Rewire House Cost Calculator
Estimate the cost to rewire a house by size, existing wiring type, wall accessibility, panel upgrade, and region. Line-item breakdown, cost per square foot, panel math, DIY vs pro, and timeline. Free, no signup.
Full house rewire estimate
Rewiring cost per square foot
Electrical panel upgrade cost
Rewire one room
DIY vs hiring a pro
This diy vs electrician rewire cost comparison shows materials-only math against a pro-installed estimate. Read the safety warning in the result before taking it seriously.
How long does rewiring take?
Getting quotes: checklist
- Get three written, itemized quotes from licensed electricians — line items for wiring, panel, devices, permits, and drywall repair.
- Ask whether the quote covers drywall patching and repainting (often billed separately).
- Confirm the panel amperage in writing: 200A is the modern standard; 100A panels limit EV chargers, heat pumps, and induction ranges.
- Ask which circuits get AFCI/GFCI protection — code requires it in most rooms for new work.
- Verify permit + inspection are included; unpermitted electrical work can void insurance claims.
- Ask about phasing — large homes can be rewired floor by floor without moving out.
Signs your house needs rewiring
Licensed electricians point to the same signs house needs rewiring on almost every estimate visit:
- Two-prong (ungrounded) outlets throughout the house
- Knob-and-tube or crumbling cloth wiring visible in the attic or basement
- Aluminum branch wiring (often stamped "AL", common in 1965–1973 homes)
- Flickering lights, frequently tripped breakers, or warm outlet plates
- Fuse box instead of a breaker panel, or a panel with no free breaker slots
- Burning smells near outlets, or buzzing from the panel
What does it cost to rewire a house in 2026?
Contractor pricing guides put a full professional rewire at roughly $2–$10 per square foot for the wiring work itself, before panel upgrades, permits, and drywall repair. The house rewiring cost spread is wide because labor — snaking wire through finished walls — dominates the bill, and conditions vary enormously between homes.
| Source (2026) | $/sq ft | 1,000 sq ft | 1,500 sq ft | 2,000 sq ft | 2,500 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angi (wiring only) | $2–$4 | $2,000–$4,000 | $3,000–$6,000 | $4,000–$8,000 | $5,000–$10,000 |
| HomeAdvisor | $3–$5 | $3,000–$5,000 | $4,500–$7,500 | $6,000–$10,000 | — |
| iBuyer, citing SoFi (Jan 2026) | $4–$10 | $4,000–$10,000 | $6,000–$15,000 | $8,000–$20,000 | $10,000–$25,000 |
Angi's range covers wiring labor + materials; panel replacement (~$1,300 add-on), permits, inspections, and wall repair are priced separately. A "—" means that source did not publish that cell.
How much to rewire a house: cost by home size
The whole house rewire cost scales with square footage, but not perfectly — larger homes need more circuits and longer wire runs. These full house rewiring cost estimates assume finished walls, modern copper replacement wiring, a 100A→200A panel upgrade, permit + inspection, and 10% contingency (Midwest labor rates):
| Project | Mid estimate | Low – high |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to rewire 1000 sq ft house | $7,370 | $4,923 – $11,523 |
| Cost to rewire a 1200 sq ft house | $8,360 | $5,583 – $13,063 |
| Cost to rewire 1500 sq ft house | $9,845 | $6,573 – $15,373 |
| Cost to rewire 2000 sq ft house | $12,320 | $8,223 – $19,223 |
| Cost to rewire 2500 sq ft house | $14,795 | $9,873 – $23,073 |
| Cost to rewire a 3 bedroom house (~1,500 sq ft) | $9,845 | $6,573 – $15,373 |
A 3-bedroom home is typically around 1,200–1,500 sq ft, so the cost to rewire a 3 bedroom house usually lands between the 1,200 and 1,500 sq ft rows above.
