote that lets you check it has these lines separately:

Labor hours and hourly rate (or a labor total plus hours). Without hours you cannot test the rate.
Materials, as a number.
Disposal or haul-away.
Painting or texture, as its own line.
Trip or minimum charge, if any.
Permit fees, if any.

The single question that exposes a padded bid is: “How many labor hours is this, and what rate are you using?” Then do two steps. Divide the labor line by the hours to get the rate, and divide that rate by $28.33. A result from 2.0 to 3.0 sits inside the normal band. A result well above 3.0 needs an explanation, such as a minimum charge, a small job, or an emergency premium.

What should I check before signing?

The quote lists hours or a clear scope that implies them.
The labor rate divided by $28.33 falls between 2.0 and 3.0, or the difference is explained in writing.
Materials are a stated line and are a small share of the total, consistent with a 0.2 percent change in gypsum prices.
Texture matching, priming and painting are either included or explicitly excluded.
Disposal and any permit fees are named.
The contractor states how many visits drying and sanding will take.
The contractor carries liability insurance and workers’ compensation, since those costs are inside the multiplier you are paying.
Any unusual factor from the list above (age of home, water source, access) was discussed before the price was set.

Everything here comes from federal wage and price data plus stated assumptions. This site has not inspected a property, surveyed contractors, or collected a quote, so treat the tables as a yardstick for your own estimate and not as a bid.