CHRISTMAS LIGHT INSTALLATION PRICING GUIDE
Christmas light installation pricing
The 2026 US rates per foot of roofline with and without the lights, what installers charge for packages, trees, take-down and storage, the job minimum — and a free calculator that turns them into a price you can put on your website.
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The short answer
Installers charge about $2 to $5 a foot of roofline to hang lights the customer owns, and $5 to $10 a foot when the lights are included or rented, up to $7 and $12 a foot in high-cost metros (ThePricer, November 2025). A typical residential job comes to $220 to $685, $442 on average.
Fixr breaks a $2 to $5 per-foot price into $1.50 to $3.50 of labor and $0.50 to $1.50 of lights, with high or hard-to-reach roofs at $3.50 to $6 a foot, labor at $60 to $100 an hour, and take-down at $125 to $350 a job or $0.50 to $0.65 a foot when it isn't in the package (January 2025).
Sold as packages: $250 to $600 for a basic single-story roofline, $600 to $1,500 for more feet and taller sections, $1,500 to $5,000 or more for trees, paths and several zones, and $2,000 to $10,000 or more for commercial and HOA displays (ThePricer). Tree wrapping runs $75 to $125 for a small tree and $300 to $1,500 for a large one (Fixr). An installer software vendor advises a $500 to $800 residential minimum (Strandr, October 2026).
Price by the foot, add trees, bushes and wreaths per item, set a minimum, and say what's included — the lights, the install, service calls, take-down in January and storage — then take a deposit at booking. Put the per-foot rate and the minimum on your website: the season is sold in October and November (Google searches for Christmas light installation pricing peak in November, DataForSEO, October 2026), and the homeowner wants a number before they call.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this house?
Pick the work, enter the feet of roofline or pick a package, tick the roof and the timing, then the extras. The range uses the published 2026 US rates in the table below and never drops below the residential minimum.
Suggested price
$500–$800
roofline, the customer's own lights (labor only), 150 ft
Lifted to the usual job minimum of $500–$800.
A starting range from published US rates — not a bid for a particular house. The minimum is an installer software vendor's advice to installers, not a survey; set your own from your costs. Measure the roofline before you commit to a number.
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Put your Christmas light installation prices where customers look
Add your town, and Zarla builds your Christmas light installation website from this one line. Then tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
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RATES · OCTOBER 2026
Christmas light installation rates (2026)
Per foot of roofline is how the trade prices, with the lights either the customer's or yours. Fixr puts a 1,500 sq ft one-story home at about 125–175 feet of roofline and $275–$475 installed, a two-story at $425–$630 (January 2025).
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Roofline, the customer's own lights (labor only) | $2–$5 per ft · about $300–$750 for 150 ft · ThePricer |
| Roofline, lights included or rented | $5–$10 per ft · about $750–$1,500 for 150 ft · ThePricer |
| Whole-house package (flat price) | Basic: single-story roofline: $250–$600 · Standard: more feet, taller sections: $600–$1,500 · Full property: trees, paths and several zones: $1,500–$5,000+ · ThePricer |
| Tree wrapping (labor, per tree) | Small tree, about 6 ft: $75–$125 · Medium tree, 12–18 ft: $125–$250 · Large tree, about 28 ft: $300–$1,500 · Fixr |
| Commercial or HOA display | Storefront, office park or HOA entrance: $2,000–$10,000+ · ThePricer |
| Job minimum | $500–$800 · Strandr |
| Hourly labor rate | $60–$100 an hour · Fixr |
Rates read off each publisher's page in October 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers, and never goes below the job minimum. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What to add for the roof, the rush and the extras
The roof and the calendar move the per-foot rate; take-down, storage, bushes and timers are their own lines.
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Roof: two stories, steep or hard to reach | $3.50–$6 per ft on high or hard roofs against $2–$5 per ft on a plain one · Fixr figures |
| Booking: rush, after 15 november | 30%–50% more · Strandr |
| Take-down in January, billed separately | +$100–$400 · ThePricer |
| Off-season storage | +$50–$150 · ThePricer |
| Shrubs and bushes, each | +$12–$25 · ThePricer |
| Timer, device only | +$12–$50 · Fixr |
| Lift rental for tall trees, per day | +$400–$700 · Fixr |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to price a Christmas light installation job
Six steps from the roofline to the number on your price sheet.
Measure the roofline
Walk the eaves, ridges and peaks the customer wants lit and count the feet — Fixr's rule of thumb is 125–175 ft for a 1,500 sq ft one-story home, 295–345 ft at 3,200 sq ft.
Pick the rate for whose lights go up
$2–$5 a foot to hang the customer's own lights, $5–$10 a foot with the lights included or rented (ThePricer). Renting means year two is mostly profit; year one buys the lights.
Charge for the roof
Two stories, steep pitches and hard access run $3.50–$6 a foot against $2–$5 on a plain roof (Fixr) — that's 20% to 75% more, and the time on a ladder is where the risk is.
Add trees, bushes and wreaths per item
Small trees $75–$125, medium $125–$250, large $300–$1,500 in labor (Fixr); shrubs $12–$25 each (ThePricer). A lift for tall trees is $400–$700 a day — pass it through.
