How much does a wood fence cost per foot?

Wood fence installed cost runs $18-80 per linear foot depending on style and grade, with picket at the low end and premium horizontal-board fencing at the high end. Standard 6-ft privacy fence, the most commonly installed style, runs $25-55 per foot.

How much does 150 feet of wood fence cost?

150 feet of 6-ft wood privacy fence costs $3,750-8,250 installed, with a mid-tier total around $5,550. Picket style on the same run costs less, at $2,700-6,600, while premium board-on-board or horizontal styles run $4,350-12,000.

Is cedar worth the extra cost over pine?

Cedar costs roughly 20% more than standard SPF privacy fencing but resists rot and insects naturally, typically lasting 20-30 years versus 15-25 for standard-grade wood. Over the fence's lifetime, cedar often works out cheaper per year of service even at the higher upfront price.

What is the cheapest wood fence style?

Picket style is the cheapest wood fence style at the same length and height, since its spaced boards use fewer linear feet of lumber per section than privacy, shadowbox, or board-on-board. Pressure-treated pine is the cheapest grade regardless of style.

How much labor does a wood fence installation take?

Labor typically makes up 30-40% of an installed wood fence's total cost, lower than vinyl or aluminum because lumber itself carries meaningful material cost. A two-person crew can typically install 100-150 feet of standard privacy fence in 1-2 days.

Does a wood fence need a permit?

Many municipalities require a permit for wood fences over a certain height, often 6 feet in front yards or unrestricted in back yards, typically costing $40-200. Rules vary widely by city and HOA, so check locally before you start.

How much does it cost to add a gate to a wood fence?

A wood walk gate costs $180-650 installed depending on grade, while a drive gate wide enough for a vehicle costs $400-1,900. Cedar and premium-grade gates sit at the higher end of both ranges.

Wood Fence Cost Calculator (2026): Price by Style

Item	Low	High	% of Mid
Materials	$2,250	$5,250	57%
Labor	$1,500	$3,000	35%
Gates	$200	$600	7%
Removal	$0	$0	0%
Permit	$40	$200	2%

Wood fence cost calculator estimates on this page use the full cost calculators hub pricing engine, broken out by the four common wood styles. If you specifically want a solid-board, no-gap fence, the privacy fence cost calculator narrows in on that one style with a wood-vs-vinyl comparison.

How the Wood Fence Cost Calculator Prices a Project

This wood fence cost calculator starts from published material and labor rates for each style and grade, then layers on gates, removal, and your state's index. See how wood stacks up against other materials in our fence materials comparison before you commit to a style.

Wood Fence Cost by Style (6 ft, Installed)

Style	Low–High per ft	150-ft total (low–mid–high)
Picket (1×4 spaced)	$18–44	$2,700 – $4,200 – $6,600
Shadowbox	$18–38	$2,700 – $4,050 – $5,700
Privacy (1×6 dog-ear)	$25–55	$3,750 – $5,550 – $8,250
Board-on-board	$29–62	$4,350 – $6,300 – $9,300
Horizontal (modern)	$35–80	$5,250 – $7,800 – $12,000

Picket costs the least because its 2.5-in gaps use less lumber overall than any other style for the same length of fence. Board-on-board and horizontal cost more — board-on-board because overlapping boards use roughly 20% more lumber than privacy for full coverage, and horizontal because precise, gap-free fastening between boards takes more skilled labor per foot.

Wood Fence Cost by Grade (Privacy Style, 6 ft)

Grade	Low–High per ft	150-ft total (low–mid–high)
Pressure-treated pine (budget)	$19–38	$2,850 – $4,200 – $5,700
Standard SPF/basic privacy	$25–55	$3,750 – $5,550 – $8,250
Cedar (premium)	$30–65	$4,500 – $6,600 – $9,750

Pressure-treated pine is the budget choice and typically lasts 15-20 years; cedar costs roughly 20% more but resists rot naturally and can last 20-30 years, which often closes the price gap over the life of the fence.

What Drives the Price

Style and grade matter most, but height and gates add up fast too — an 8-ft privacy fence runs about 20% more per foot than the same fence at 6 feet, since taller sections need bigger posts and deeper footings. If you're still working out how much lumber you need before pricing labor, the wood fence calculator turns your length, height, and style into an exact post, rail, and board count.

Putting it together: a 150-ft, 6-ft wood privacy fence at mid-tier pricing runs about $5,550 for materials and labor. Removing an old fence first adds another $450-1,200 for the same run, so a full tear-out-and-replace project typically lands between $6,000 and $6,750 before gates or permits are added.

Labor vs Materials

Wood fence labor typically runs 30-40% of the installed total, a bit lower than premium materials because lumber itself carries real cost — cedar and pressure-treated boards aren't cheap even before a crew touches them. On a $5,550 mid-tier 150-ft privacy fence, that puts materials around $3,450 and labor around $2,100.

Gates, Removal, Permits

A wood walk gate costs $180-650 installed depending on grade; a drive gate runs $400-1,900. Removing an existing fence adds the standard $3-8 per linear foot, and permits, where required, run $40-200. Wood is one of the more permit-sensitive materials since many municipalities cap front-yard fence height and require permits above 6 feet — see our fence height and permits guide before you finalize plans.

DIY vs Hiring

DIY wood fence installation saves roughly 30-40%, the labor share above, but wood is more labor-intensive to DIY well than chain link or vinyl — each board gets individually measured, cut, and fastened, and a crooked line shows immediately on a picket or privacy fence. Budget a full weekend per 100 feet if you're doing it solo, longer with helpers only on weekends. Renting a power auger for post holes and a pneumatic nailer for boards cuts the labor time significantly versus hand tools, and both are common weekend rental items at most equipment yards.

Lifespan and Long-Term Cost

Standard-grade wood privacy fencing typically lasts 15-25 years, and cedar stretches that to 20-30 years with proper sealing. At a $5,550 mid-tier installed total for 150 feet, standard-grade wood works out to roughly $278 per year of service over a 20-year midpoint lifespan. Cedar's higher upfront cost, around $6,600 mid-tier for the same run, still lands close to $264 per year over its longer 25-year midpoint life — meaning the "premium" material is actually about as cheap per year as the standard-grade option once you account for how much longer it lasts.

Regional Differences

CalcFence applies your state's labor-cost index to your full project total. On a 150-ft, 6-ft wood privacy fence with a $5,550 national mid-tier total, the highest-cost states run 16-28% above it: Hawaii ($7,080), Alaska ($6,800), New York ($6,660), California ($6,520), and Massachusetts ($6,440). The lowest-cost states run 5-8% below: Mississippi ($5,130), Arkansas ($5,190), Alabama and West Virginia ($5,220 each), and South Carolina ($5,270). Wood's grade-driven price range means the same percentage swing translates into a bigger dollar shift on a premium cedar job than on a budget pressure-treated one.

Get Quotes

Wood pricing varies more by grade than almost any other material, so confirm exactly which lumber grade a quote assumes before comparing bids. Get 2-3 quotes specifying the same grade and style so you're comparing apples to apples, and check the fence cost per foot table if you want to weigh wood against vinyl, aluminum, or chain link before committing. These figures reflect 2026 published cost-guide and retail lumber pricing — confirm current board prices locally, since lumber costs shift with supply more than most other fence materials.

Wood Fence Cost Calculator