How this calculator prices your project
Instead of a single table, the engine multiplies three things contractors actually price on:
- Wall accessibility band ($/sq ft). Open walls are cheap; fishing wire through finished walls roughly doubles labor; plaster and two-story homes with finished ceilings below sit at the top end ($4–$10/sq ft, per SoFi/iBuyer).
- Existing wiring multiplier. Modern copper is the baseline (1.00×). Aluminum (1.10×) and cloth (1.15×) add termination and handling time. Knob-and-tube (1.50×) is the most labor-intensive — it has no ground wire and runs through framing that must be worked around; Angi (via Lamacchia Realty) reports $10–$20/sq ft for K&T replacement.
- Regional labor multiplier. Southern states are the baseline (0.95×); the Midwest is 1.00×; the West (1.35×) and Northeast (1.40×) run higher — contractor guides note Northeast markets run 40–60% above Southern states.
On top of the wiring subtotal it adds: panel work (flat national ranges below), new outlets/switches you add, permit + inspection, and your contingency.
Expressed as house rewiring cost per square foot: the cost to rewire a house per square foot runs $2–$10 depending on access and wiring type, or rewiring house cost per sq ft of roughly $3–$5 for a typical finished-wall home with modern copper (HomeAdvisor).
Rewiring $/sq ft by wiring type and wall access (Midwest, labor + materials)
| Wall access | Existing wiring | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open / accessible | Modern copper NM (post-1980) | $2.00 | $3.00 | $4.50 |
| Open / accessible | Aluminum branch wiring (1965–1973) | $2.20 | $3.30 | $4.95 |
| Open / accessible | Cloth-insulated (1940s–1960s) | $2.30 | $3.45 | $5.18 |
| Open / accessible | Knob-and-tube (pre-1950) | $3.00 | $4.50 | $6.75 |
| Finished walls | Modern copper NM (post-1980) | $3.00 | $4.50 | $7.00 |
| Finished walls | Aluminum branch wiring (1965–1973) | $3.30 | $4.95 | $7.70 |
| Finished walls | Cloth-insulated (1940s–1960s) | $3.45 | $5.18 | $8.05 |
| Finished walls | Knob-and-tube (pre-1950) | $4.50 | $6.75 | $10.50 |
| Difficult | Modern copper NM (post-1980) | $5.00 | $7.00 | $10.00 |
| Difficult | Aluminum branch wiring (1965–1973) | $5.50 | $7.70 | $11.00 |
| Difficult | Cloth-insulated (1940s–1960s) | $5.75 | $8.05 | $11.50 |
| Difficult | Knob-and-tube (pre-1950) | $7.50 | $10.50 | $15.00 |
Electrical panel upgrade costs (national, licensed pro)
The cost to upgrade electrical panel capacity depends on how far you go. The 100 to 200 amp upgrade cost is the most common job; a typical electrical panel replacement cost 200 amp service runs $1,300–$3,200 (mid $2,000). The table also shows the cost to replace electrical panel units at other amperages and the fuse box to breaker panel cost:
| Panel work | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuse box → breaker panel (same amps) | $1,000 | $1,600 | $2,500 |
| Service upgrade 100A → 200A | $1,300 | $2,000 | $3,200 |
| Service upgrade → 400A | $2,500 | $3,500 | $5,000 |
Typical ranges: a panel upgrade runs $1,200–$3,500 (HomeAdvisor); a 100A→200A service upgrade typically $1,300–$2,500. Full service upgrades needing utility coordination can reach $5,000+. 200A is the modern standard for homes with EV chargers, heat pumps, or induction cooking.
