Last updated October 31, 2026

How much to charge for gutters work in 2026

The hourly rate a one-truck gutter installer needs to charge, built from what gutter installers actually earn, a price list for 13 common jobs with the arithmetic shown, what moves the number, and the mistakes that cost the most.

Short answer: a one-truck gutters business that pays its owner what the median sheet metal worker earns, carries normal overhead, and keeps a 20 percent margin needs about $85 an hour. To pay yourself like the top quarter of gutter installers, charge about $100. Top ten percent, $115. Below $75 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 $100 rate.

Gutters are priced by the linear foot, installed, and the whole trade runs on a machine in a trailer that turns a coil of aluminum into seamless gutter at the curb. The machine is why a one-truck gutter company has real overhead and why the per-foot price has to carry it. The closest BLS occupation is sheet metal workers, a skilled trade with a wage near the top of construction, and the per-foot number should reflect that the work is on a ladder with a brake and a rivet gun.

Gutter money is made on the add-ons and lost on the ladder. Downspouts, guards, extra hangers, fascia repair and oversized 6-inch gutter are where the margin is. Two-story work, steep yards and roofs that need the install done from above are where the hours go, and the bid has to price them.

What gutter installers earn, and what that means for your rate

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 119,770 people working as sheet metal workers 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, $34,000 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	$23	$28	$31	$75
Median	$30	$36	$31	$85
Top quarter	$39	$48	$31	$100
Top ten percent	$51	$62	$31	$115

Rate = (wage × 1.22 + $34,000 ÷ 1,100) ÷ (1 − 0.2), rounded to $5. Wages: BLS OEWS May 2025, sheet metal workers, national.

The $34,000 overhead is a truck, trailer and seamless gutter machine, ladders and standoffs, a brake, coil stock inventory and insurance. Aluminum coil prices moved with tariffs in 2025 and are quoted from this month's supplier price. The rate is per person; most gutter installs are a crew of two.

A gutters price list, with the math

Flat prices for the jobs gutter installers quote most, built the same way every time: hours at the $100 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, for 5-inch K-style seamless aluminum on a single-story house with normal access, including hangers and sealant. Downspouts, guards and removal are separate lines.

Job	Labor	Materials at cost	Price	What it assumes
5-inch seamless aluminum gutter, per linear foot	0.07 h	$3	$10	Coil, hangers at 24 in., end caps, miters, sealant
6-inch seamless aluminum gutter, per linear foot	0.08 h	$3	$10	For big roofs and heavy rain
Downspout, 2x3 aluminum, per linear foot	0.06 h	$2	$10	Elbows, straps, splash block
Downspout, 3x4 aluminum, per linear foot	0.06 h	$3	$10	Oversized
Gutter guard, micro-mesh, per linear foot	0.05 h	$6	$10	Installed on new or existing gutter
Gutter guard, screen, per linear foot	0.03 h	$2	$5	Snap-in screen
Remove and haul old gutter, per linear foot	0.02 h	$0	$0	Dump fee in material
Second-story surcharge, per linear foot	0.03 h	none	$5	Taller ladders, slower work
Fascia board replacement, per linear foot	0.25 h	$5	$30	1x8 primed; paint by others
Copper gutter, half-round, per linear foot	0.14 h	$22	$45	Copper, brass hangers, soldered
Gutter cleaning, single story, per house	2 h	none	$200	Up to 150 ft, flush downspouts
Reseal and rehang existing gutter, per linear foot	0.05 h	$1	$5	New hangers, sealant at seams
Underground drain extension, per linear foot	0.25 h	$4	$30	4-in. corrugated, buried 8 in., pop-up emitter

Price = hours × $100 + 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 gutters 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

Stories and access. Second-story gutter is slower and riskier, and anything over a conservatory or a steep yard needs scaffolding or standoffs. A per-foot surcharge is the honest way to carry it.
Downspouts. The number and placement set drainage and the price. Count them on the bid; the cheap bid has two where the house needs four.
Fascia. Gutters hang on fascia, and rotten fascia will not hold a hanger. A per-foot fascia line, with the count confirmed on the ladder, saves the argument.
Guards. The most profitable line in the trade. Offer them on every bid as an option with the per-foot price, and let the customer tick it.
Material. Aluminum is the default. Copper, steel and 6-inch are upgrades with their own lines. Coil prices change; the bid expires in 14 days.

Hourly, flat rate, or by the unit

Per linear foot by gutter size and material, with downspouts per foot, guards per foot as an option, removal per foot, and a per-foot second-story surcharge. Fascia repair per foot with the count set on site. Cleaning per house by stories.

Never hourly on a gutter install; the customer has a per-foot number from three other companies and wants yours. A minimum job charge, commonly $300 to $500, for repairs and short runs.

A worked gutters bid

A single-story house with 160 linear feet of 5-inch seamless gutter, five downspouts at 10 feet each, old gutters off, micro-mesh guards as an option. Gutter: 160 at 0.07 hours and $2.60. Downspouts: 50 at 0.06 and $2. Removal: 160 at 0.02 and $0.30. About 18 person-hours at the top-quarter rate from the table, a crew of two for a day. Materials marked up 30 percent. Guards as an option: 160 at 0.05 hours and $5.50. No deposit on a one-day job if you carry coil; otherwise a third down.

Most markets see $8 to $14 a foot for seamless aluminum installed and $15 to $25 a foot for micro-mesh guards, and the option line lets the customer add $1,500 to the job themselves. The sample gutter estimate shows the finished bid.

The pricing mistakes that cost the most

Two downspouts on a 160-foot run because the customer's old gutter had two.
No fascia line, and a rotten corner found on install day.
Guards offered on the phone and not on the bid, where the customer would have ticked the box.
Coil quoted from last quarter's price.

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 gutters estimate template is laid out that way in PDF, Word and Excel, and How to bid gutter 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, Sheet metal workers, national percentile hourly wages and employment.
Rate model: labor load 1.22, overhead $34,000 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 gutter installers charge per foot in 2026?

For 5-inch seamless aluminum, $8 to $14 a linear foot installed is common, 6-inch $10 to $18, copper $35 to $60. Built from BLS sheet metal wages, a one-truck gutter installer needs about $85 an hour per person at the median wage and $100 to earn like the top quarter.

How much should I charge for gutter guards?

Per linear foot as an option on every bid. Micro-mesh at about 0.05 hours and $5.50 of material lands $15 to $25 a foot installed; snap-in screens $4 to $8.

How much should I charge to clean gutters?

Per house by stories: a single-story house up to 150 feet is about two hours, commonly $150 to $250; two-story $250 to $400. Flushing downspouts is included or a line.

Should I charge extra for a two-story house?

Yes, per foot. Taller ladders and slower, riskier work. A $2 to $4 per-foot surcharge is common and the bid should show it.

How many downspouts does a house need?

Roughly one per 30 to 40 feet of gutter, and one at every low corner. Count them on the bid so the customer sees why yours has four and the cheap bid has two.

Write a gutters bid from your notes

Type the job the way you would text it. It comes back as a finished estimate in about five seconds, in your words. No account.

Type a job the way you would text it

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Free, no account: estimate checker, job price calculator, markup vs margin, hourly rate, and 84 sample estimates.