How to Price Christmas Light Installation (Per Foot, With a Worked Quote)

October 14, 2026 · 9 min read

To price Christmas light installation, add up your cost per linear foot (install and take-down labor plus the lights' share for one season), add a fixed per-job amount for travel, setup and overhead, then divide by (1 − your target margin). Quote one-story and two-story roofline at different per-foot rates and bushes or trees per piece. National guides put the going rate at about $2 to $5 per linear foot (Angi, 2026), but use that as a check on your price, not as the price itself.

Below: the method step by step, a price sheet, and a worked quote for a house with one- and two-story sections.

Why a flat "per foot" price from the internet goes wrong

Most pricing articles are written for homeowners and stop at a range. Pick a number from it and three things go wrong:

Take-down is a second job. You come back in January, climb the same ladders and pack everything. If your per-foot price only covered install, you work the second visit for free.
Fixed costs don't scale with feet. Driving there twice, setting up ladders, testing and fitting a timer cost about the same on a 90-foot ranch as on a 250-foot house. A single per-foot rate undercharges small houses and overcharges big ones.
Height changes the work. Two-story sections mean longer ladders, slower moves and more care. HomeAdvisor says high roofs and eaves cost about 20% more.

So the method below keeps three parts separate: a per-foot rate (by height), a per-piece rate for bushes and trees, and a per-job fee.

Step 1: Measure the house by section

Walk the house (or use a measuring wheel and a satellite view to plan) and write down:

One-story roofline, gutters and peaks, in linear feet
Two-story (and higher) sections, in linear feet
Bushes, trees, wraps and stakes, by count
Where the outdoor outlets are and whether they're GFCI-protected

Round each section up to the next foot. Mark which sections need a taller ladder or roof access.

Step 2: Set your labor rate

Your labor rate is what one person-hour costs you, not what you take home. For reference, the median wage for landscaping and groundskeeping workers was $18.82 an hour in May 2025 (BLS). If you hire a helper, you also pay the employer's share of Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) on their wages, so $18.82 becomes about $20.26 before workers' compensation and state unemployment insurance, which vary by state.

In this article we use $25 per person-hour as an example rate for both you and a helper. Replace it with your own.

Step 3: Time your work per foot

Most new installers guess this number. Start with example rates, then time your first two or three jobs and update them. Our example:

One-story roofline: 1.5 person-minutes per foot to install, half that (0.75) to take down
Two-story roofline: 1.5 times the one-story time (2.25 to install, 1.125 to take down)
Bush with a net light: 15 person-minutes to install, 7.5 to take down

Labor cost per foot, install plus take-down:

One-story: 2.25 minutes = 0.0375 hours × $25 = $0.9375 per foot
Two-story: 3.375 minutes = 0.05625 hours × $25 = $1.40625 per foot
Bush: 22.5 minutes = 0.375 hours × $25 = $9.375 per bush

Step 4: Add the lights' cost for one season

If you lease the lights (you supply them and take them back), each job should pay for part of the lights, not all of them. Example using commercial C9 parts priced at one supplier on October 14, 2026:

C9 socket wire, 12-inch spacing: $239.99 for a 500-foot spool, or $0.48 per foot
C9 warm white LED bulbs: $21.99 for a box of 25, or about $0.88 per foot at one bulb per foot
Total: about $1.36 per foot of light line

Spread that over three seasons (our example assumption) and add 10% for broken bulbs and waste. Jobber suggests a 5–10% allowance for this.

$1.36 ÷ 3 = $0.4533 × 1.10 = about $0.50 per foot per season

For a bush, use an example net light at $30 that lasts three seasons: $10 + 10% = $11 per bush per season. Prices change and bulk boxes cost less, so check your own supplier.

Step 5: Add the per-job costs

These happen once per job, whatever its size:

Setup, testing, timer and clean-up: 0.5 person-hours per visit × 2 visits = 1 hour × $25 = $25.00
Driving: 12 miles round trip × 2 visits = 24 miles × $0.76 = $18.24. We use the IRS business mileage rate, which is 76 cents a mile from July 1 to December 31, 2026 (it was 72.5 cents before July), as a stand-in for what your truck costs to run.
Clips, zip ties and a share of the timer: $15.00 (example)
Overhead share: $3,000 of season overhead (insurance, ladders, marketing, phone, storage) ÷ 40 expected jobs = $75.00 (example). The SBA's guide to business insurance explains the main coverage types; ask an agent what applies to ladder and roof work in your state.

Per-job total: $25.00 + $18.24 + $15.00 + $75.00 = $133.24

Step 6: Turn costs into prices with your margin

Divide each cost by (1 − margin). With a 30% target margin, divide by 0.70. This is the same formula Jobber uses: price = costs ÷ (1 − margin). Don't multiply by 1.30 instead; that gives you only a 23% margin.

Your price sheet (rounded up):

One-story roofline: ($0.9375 + $0.50) = $1.4375 ÷ 0.70 = $2.0536, so $2.06 per foot
Two-story roofline: ($1.40625 + $0.50) = $1.90625 ÷ 0.70 = $2.7232, so $2.73 per foot
Bush with net light: ($9.375 + $11) = $20.375 ÷ 0.70 = $29.11, so $30 per bush
Job setup fee: $133.24 ÷ 0.70 = $190.34, so $195 per job

The job setup fee also works as your minimum: no job, however small, goes below $195 plus footage. Angi lists minimum fees of $150 to $300 per job, so $195 is inside the normal range.

