How Much Does Painting Cost in Westchester County? (2026 Guide)

Painting is one of the most common home improvement projects in Westchester, and one of the easiest to overpay for. Prices here run 20-30% above the national average, partly because labor rates are high and partly because so many homes are old enough to have lead paint.

A single room might cost $400 on the low end. A full exterior on a two-story colonial can hit $12,000. The range is wide because prep work is where the real cost lives. A house that needs scraping, priming, and lead remediation is a completely different job than one that just needs a fresh coat.

Scarsdale and Bronxville painters charge more because the homes are larger, the ceilings are taller, and clients expect premium finishes. A 3,000 sq ft colonial in Scarsdale with crown molding and 10-foot ceilings is a different job than a 1,400 sq ft cape in Mount Vernon.

Yonkers and Mount Vernon tend to land at the lower end of the range. Homes are smaller on average, and there's more competition among painters. New Rochelle and White Plains fall in the middle.

One thing that's consistent across every town: if your house was built before 1978, get ready for lead paint costs. Most of Westchester's housing stock predates 1978, and any scraping or sanding triggers EPA lead-safe work practices. That alone can add $2,000-5,000 to an exterior job.

Interior work is priced by room or by square footage. The variables are ceiling height (anything over 9 feet requires ladders and scaffolding), trim complexity, and surface prep. Rooms with wallpaper removal, skim coating, or plaster repair cost 30-50% more than a simple repaint.

Exterior work is weather-dependent, which limits the season to roughly April through November. Most painters book exterior jobs months in advance. If you want it done in summer, call in February. The biggest cost drivers are siding material (clapboard takes longer than vinyl), height (three stories means staging), and paint condition (peeling requires full scraping).

Cabinet painting has become popular as an alternative to a $35,000-75,000 kitchen remodel. At $3,000-7,000, a professional spray job on your existing cabinets can change the look of a kitchen for a fraction of what new cabinets cost.

In Westchester, legitimate painters carry general liability insurance and workers' comp. New York doesn't require a statewide painting license, but many towns require contractors to register locally. Scarsdale, for example, requires building department notification for exterior work.

Get three quotes. The lowest bid usually means corners will be cut on prep. The highest bid doesn't always mean the best work. Ask to see recent jobs in your area, and check whether they use quality paint (Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams are the standards here, not the cheapest box store brand).

Also ask about their prep process. A painter who doesn't talk about sanding, priming, and caulking before painting is a painter who's going to leave you with peeling paint in two years.