Last updated October 31, 2026

How much to charge for fencing work in 2026

The hourly rate a one-truck fence contractor needs to charge, built from what fence contractors actually earn, a price list for 14 common jobs with the arithmetic shown, what moves the number, and the mistakes that cost the most.

Short answer: a one-truck fencing business that pays its owner what the median fence erector earns, carries normal overhead, and keeps a 20 percent margin needs about $70 an hour. To pay yourself like the top quarter of fence contractors, charge about $80. Top ten percent, $90. Below $65 you are subsidizing the customer with your own wages. Every number on this page is built from published wage data and a model you can see, and the price list further down uses the $80 rate.

Fence is the trade where the customer always has a per-foot number in their head, usually from a big-box quote or a neighbor, and the job is to show them what is in yours. A fence price is posts, rails, pickets, concrete, hardware and gates, plus the hours to set posts and hang it, plus the tear-out of what is there. The bid that lists those is the bid that explains why it is $38 a foot and the neighbor's was $29.

Fence erectors have one of the lower wages in the construction trades and one of the more physical jobs, and the model rate reflects the wage. The margin in fencing is made by being fast at setting posts, by buying material by the unit, and by not giving away the gates, which are the slowest and most-forgotten part of every fence.

What fence contractors earn, and what that means for your rate

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 24,480 people working as fence erectors in its May 2025 survey and published what they are paid. That is the wage an employer pays an employee, which is the floor for what an owner-operator should pay themselves. A rate is built on top of it: the hidden cost of an hour of labor, the overhead of running a truck, the hours you cannot bill, and a margin. The model here uses a 22% labor load for payroll taxes, workers comp and the liability share, $32,000 a year of overhead for the truck, insurance, phone, software, tools and licenses, 1,100 billable hours a year, and a 20% margin. Change any input and the rate moves; the hourly rate calculator runs it with your numbers.

If you pay yourself like the	BLS wage	Loaded	Overhead per hour	Rate to charge
Bottom quarter	$19	$24	$29	$65
Median	$23	$28	$29	$70
Top quarter	$28	$34	$29	$80
Top ten percent	$34	$41	$29	$90

Rate = (wage × 1.22 + $32,000 ÷ 1,100) ÷ (1 − 0.2), rounded to $5. Wages: BLS OEWS May 2025, fence erectors, national.

The $32,000 overhead is a truck, trailer, an auger, a compactor, nailers and insurance. Fence material moved with lumber and steel prices through 2025, so the per-foot numbers in the list use current yard pricing for treated pine and galvanized chain link; cedar, vinyl and aluminum run higher. The rate is per person and a fence crew is usually two.

A fencing price list, with the math

Flat prices for the jobs fence contractors quote most, built the same way every time: hours at the $80 rate, plus materials at cost with a 30 percent markup, rounded to $5. The hours and material costs are example inputs for a typical job in a typical market, stated so you can swap in your own. A job with a crew of two doubles the labor line. Per-foot prices are installed, with posts set in concrete on diggable ground, for straight runs over 100 feet. Rock, roots, slopes and short runs add hours. Gates are per gate.

Job	Labor	Materials at cost	Price	What it assumes
6-ft privacy fence, treated pine, per linear foot	0.22 h	$16	$40	4x4 posts at 8 ft, three rails, dog-ear pickets, concrete
6-ft privacy fence, cedar, per linear foot	0.22 h	$24	$50	Same build, cedar pickets and rails
6-ft board-on-board, cedar, per linear foot	0.28 h	$30	$60	Overlapping pickets, no gaps
4-ft chain link, galvanized, per linear foot	0.14 h	$7	$20	Line posts at 10 ft, top rail, fabric
6-ft chain link, galvanized, per linear foot	0.17 h	$10	$25	Heavier posts and fabric
4-ft wood picket fence, per linear foot	0.18 h	$12	$30	Spaced pickets, two rails
6-ft vinyl privacy, per linear foot	0.2 h	$32	$60	Panels, routed posts, concrete
4-ft aluminum ornamental, per linear foot	0.18 h	$28	$50	Panels, posts, concrete
Split rail, 3-rail, per linear foot	0.14 h	$11	$25	Cedar or treated
Walk gate, wood, 4 ft	2.5 h	$110	$345	Frame, hinges, latch, drop rod
Double drive gate, wood, 10 ft	5 h	$260	$740	Two leaves, heavy hinges, drop rods
Chain link walk gate, 4 ft	1.25 h	$95	$225	Frame gate, hinges, latch
Tear out and haul existing wood fence, per linear foot	0.06 h	$1	$5	Posts pulled or cut; dump fee in material
Rock or root drilling surcharge, per post	0.5 h	none	$40	Jackhammer or rock auger

Price = hours × $80 + materials × 1.3. Trip or diagnostic fees, permits and disposal are extra lines.

