Rewiring Cost Calculator — By Square Foot & Access
Rewiring cost is almost entirely a question of access. The cable and devices are a minor line item; the labor of routing new circuits through a finished house is the job. Open walls in a gut renovation run about $4 a square foot. Finished plaster with no attic or crawlspace runs three times that. Age matters too — knob-and-tube and cloth wiring add remediation work.
Estimate the rewire
The single biggest cost driver. Be honest about it before quoting.
Estimated cost
$9.64/sq ft sits inside the $5–$17 range published for US whole-house rewiring in 2026.
Low
$13,888
High
$20,832
Per sq ft
$9.64
See the breakdown
Excludes drywall and plaster repair, painting, asbestos or lead remediation, structural access work, fixtures, and low-voltage cabling. Patching alone often adds thousands on a finished home.
The build-up, explained
Access is the whole job
Cable and devices are a small fraction of a rewire. What you are selling is the labor of routing circuits without wrecking finishes — which is why the same house costs triple with plaster walls.
Always cross-check per square foot
If the total divided by floor area lands outside $5–$17, something in the assumptions is wrong. It is the fastest sanity check on a rewire number.
Patching is the classic omission
Drywall repair and paint are not in this figure and frequently add thousands. Decide explicitly whether you are including them, and say so in the quote.
Staging costs more but sells better
Phasing adds 15–25% in total from repeated setup and permits, but keeps the house habitable and spreads the spend. Price each phase as its own job.
Worked examples
The same house three ways — access changes everything.
1,800 sq ft, 1970s ranch, good access
Single storey · attic and basement access · new 200 A service · $500 permit. The defaults above.
+ service $3,000 + permit $500 = $17,360
= $9.64/sq ft · range $13,888 – $20,832
Result: squarely in the middle of the market band and inside the $12,000–$20,000 range most homes land in. The accessible attic and basement are what keep it there.
Same house mid-gut-renovation
Walls already open — easy access, everything else identical.
+ $3,000 + $500 = $11,420 = $6.34/sq ft
Result: $5,940 less for identical scope, purely because the walls are open. This is why rewiring during a renovation is always the right call — and worth telling a customer who is planning one.
2,600 sq ft 1920s two-storey, plaster walls
Knob-and-tube · difficult access · two storeys · new service · $800 permit.
+ $3,000 + $800 = $48,650 = $18.71/sq ft
Result: above the $5–$17 band, and the calculator flags it. That is not necessarily wrong — plaster, knob-and-tube, and two storeys with no access genuinely reach here — but a number this far outside the market range needs explaining line by line in the quote, and plaster repair is still on top.
2026 US market reference
| Scope | Typical installed price |
|---|---|
| Whole-house rewire | $8,000 – $30,000 · $5 – $17/sq ft · most $12,000 – $20,000 |
| 1,000 sq ft, simple layout | $3,500 – $5,500 |
| 2,000 sq ft two-storey | $7,000 – $12,000 |
| 3,000+ sq ft | $15,000 – $25,000 |
| Per outlet or device | $100 – $185 |
| Single dedicated circuit | $250 – $900 |
Sources & standards: 2026 US market cost data from HomeGuide and Angi. Code references: NEC (NFPA 70) 2023 — Article 210 branch circuits, 210.8 GFCI and 210.12 AFCI protection, 210.52 receptacle placement, Article 250 grounding (knob-and-tube has no equipment grounding conductor), Article 230 services, 394.12 concealed knob-and-tube limitations. Ranges are market observations, not quotes.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about whole-house rewiring cost and scope.
How much does it cost to rewire a house?
US market data for 2026 puts whole-house rewiring at $8,000 to $30,000, or roughly $5 to $17 per square foot, with most homes landing between $12,000 and $20,000. A 1,000 sq ft single-storey house with good access might come in near $5,000; a 3,000 sq ft two-storey with plaster walls can exceed $25,000.
What drives the cost more than anything else?
Access. Rewiring is mostly the labor of getting cable from A to B without destroying the house. An unfinished basement plus an accessible attic on a single storey is the cheap case. Finished plaster walls on a two-storey with no attic access is the expensive case, because every run means opening and repairing a wall. Same wire, same devices, double the price.
Does a rewire include a new panel?
Usually, and it should. A house old enough to need rewiring almost always has a panel that is undersized, obsolete, or a known-defective brand. Doing the rewire without the panel means terminating brand-new circuits into failing equipment. Budget roughly $3,000 for a 200 A service as part of the job — the toggle above includes it by default.
Do I need to rewire knob-and-tube or cloth wiring?
Not automatically, but usually yes in practice. Knob-and-tube is not inherently illegal where it remains undisturbed and in good condition, but it has no equipment grounding conductor, its insulation embrittles with age, and it must never be buried in insulation. Many insurers now refuse or surcharge policies on homes with it, and mortgage lenders sometimes require replacement — which is often what forces the decision rather than the Code.
Can a rewire be done in stages?
Yes, and it is often the right answer for a lived-in home. Common approach: panel and service first, then kitchen and bathrooms (highest GFCI/AFCI benefit), then bedrooms, then the remainder. Staging costs 15–25% more in total because of repeated setup and permit visits, but it spreads the spend and keeps the house habitable. Price each phase as its own job.
What isn't included in this estimate?
Drywall and plaster repair, painting, asbestos or lead remediation, structural work to create access, fixture and appliance upgrades, low-voltage and network cabling, and any exterior or detached-structure work. Patching alone frequently adds thousands on a finished home, and it is the single most common omission in a rewire quote — decide explicitly whether you are including it.
Rewire scoped? Send a real estimate in seconds.
A rewire is hundreds of line items. Describe the job or upload photos and TradesQuote's AI builds the full detailed estimate — devices, cable, boxes, panel, permit, and labor — with quantities and totals, validated by a built-in quality control agent.
AI line-item estimates
Quantities, unit prices, and totals generated instantly.
Knowledge base
Upload past jobs so estimates reflect your real pricing.
Shareable & signable
Clients review, accept, and sign from a public link.
No credit card required · 14-day free trial · Cancel anytime