Denver house painting by the numbers
The age of the homes, the weather they sit in, what labor and paint cost, and what the market is doing, pulled from the Census Bureau, NOAA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and state agencies. Free to cite with a link.
Direct answer
Half of Denver's homes (50.9%) were built before 1980, so lead-safe preparation is a routine question here, not an edge case. Paint on those homes sits in about 10% more UV than at sea level, through roughly 134 nights a year that freeze and then thaw by day. Meanwhile painter wages in the metro average $28.70 an hour, about 8% above the national mean, and paint prices rose 5.0% in the latest year of federal data.
The housing stock
How old are the houses we paint?
Share of housing units built before 1980, by county. Older homes mean more trim, more layers of old paint and, before 1978, the possibility of lead.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25034 and B25035. The Census groups homes by decade, so "before 1980" is the closest available split to the federal 1978 lead-paint cutoff. Metro-wide: 38.0% of 1,328,534 homes, median year built 1989.
Census ACS 2024, B25035
Census ACS 2024, B25035
CDPHE, Regulation 19
The weather paint lives in
Denver's climate, measured
EPA; NOAA station elevation (our arithmetic)
NOAA normals: 156 freezing nights minus 22 freezing days (our arithmetic)
Colorado Division of Insurance
Myth check: "300 days of sunshine"
The slogan is everywhere, but NOAA's long-term measurement puts Denver at 69% of possible sunshine, a share of daylight hours rather than a count of days. In 2020 the National Weather Service in Boulder recorded 115 fair days, 208 partly cloudy days and 43 cloudy days. The sun here is strong because of the altitude and dry air, not because it never clouds over.
What drives price
Labor and paint costs
| Measure | Figure | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painter mean hourly wage, Denver metro | $28.70 (median $27.92) | May 2025 | BLS OEWS, occupation 47-2141 |
| Painter mean hourly wage, U.S. | $26.64 (median $23.75) | May 2025 | BLS OEWS |
| Painters employed, Denver metro | 1,670 | May 2025 | BLS OEWS |
| Construction labor cost change | +3.5% year over year | Q2 2026 | BLS Employment Cost Index |
| Paint manufacturing price change | +5.0% year over year | Sept 2026, preliminary | BLS Producer Price Index |
| Sherwin-Williams paint store price increase | 8%, effective Sept 1 | 2026 | Sherwin-Williams Q2 2026 earnings release |
| Exterior paint price change at retail | +$3.22 per gallon on average, the largest of any segment | 2026 study | J.D. Power U.S. Paint Satisfaction Study |
With only 1,670 painters on payrolls across the whole metro, good crews book up fast in late spring and early fall.
The housing market
Selling in fall 2026
DMAR, September 2026
DMAR, September 2026
NAR 2025 Remodeling Impact Report
How long paint lasts
What federal wood research says about paint life
- A primer plus two topcoats on sound wood "should last 20 years" if it does not crack or peel, according to the USDA Forest Products Laboratory.
- A primer plus one topcoat lasts about half as long.
- Cedar left bare for 16 weeks before painting needed refinishing within 3 years; one week of exposure still gave 13 years.
Those are lab results for an average U.S. climate. In Denver's sun and freeze-thaw cycles, south and west walls usually wear out first.
Rules homeowners ask about
Permits, lead and asbestos in the Denver metro
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Do I need a permit to paint in Denver? | No. Denver lists interior and exterior painting as work that needs no building permit (other permits can still apply to related work). | Denver Community Planning and Development |
| When do federal lead-safe rules apply? | Homes built before 1978, when work disturbs more than 6 sq ft per room inside or 20 sq ft outside. The firm must be EPA-certified. | EPA RRP rule, 40 CFR 745 |
| Can I scrape a popcorn ceiling without testing? | Above 32 sq ft in a single-family home, Colorado requires inspection by a state-certified asbestos inspector first. | CDPHE, Regulation 8 |
| How many Coloradans live in an HOA? | About 2.9 million residents in roughly 11,800 associations. Many require color approval before you repaint. | Community Associations Institute, 2025 |
For writers, Realtors and HOA newsletters
Use these numbers
You are welcome to quote any figure on this page. Please link back so readers can find the source list. Suggested credit:
Source: Denver Paint Contractors, "Denver house painting by the numbers" (2026), https://denverpaintcontractors.com/denver-painting-data/
Questions
Common questions
How old are homes in Denver?
Denver County’s median home was built in 1979, and 50.9% of its homes were built before 1980, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. Douglas County and Broomfield are much newer, with a median year built of 2004.
Does Denver really get 300 days of sunshine?
No measurement supports it. NOAA puts Denver at 69% of possible sunshine, a share of daylight hours. In 2020 the National Weather Service recorded 115 fair days, 208 partly cloudy and 43 cloudy days.
How much do painters make in Denver?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a mean hourly wage of $28.70 and a median of $27.92 for painters in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro (May 2025), compared with a $26.64 national mean.
Do I need a permit to paint my house in Denver?
No. Denver lists interior and exterior painting as work that needs no building permit. HOA approval is separate, and pre-1978 homes fall under federal and state lead-safe rules.
Sources
Every number on this page comes from the source listed. Checked October 17, 2026.
- ACS 2024 1-year, B25034 Year structure built (Denver, Jefferson, Boulder, Arapahoe, Adams, Broomfield, Douglas; Denver metro), U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter, 2024.
- 1991-2020 climate normals, Denver International Airport, NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020.
- Learn about the UV Index, U.S. EPA.
- Ranking of cities based on % annual possible sunshine (archived), NOAA NCDC, data through 2004.
- 2020 annual climate summary, Denver, National Weather Service, Boulder.
- Hail is the number one cost driver of insurance in Colorado, Colorado Division of Insurance, 2026.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Denver-Aurora-Centennial MSA, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025.
- Employment Cost Index, construction (CIU2012300000000I), BLS via FRED, Q2 2026.
- PPI, paint and coating manufacturing (PCU325510325510), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2026, preliminary.
- Q2 2026 earnings release, Sherwin-Williams (SEC filing), July 28, 2026.
- 2026 U.S. Paint Satisfaction Study, J.D. Power, March 24, 2026.
- Denver market trends report, September 2026, Denver Metro Association of Realtors, October 3, 2026.
- 2025 Remodeling Impact Report, National Association of Realtors, April 9, 2025.
- Wood Handbook, chapter 16 (FPL-GTR-282), USDA Forest Products Laboratory, 2021.
- Homeowner permits, City and County of Denver.
- Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program rules, U.S. EPA.
- Pre-renovation lead requirements (Regulation 19), Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
- Asbestos support (Regulation 8), Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
- 2025 Statistical Review, Foundation for Community Association Research, 2025.
Free estimate
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