This is a sample. The free price book builder prices the full fencing book, 30 jobs, with your own wage, overhead and margin, and gives you the PDF for the truck and the spreadsheet that keeps the formulas.

What moves the price

Gates. Each gate is two or three hours and the hardware is not cheap. Price every gate separately and never fold it into the per-foot number.
Ground. Rock, roots, old concrete footings and high water tables turn a ten-minute post hole into an hour. A per-post surcharge line for rock, set after the first holes, is fair to both sides.
Tear-out. The old fence has to go somewhere. Per foot with the dump fee inside it, or the customer removes it, and the bid says which.
Property lines and permits. Many cities permit fences and some require a survey. The permit is a line; the line itself is the customer's responsibility and the bid says so.
Material grade. Treated pine, cedar, vinyl, composite, aluminum. Quote the one the customer asked for and show the next one up as an option; the upgrade sells itself on the bid.

Hourly, flat rate, or by the unit

Per linear foot by fence type, installed, with gates per gate, tear-out per foot, and surcharges for rock and slope as their own lines. The customer sees a per-foot number they can compare and a scope the competitor skipped. Material prices come from this week's yard quote and the bid expires in 14 days.

Never hourly. A fence is a measurable job and the customer wants one number. A deposit that covers the material, usually a third to a half, since posts and pickets are bought for this job.

A worked fencing bid

200 feet of 6-foot treated privacy fence, one walk gate, one 10-foot drive gate, old chain link out. Fence: 200 at 0.22 hours and $16. Walk gate: 2.5 hours, $110. Drive gate: 5 hours, $260. Tear-out: 200 at 0.06 hours and $0.80. About 64 person-hours at the top-quarter rate from the table, a crew of two for four days. Materials marked up 30 percent. Rock surcharge per post, set after the first holes. Permit as a line if the city wants one. Half down.

Most markets see $30 to $45 a foot for treated privacy fence installed, and this lands inside it with the gates visible instead of hidden. The sample privacy fence estimate shows the finished bid and the fence calculator counts the posts and pickets.

The pricing mistakes that cost the most

Gates folded into the per-foot price. Three gates on a 150-foot fence is a free day.
No rock surcharge line, and a yard full of limestone.
Quoting from last month's picket price.
Setting posts on the neighbor's side of the line because nobody checked.

Writing the price into a bid that gets signed

The number is half the job. The other half is a bid the customer can say yes to from their phone: the scope in lines, one price, the deposit and payment terms, the warranty, a date it expires, and a signature. The free fencing estimate template is laid out that way in PDF, Word and Excel, and How to bid fencing jobs covers the scope lines that keep you out of arguments. If you want the typing done for you, BidWriter Pro turns your notes into a clean bid your customer signs on their phone, with the deposit paid by card. $29 a month, 30 days free.

Sources and method

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Fence erectors, national percentile hourly wages and employment.
Rate model: labor load 1.22, overhead $32,000 a year, 1,100 billable hours, 20% margin. Hours and material costs in the price list are example inputs, not survey data. Prices are examples, not advice for your market.

Questions contractors ask

How much do fence contractors charge per foot in 2026?

For 6-foot treated privacy fence, $30 to $45 a linear foot installed is common; cedar $40 to $60; chain link $15 to $30. Built from BLS wages, a one-truck fence contractor needs about $70 an hour per person at the median wage and $80 to earn like the top quarter.

How much should I charge for a gate?

Separately, always. A 4-foot wood walk gate is about two and a half hours and $110 of hardware and lumber, commonly $300 to $500 installed; a double drive gate roughly twice that.

Should I include tear-out in the per-foot price?

As its own per-foot line with the dump fee inside it. Customers who remove their own fence should see the credit.

How do I handle rock when setting posts?

A per-post surcharge on the bid, triggered after the first holes show rock. It is fair, it is expected, and it stops the argument before it starts.

How much deposit should a fence contractor take?

A third to a half, enough to cover the posts, pickets and gates, paid at signing. Material for a fence is bought for that job.

Write a fencing bid from your notes

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