How Much Does it Cost to Wire a House?

Reviewed by Joe Roberts remodeling expert. Written by Fixr.com.

Are you building a new home and ready to install the electrical system? Alternatively, are you living in an old home with flickering lights, outdated knob-and-tube wiring, or easily tripped circuit breakers? Or are you just remodeling and want to upgrade your home’s wiring while you’re at it? Whatever the case, electrical wiring installation typically costs between $7,286 and $13,257 for an entire house. 

This average price range includes all the material and labor costs to install new electrical wiring in a 2,200-square-foot home. The total costs for this project can vary depending on several factors, like the home's size and whether or not the project will include replacing light fixtures and installing new outlets.

Keep reading, and we’ll break down the various cost factors that go into electrical wiring and rewiring jobs to help you predict what you might pay for this home improvement project.

Key takeaways

• It typically costs between $7,286 and $13,257 to completely rewire a home, though factors like home size can result in actual costs outside this price range.

• Wiring a new home can be significantly cheaper than rewiring an old one. 

• It’s not always necessary to change all of your home’s wiring at once, and you can save a lot of money by just rewiring problem areas. 

Factors that affect house wiring costs

The size of your home

Installing new electrical wiring in a home typically costs between $3 and $6 per square foot of the home’s floor plan. These project costs include installing electrical outlets and light fixtures, so you’ll likely pay less if you don’t need to replace these items. 

You can begin calculating your own ballpark price estimate by multiplying the square footage of your home by these per-square-foot prices, though you shouldn’t bank on any price until you get a quote from an electrician.

The table below lists how much it can cost to install new wiring systems in homes of various sizes:

Whole house wiring costs by home square footage

The scope of the installation

You can save money on this project if you decide not to include light fixtures and other fixed appliances in your installation. If you opt to get new wiring for your home, you should expect to pay between $1.00 and $1.85 per square foot. 

If you’re wiring a new house or rewiring an old one

It’s usually more expensive to rewire an older home than installing a wiring system in a new construction. Rewiring jobs tend to involve extra tasks like opening drywall, accessing crawl spaces, removing the older wiring, and patching everything back up once the new wires are installed.

If you have to install an electrical service panel

Your home’s electrical service panel is a metal compartment full of fuses and circuit breakers that take power from the electrical main and send it to the rest of your home. Without an electrical service panel in your home, the building can’t get power from your utility company.

If you need to install a new electrical panel because you’re building a new home or if you want a panel upgrade because your current service panel doesn’t accept as much power as your home needs, you’ll pay more to get your wiring system installed than someone whose home already has a sufficient panel.

Most homes don’t need service panels larger than 200 amps, though panels between 100 and 200 amps are common. The table below can give you an idea of what you might pay to install or replace a service panel in your home. 

Electrical panel installation costs by Amp. size

House wiring pricing tiers

The budget option

To save money on rewiring your home, keep the project’s scope as limited as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to only rewire problem areas. For example, if the lights in your living room flicker, but the rest of your home is unaffected, you may just need to rewire one room instead of your whole home. If this is the case, you could save thousands of dollars.

You’ll need to talk to an electrician to determine how big the scope of your rewiring project needs to be, though, so don’t bank on cutting corners until you’ve consulted a professional.

No matter how much money you need to save, you shouldn’t try to DIY an electrical project. Electricity is incredibly dangerous, and amateur installations can result in electrocution, death, and electrical fires. Even if you’re exceptionally handy, you should always leave electrical projects to licensed electricians. You could potentially do any necessary drywall repair yourself to keep costs low, though. 

The mid-range option

If you need to rewire your entire home, you can save considerable money by keeping your old outlets and light fixtures if they’re still in working order. Replacing these items when you rewire your home can add thousands of dollars to your final costs. Similarly, if you don’t need a new or better electrical service panel, you’ll save tons of money by sticking with your old one. 

The high-end option

If you can afford to replace your home’s whole electrical system—i.e., every linear foot of wire, your service panel, each outlet, and every light—then it can be very beneficial.