Set a minimum and say what's included
Strandr advises a $500–$800 residential minimum. Spell out the install, service calls during the season, take-down in January and storage — or price take-down and storage as their own lines ($100–$400 and $50–$150, ThePricer).
Price the calendar
Bookings after mid-November carry a 30%–50% rush surcharge in Strandr's model, and early bookers get 10%–20% off (Fixr) — sell the season in October.
The formula, worked through
Say a two-story home with 180 feet of roofline, the customer renting your lights, booked in October.
180 ft at $5–$10 a foot (ThePricer) is $900–$1,800. The second story adds 20% to 75% on Fixr's high-roof band, taking it to about $1,080–$3,150. Add a wreath over the door and four bushes at $12–$25 each (ThePricer), about $50–$100 more.
Take-down in January is either in the package or its own $100–$400 line (ThePricer), and storage $50–$150. So the two-story house lands somewhere in $1,130–$3,250 depending on which end of each band your market sits — you pick the end once you've measured it — and “roofline lighting from $5 a foot, lights included, with a $500 minimum” is a fair line for your price sheet. The arithmetic is ours; the rates are the publishers'.
What to charge in your part of the country
ThePricer's regional notes: about $260 for an average Texas job at $2–$5 a foot, about $291 in Florida ($163–$418), $5–$12 a foot all-in in Los Angeles with two-story homes at $1,000–$1,800, and $400–$1,200 or more for a Denver home (November 2025).
Across all prices, the Bureau of Economic Analysis puts California at 110.7 against a US average of 100 and Arkansas at 86.9 (2024 regional price parities, released February 2026) — so a $4-a-foot rate in an average market is about $4.40 in California and about $3.50 in Arkansas.
The season moves too: in snow-belt states the install window closes early and the rush surcharge bites sooner; in the Sun Belt installs run into December. Check what the installers in your town print, then price your minimum from your own ladder time.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what Christmas light installation costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: roofline lighting from $5 a foot with the lights included, tree wrapping from $75, $500 minimum” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse Christmas light installation website templates or see how Zarla builds Christmas light installation websites.
Still setting up? Write your Christmas light installation business plan, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google. Raising prices you set a year ago? The price increase letter tells customers a month ahead.
Hanging lights is the winter season many lawn care and landscaping owners add once the mowing stops. If that's you, read how much to charge for lawn mowing for the summer side and snow removal pricing for the other winter job, and see how Zarla builds landscaping websites. Starting from scratch? How to start a Christmas light installation business covers the lights, the ladders and the insurance.
Christmas light installation pricing: common questions
About $2–$5 a foot of roofline to hang lights the customer owns, and $5–$10 a foot when the lights are included or rented, up to $7 and $12 a foot in high-cost metros (ThePricer, November 2025). Fixr's $2–$5 total splits into $1.50–$3.50 of labor and $0.50–$1.50 of lights (January 2025). The calculator above uses both bands.
$220–$685 a job, $442 on average (ThePricer, November 2025); Fixr's most common price is $450 for a 1,500 sq ft home, with one-story homes at $275–$475 and two-story at $425–$630 for that size (January 2025).
Both, at different rates. Labor-only on the customer's lights is $2–$5 a foot; supplying or renting the lights is $5–$10 a foot (ThePricer). Renting costs you the lights in year one and earns the difference every year after — which is why most full-time installers lease their own commercial-grade lights.
Fixr puts high or hard-to-reach roofs at $3.50–$6 a foot against $2–$5 on a plain roof — 20% to 75% more (January 2025). Strandr's model adds 20%–30% of labor for steep pitches and 25%–40% for three stories (October 2026).
Take-down runs $100–$400 (ThePricer) or $125–$350 a job, about $0.50–$0.65 a foot (Fixr); storage $50–$150 (ThePricer). Either build them into the package price or list them as separate lines — but say which on the price sheet.
Tree wrapping labor is $75–$125 for a small tree (about 6 ft), $125–$250 for 12–18 ft and $300–$1,500 for a large tree, with a lift at $400–$700 a day for the tallest (Fixr); shrubs and bushes $12–$25 each (ThePricer).
Yes — the drive, the ladder set-up and the service calls cost the same on a small house. Strandr advises $500–$800 for residential and $1,500–$2,500 for commercial (October 2026). It's a vendor's advice, not a survey, so set yours from your own costs; the calculator's floor is that band.
$2,000–$10,000 or more for storefronts, office parks and HOA entrances (ThePricer, November 2025), and Strandr's commercial installs run $15–$40 a foot. Commercial clients book early and renew yearly — price the take-down and storage in from the start.
Yes — the per-foot rate, the minimum and what's included. Searches for Christmas light installation pricing climb from October and peak in November (DataForSEO, October 2026), and a homeowner comparing installers wants a number before they call. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your rates, and change them when the season changes.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US figures for residential work — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- ThePricer — How Much Does Christmas Light Installation Cost? — dated November 2025, read October 2026
- Fixr — Christmas Light Installation Cost — dated January 2025, read October 2026
- Strandr — How to Price Christmas Light Installation Jobs (2026) — dated October 2026, read October 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your Christmas light prices on your website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your rates go in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.