Understanding your result
The headline is how much more the wallpaper costs, and the sub-line gives both totals. The three figures are the paint total, the wallpaper total and the ratio between them. The bars show the two totals side by side.
The table shows the wall area with the openings taken out, the paint in gallons and cans with its supplies, the wallpaper in drops and rolls with its supplies, the labour lines if you included them, both totals with their cost per square foot of wall, and the difference.
The comparison is for the materials and labour of this job only. The wallpaper cost calculator adds removal of old paper and an installer rate per square foot, the paint cost calculator adds primer and sales tax, and the wallpaper roll calculator handles drop-match papers and custom roll sizes.
How we calculate this
The paint side is the same arithmetic as the wall paint calculator, with quarts priced at a quarter of the gallon price for simplicity. In the store a quart costs more per gallon than a gallon can, so on a job that rounds to quarts the paint total is slightly understated.
The wallpaper side counts drops the way a paperhanger does. A door takes a full drop’s width out of the wall above and beside it, and a window half, because the paper still runs above and below it. Each drop is the wall height plus 4 in to trim, rounded up to a whole number of pattern repeats so that every drop starts at the same point in the pattern. With a 21 in repeat and 8 ft walls, the 100 in needed becomes a 105 in drop, and a 33 ft roll gives three of them. The roll maths guide explains drops, repeats and the single-roll pricing convention.
The assumptions behind the numbers
| Assumption | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Paint price | $40 per gallon | A mid-range interior wall paint at US home-improvement stores in 2025 |
| Paint coverage | 350 sq ft per gallon per coat | Interior wall paint data sheets (Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr): 350–400 |
| Paint supplies | $40 | Roller, tray, brush, tape and a drop cloth for one room |
| Wallpaper roll | US double roll, 20.5 in × 33 ft | The common US roll size |
| Wallpaper price | $45 per single roll | A mid-range US paper in 2025; papers run from about $25 to well over $100 per single roll |
| Pattern repeat | 21 in | A typical repeat for a medium pattern; enter 0 for a random match |
| Paste, primer and tools | $70 + $40 | The paste calculator’s quantities at typical prices, and a smoother, knife and seam roller |
| Painter | $2 per sq ft of wall | Published cost surveys (Angi/HomeAdvisor, HomeGuide, Fixr), 2025: about $1.50–$4 |
| Paperhanger | $40 per single roll | The same surveys: about $25–$50 per single roll |
Assumptions last reviewed October 8, 2026.
The calculator does not include removing old wallpaper, repairing walls, or primer under the paint. Each of those applies more to one side than the other, so add them when they apply. The wallpaper removal calculator estimates the first, and the guide to what painters charge explains what a typical quote includes.
Two worked examples
A 12 × 10 ft bedroom, doing it yourself
8 ft walls, one door and two windows, two coats of $40 paint against a $45 paper with a 21 in repeat.
- Wall area: 302 sq ft after openings
- Paint: 302 ÷ 350 × 2 × 1.05 = 1.81 gallons, buy 2 gallons, $80 + $40 supplies = $120
- Wallpaper: 23 drops at 3 per roll = 8 double rolls (16 single rolls)
- Paper cost: 16 × $45 + $70 + $40 = $830
- Difference: $710, wallpaper about 6.9 times the paint
Per square foot of wall that is about $0.40 to paint and $2.75 to paper. The price of the paper decides most of the gap. A random-match paper at $20 per single roll still takes eight double rolls in this room, and brings the papered total down to $430.
A dining room, both jobs hired out
A 14 × 12 ft room with 9 ft walls, two doors and two windows, a 27 in × 27 ft paper at $60 per single roll with a 25 in repeat, painter at $2 per sq ft and paperhanger at $40 per single roll.
- Wall area: 398 sq ft after openings
- Paint: 2.39 gallons, buy 2 gallons + 2 quarts, $140 with supplies, plus $796 of labour = $936
- Wallpaper: 20 drops at 2 per roll = 10 double rolls (20 single rolls), $1,310 with supplies, plus $800 of labour = $2,110
- Difference: $1,174, wallpaper about 2.3 times the paint
Labour is almost the same for both jobs here, so the gap is the paper itself. Per square foot of wall, the painted room is about $2.35 and the papered room about $5.30.
Where to find your inputs
Room size. Measure the length and width along the baseboards and the wall height in a corner.
Doors and windows. Count them. The calculator uses standard sizes; a patio door counts as two doors.
Paint price, coats and coverage. From the shelf and the can label. Two coats is usual for a colour change.
Wallpaper roll and price. The roll size and the pattern repeat are on the label or the sample book. Check whether the price is per single roll; US papers usually are, while European rolls are priced per roll.
Labour. Use your quotes if you have them. The defaults are mid-range figures from published surveys.
Common mistakes
- Comparing the price per gallon with the price per roll. Compare the whole room priced both ways, as here.
- Counting wallpaper by area. Paper is bought in drops, and the repeat and roll ends can add a third to the quantity.
- Forgetting the single-roll convention. A $45 US paper usually costs $90 per double roll you carry out of the store.
- Ignoring removal. Taking down old paper, or the new paper in ten years, is a cost only the wallpaper side has.
- Papering a humid bathroom with standard paper. Use a vinyl or a paper rated for humid rooms, or paint.
- Assuming paint hides bad walls. Cracked or uneven plaster shows through paint; a heavy lining paper or a textured wallpaper hides it.
Questions people ask
- Is wallpaper more expensive than paint?
- Almost always. A 12 × 10 ft room with 8 ft walls costs about $120 to paint yourself with two gallons at $40 and $40 of supplies, against $830 to paper with eight double rolls at $45 per single roll plus paste, primer and tools. That is nearly seven times as much.
- Is the gap smaller if I hire someone?
- In proportion, yes. With a painter at $2 per square foot of wall and a paperhanger at $40 per single roll, the same room is $724 to paint and $1,470 to paper, so wallpaper is about twice the cost rather than seven times, because labour is a larger share of the painting job.
- Does wallpaper last longer than paint?
- A good wallpaper in a room that is not humid typically lasts many years longer than a coat of paint before it looks tired, and it hides cracked or uneven plaster that paint shows. If the paint would be redone once or twice in the life of the paper, the long-run gap narrows.
- Why does the wallpaper need more rolls than the wall area suggests?
- Paper is hung in full-height drops, each cut to match the pattern, and the end of every roll is too short for another drop. The calculator counts drops and drops per roll rather than dividing the wall area by the roll area.
- What about removing the wallpaper later?
- It is a cost paint does not have. Strippable paper comes off in an afternoon; paper that was pasted on unprimed drywall or painted over can take days. The removal calculator estimates the hours and cost.
- Can I paper one wall and paint the rest?
- Yes, and it is the usual compromise. Price the feature wall with the wallpaper roll calculator and the rest of the room with the wall paint calculator. One wall takes a small number of rolls, so a more expensive paper becomes affordable.