For one thing, you’ll likely only need to do a complete overhaul like this once in your life. Wiring typically lasts around 50 years, though it can last longer if well-maintained, so replacing it all at once means you’ll probably never need to worry about it again. Similarly, replacing all of your electrical fixtures with your wiring will ensure your system runs efficiently.

Additionally, rewiring your whole home can considerably increase your home’s market value.

Replacing your whole electrical system like this can cost tens of thousands of dollars, especially if you live in a large home. You should only undergo an electrical project of this scale if you can afford it. 

How to pay for your home’s new wiring

You can cover this project’s high costs in a few different ways, even if you don’t have the necessary funds sitting in your bank account.

The first, and usually best, way is to finance through your contractors. Many electrical contractors offer payment plans to their customers, and these plans typically come with better interest rates and payback periods than other financing methods. This can vary by contractor, so review your contractor’s terms and conditions before committing to their financing.

Here’s a list of other financing options that may work better for your situation:

• Taking out a personal loan
• Taking out a home equity loan
• Opening a home equity line of credit

Paying with a credit card is another common financing method, though it’s usually best avoided for large-scale home improvement projects like rewiring. This is because most credit cards have especially steep interest rates, making them a bad deal for huge home-related expenses. 

Other factors to consider

Permits and inspections

Before the wiring project can begin, your electricians will need to pull electrical permits for the work. They’ll handle all the red tape, but you’ll have to pay for it. Permitting costs will usually be included in your estimate, and they can be as much as a few hundred dollars, depending on the scope of the project.

Then, once your new wiring is installed, you’ll have to get the work inspected to ensure it adheres to all local building codes. During the electrical inspection, the inspector will test to ensure all the outlets and fixtures work and examine the entire system for hazards. 

Like permits, electrical inspections typically cost a few hundred dollars, depending on how extensive they need to be. 

How long it takes to wire a home

The length of time required to wire a home can vary greatly depending on home size, age, and how many connections the home has. It typically takes a little over a week to completely wire or rewire an entire home, though large projects can sometimes drag on for months. 

Rewiring your home

While expensive, keeping your home's electrical system in good order is essential for running everything from your lights and fridge to your HVAC. Now that you know how much it typically costs to wire a home, the next step is to get quotes from some local electrical contractors.

Home rewiring FAQ

How much does it cost to fully rewire a house?

Most homeowners pay between $7,286 and $13,257 to rewire their entire house. However, the cost of rewiring a home can depend on a lot of variables, like the size of the home, the home’s age, the type of wiring the home needs, and the location. Additionally, adding fixtures like new circuits and GFCI outlets can also increase this project’s cost. Because of these variables, you should meet with a professional electrician to get a quote before you start budgeting. 

How long does a full house rewire take?

Completely rewiring the average home typically takes about a week. However, depending on the size of the home and the complexity of the project, the timeline can easily extend up to three weeks. In extreme cases, the project can even take longer than a month.

If your home’s floor plan is only about 2,000 square feet and you want a standard rewire, though, you probably won’t see such a lengthy project time. To know for sure, meet with a professional electrician for a quote and a timeline. 

Can you rewire a house without removing walls?

In most cases, a home can be completely rewired without removing any of the home’s walls. However, even the most skilled electrician will usually need to make a few cuts into your home’s sheetrock to access the wiring, meaning that they’ll need to patch up these access points afterward. Luckily, a qualified contractor will be able to patch the necessary holes so well that they won’t be noticeable. 

Can I rewire my house myself?

Under no circumstances should anyone but a licensed electrician attempt electrical work. Unlike other home improvement projects, even simple mistakes made while rewiring a home can result in serious injury, electrical fires, and death. Additionally, local laws make DIY electrical work illegal in some areas. For these reasons, you should always hire a professional electrician to wire your home. 

At what age should a house be rewired?

To keep up with contemporary safety standards and ensure smooth operation, a home should be rewired every 25–40 years. This will prevent electrical fires and nasty shocks while also allowing your electrical system to power modern appliances without tripping circuits. The age of a home’s electrical system should also be considered when you’re thinking about buying an older home since you may have to update its wiring to make it safe.