Worked example 1: 1,500 sq ft home with knob-and-tube wiring
1920s bungalow, finished walls, 100A fuse panel → full rewire + 200A service
The knob and tube replacement cost is the highest of any wiring type. Here is how the engine prices it:
- Wiring subtotal: 1,500 sq ft × $6.75/sq ft (finished Midwest band × 1.50 K&T) = $10,125
- Panel upgrade 100A → 200A (mid): $2,000
- Permit + inspection (mid): $200; no new devices
- Subtotal = $12,325; 10% contingency = $1,233
- Project total: $13,558 (range $9,048 – $21,148, about $9.04/sq ft)
Timeline: about 6 working days for the crew; permits and utility scheduling can add days to weeks. Knob-and-tube has no ground — the rewire also brings the home up to grounded, AFCI/GFCI-protected code. For context, the cost to replace knob and tube wiring nationally runs $12,000–$36,600 (Angi via Lamacchia Realty), and the knob and tube rewiring cost per square foot is about $10–$20.
Worked example 2: 2,500 sq ft home with aluminum wiring
1970 ranch, difficult access (plaster, finished ceilings), 100A → 200A, 6 new outlets, 4 new switches
The aluminum house wiring replacement cost for a home this size is driven by access difficulty. The aluminum to copper rewiring cost below is a full replacement quote:
- Wiring subtotal: 2,500 sq ft × $10.40/sq ft (difficult band × 1.10 aluminum × 1.35 West) = $26,000
- Panel upgrade 100A → 200A (mid): $2,000; permit + inspection: $200
- New devices: 6 outlets × $140 + 4 switches × $150 = $1,440
- Subtotal = $29,640; 10% contingency = $2,964
- Project total: $32,604 (range $23,155 – $46,761, about $13.04/sq ft)
Alternative for aluminum wiring: COPALUM crimp remediation ($4,500–$9,500, per Bright Pro Electric) repairs connections without a full rewire — ask your insurer what they accept. So the cost to replace aluminum wiring has two answers: ~$4,500–$9,500 for remediation, or a full aluminum to copper rewiring cost like the $32,604 example above. Timeline: about 10 working days.
Rewiring one room
Partial rewires are common during remodels. The cost to rewire one room is far lower than a whole house — the cost to rewire kitchen circuits (~150 sq ft) or the cost to rewire a bedroom (~200 sq ft) runs a few hundred to about a thousand dollars. HomeAdvisor's per-room table ($3–$5/sq ft) gives:
| Room | Typical size | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedroom | ~200 sq ft | $600 | $800 | $1,000 |
| Kitchen | ~150 sq ft | $450 | $600 | $750 |
| Living room | ~480 sq ft | $1,440 | $1,920 | $2,400 |
| Garage | ~288 sq ft | $865 | $1,153 | $1,440 |
| Basement | ~1000 sq ft | $3,000 | $4,000 | $5,000 |
The electrical rewiring cost per outlet for each new outlet added during a rewire is $100–$185 (Angi) — the cost to add new outlet boxes is cheapest while walls are already open, so bundle them into the rewire quote.
Frequently asked questions
Technical references
For the electrical engineering side of a rewire project, these companions cover the calculations your electrician performs:
- 100 Amp Wire Size Calculator — NEC Table 310.16 sizing for service and branch circuits.
- Voltage Drop Calculator — NEC K-method check for long branch-circuit runs.
- Electrical Unit Converter — volts, amps, ohms, watts, and kWh conversions.
- Kitchen Remodel Cost Calculator — budgeting the rest of a kitchen renovation that includes a rewire.
Cost data: Angi "Cost to Rewire a House" (2026, angi.com), HomeAdvisor "How Much Does It Cost to Rewire a House in 2026" (homeadvisor.com), HomeAdvisor "How Much Does It Cost to Upgrade or Replace an Electrical Panel" (homeadvisor.com), iBuyer "Cost to Rewire a House: Full Price Breakdown" (ibuyer.com, citing SoFi Jan 2026), Lamacchia Realty "Should You Buy a House with Knob and Tube Wiring" (lamacchiarealty.com, citing Angi), Bright Pro Electric "Knob-and-tube and aluminum wiring in San Diego" (brightprosd.com). See SOURCES.md in this tool's folder for the full documented data set. Estimates only — not a contractor quote.
Free tool by NRTechStudio