Worked example: quoting a house with two heights

The house: 110 feet of one-story roofline, 60 feet of two-story roofline (170 feet total), two front bushes, C9 warm white LEDs, leased lights.

One-story: 110 × $2.06 = $226.60
Two-story: 60 × $2.73 = $163.80
Bushes: 2 × $30 = $60.00
Job setup fee: $195.00
Quote: $645.40, or about $3.80 per foot of roofline

Check that it covers your costs. Cost: (110 × $1.4375) + (60 × $1.90625) + (2 × $20.375) + $133.24 = $158.125 + $114.375 + $40.75 + $133.24 = $446.49. Margin: ($645.40 − $446.49) ÷ $645.40 = 30.8%. Good.

Now the market check. Angi's 2026 data puts a medium two-story home (150–250 feet of lights) at an average of $450, with a range of $350 to $800. Our $645.40 sits inside the range but above the average. That's a prompt to check your numbers, not to cut the price: is your timing realistic, are three seasons right for your lights, and where do local installers sit in the range? If you lower the price, know which cost you're giving up.

See why the setup fee matters

Same price sheet, two other houses:

Small ranch, 100 feet one-story: (100 × $2.06) + $195 = $401.00, or $4.01 per foot
Long ranch, 300 feet one-story: (300 × $2.06) + $195 = $813.00, or $2.71 per foot

If you had quoted both at a flat $3.80 a foot, the small house would come to $380, which is below your $401 price and short of your margin, and the long house to $1,140, which is $327 more than your costs and margin need. You'd earn too little on the first and might lose the second to a competitor.

Pricing other packages

Customer-owned lights

When the customer supplies the lights, drop the lights' share and keep the labor:

One-story: $0.9375 ÷ 0.70 = $1.34 per foot
Two-story: $1.40625 ÷ 0.70 = $2.01 per foot

Older customer strands fail more often, so add time for testing and swapping bulbs, or a per-job testing charge, and say in writing that dead strands aren't your responsibility.

Take-down only

Some homeowners hang their own lights and pay for removal. One visit, take-down time only:

One-story: 0.75 person-minutes = 0.0125 hours × $25 = $0.3125 ÷ 0.70 = about $0.45 per foot
Visit fee: setup $12.50 + driving 12 miles × $0.76 = $9.12 + half the overhead share $37.50 = $59.12 ÷ 0.70 = $84.46, so $85
A 110-foot ranch: (110 × $0.45) + $85 = $134.50

HomeAdvisor lists removal at about $0.50 per foot, or $100 to $400, so this is in line.

Common mistakes

Pricing install only and forgetting the January take-down visit.
Using one per-foot rate for every house, so small jobs earn too little and big ones get overpriced.
Charging all of the lights' cost to one season (too high) or none of it (too low).
Multiplying costs by 1.30 and calling it a 30% margin.
Copying a competitor's price without knowing their costs.
Not timing your first jobs, so your example rates never get corrected.
Forgetting the deposit and payment terms. Our Christmas light installation contract guide covers deposits, take-down dates and state deposit limits.

Quick pricing checklist

Measured footage by section, with heights marked
Labor rate set from what a person-hour really costs you
Install and take-down time per foot (timed, not guessed, after your first jobs)
Lights' cost per foot spread over the seasons you expect
Per-job fee for setup, driving, supplies and overhead
Prices divided by (1 − margin), then rounded up
Market check against Angi and HomeAdvisor ranges and local installers
Written agreement with take-down window and payment terms

If you'd rather not build this from scratch, the Christmas Light Installation Business Kit has an Excel pricing calculator with the same structure (install, take-down, lights, travel, overhead and margin), a measurement worksheet, and sample agreements. Running lawn care in the summer? The same cost-first method is in our guide to how much to charge for lawn mowing.

FAQ

How much do you charge per foot to install Christmas lights?

National guides put it at about $2 to $5 per linear foot (Angi, 2026), and HomeAdvisor lists $2.50 to $7 per foot including lights, setup and removal. Your own rate should come from your labor time, lights, travel and overhead. In our example, the per-foot rate is $2.06 for one-story and $2.73 for two-story roofline, plus a $195 job fee.

Should I charge more for two-story houses?

Yes, because the work takes longer and needs bigger ladders. Price two-story sections at their own per-foot rate based on the time they really take. In our example that's 1.5 times the one-story labor time.

Is take-down included in the price?

It should be, for lease-and-install jobs. Build take-down time into your per-foot rate and the second trip into your job fee, then show the customer the take-down window in your agreement. Charge separately only for take-down-only jobs or early removal.

What's a good minimum charge for Christmas light installation?

Work out what a job costs you before you hang a single foot (driving twice, setup, supplies, overhead) and divide by (1 − margin). In our example that's $195. Angi lists minimum fees of $150 to $300 per job as a market check.

Should I charge less if the customer owns the lights?

Usually, because you don't supply the lights. But add time for testing old strands and replacing bulbs, and put in writing who pays for strands that fail.