- Ceiling repair usually costs $340 to $1,300, about $760 typical.
- Repairing a damaged section of drywall or plaster ceiling, finished and painted.
What ceiling repair costs
Most homeowners pay $340 to $1,300 for ceiling repair, and $760 is a typical price. Repairing a damaged section of drywall or plaster ceiling, finished and painted.
| Price | |
|---|---|
| Low end | $340 |
| Typical | $760 |
| High end | $1,300 |
Sources: Fixr and HomeAdvisor, combined as shown below. Local wages shift the typical price from about $629 in Arkansas to $979 in Hawaii.
What drives the price
- Size of the area. HomeAdvisor and Bob Vila put repairs at $45 to $90 a square foot of damaged area.
- The cause. Water stains mean a leak above. Fix the roof, plumbing or HVAC first or the stain comes back.
- Material. Plaster ceilings cost more to repair than drywall.
- Texture and paint. Matching a textured ceiling and repainting to hide the patch adds time.
Extra costs to plan for
| Item | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fixing the leak above | $175 to $3,000 | HomeAdvisor |
Ask whether each of these is in the quote. Two bids for the same ceiling repair can be far apart only because one includes them.
Ceiling repair cost by state
These state figures are Koira estimates. The labor share of the national price, about 75%, moves with each state's median wage for construction and extraction workers; materials stay at the national price. Use them to sanity-check a ceiling repair quote.
| State | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $290 | $648 | $1,108 |
| Alaska | $409 | $914 | $1,563 |
| Arizona | $333 | $745 | $1,275 |
| Arkansas | $281 | $629 | $1,076 |
| California | $392 | $876 | $1,499 |
| Colorado | $347 | $776 | $1,327 |
| Connecticut | $392 | $876 | $1,498 |
| Delaware | $339 | $758 | $1,297 |
| District of Columbia | $385 | $861 | $1,473 |
| Florida | $296 | $662 | $1,133 |
| Georgia | $298 | $667 | $1,140 |
| Hawaii | $438 | $979 | $1,675 |
| Idaho | $325 | $728 | $1,244 |
| Illinois | $430 | $961 | $1,644 |
| Indiana | $350 | $782 | $1,338 |
| Iowa | $340 | $759 | $1,299 |
| Kansas | $320 | $716 | $1,225 |
| Kentucky | $313 | $699 | $1,195 |
| Louisiana | $299 | $668 | $1,143 |
| Maine | $343 | $767 | $1,313 |
| Maryland | $341 | $763 | $1,305 |
| Massachusetts | $417 | $932 | $1,594 |
| Michigan | $347 | $776 | $1,327 |
| Minnesota | $396 | $885 | $1,514 |
| Mississippi | $285 | $638 | $1,091 |
| Missouri | $349 | $781 | $1,336 |
| Montana | $346 | $774 | $1,323 |
| Nebraska | $315 | $705 | $1,206 |
| Nevada | $349 | $781 | $1,336 |
| New Hampshire | $342 | $765 | $1,309 |
| New Jersey | $400 | $893 | $1,528 |
| New Mexico | $299 | $668 | $1,142 |
| New York | $386 | $864 | $1,478 |
| North Carolina | $297 | $663 | $1,134 |
| North Dakota | $347 | $776 | $1,327 |
| Ohio | $351 | $785 | $1,343 |
| Oklahoma | $293 | $655 | $1,121 |
| Oregon | $368 | $823 | $1,408 |
| Pennsylvania | $344 | $769 | $1,316 |
| Rhode Island | $355 | $793 | $1,357 |
| South Carolina | $297 | $664 | $1,137 |
| South Dakota | $300 | $670 | $1,146 |
| Tennessee | $301 | $674 | $1,152 |
| Texas | $296 | $661 | $1,130 |
| Utah | $330 | $737 | $1,261 |
| Vermont | $341 | $762 | $1,303 |
| Virginia | $327 | $730 | $1,249 |
| Washington | $408 | $913 | $1,561 |
| West Virginia | $332 | $741 | $1,268 |
| Wisconsin | $358 | $799 | $1,367 |
| Wyoming | $341 | $762 | $1,303 |
Cities inside a state can run well above or below the state figure.
How we got these numbers
| Guide | Range | Average | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixr | $250 to $850 | $450 | Counted |
| HomeAdvisor | $438 to $1,718 | Not given | Counted |
| Bob Vila | $419 to $1,359 | $884 | Shown, not counted: it repeats another guide's figures |
How the ceiling repair range is combined: low end from the middle of the guides' lows, high end from the middle of their highs, typical from the middle of their averages (a range's midpoint where no average is given). Figures read on each guide's page on October 9, 2026.
Labor share used: 75%. Ceiling repair is overhead patching and painting with little material. Koira's assumption. State factor: the state's median hourly wage for construction and extraction workers over the national $28.63 (BLS, May 2025), kept between 0.7 and 1.4.
For contractors: price this job in Koira
Wall and ceiling work is mostly labor, so price it from your own hourly cost and show the square or linear feet on the estimate.
Koira's free Office plan turns a ceiling repair quote into a clean estimate the customer approves on their phone, then into an invoice they can pay. Price this job in Koira, free.
Sources: Fixr, ceiling repair cost; HomeAdvisor, ceiling repair cost; Bob Vila, ceiling repair cost; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files). Prices checked October 9, 2026. More for your trade: how the trade runs on Koira.