Fence Installation Cost: Price Per Foot by Material
Most homeowners spend between $1,860 and $4,837 on a new fence, with an average of about $3,271. Price per linear foot installed ranges from roughly $5 for chain link up to $45 for composite, and a typical suburban lot needs about 150 linear feet.
What a new fence costs in 2026
Two national datasets land in almost the same place. HomeAdvisor puts fence installation at $1,860 to $4,837 with an average of $3,271. Bob Vila reports $1,743 to $4,431 with a national average of $3,059. Below about $1,700 you are usually looking at a short run, a low chain link fence, or a wire fence rather than a full backyard enclosure. Above $8,000 you are into long perimeters, tall privacy fences, or premium materials such as wrought iron and composite.
Length is what actually sets the number. A typical metropolitan lot of one fifth of an acre, about 8,712 square feet, needs roughly 150 linear feet of fencing. That figure is the sanity check to apply to any quote: divide the total by your measured footage and compare the result against the per foot table below.
Cost per linear foot installed, by material
| Material | Installed cost per linear foot | 150 ft project |
|---|---|---|
| Barbed wire | $1 – $6 | $150 – $900 |
| Electric or invisible | $1 – $6 | $150 – $900 |
| Hog wire or hog panel | $3 – $5 | $500 – $1,000 |
| Chain link | $5 – $40 | $1,298 – $3,576 typical |
| Wood and privacy | $10 – $20 | $1,700 – $4,000 |
| Vinyl | $20 – $25 | $2,341 – $5,993 typical |
| Aluminum | $20 – $30 | $3,000 – $4,500 |
| Wrought iron | $20 – $35 | $1,420 – $5,129 typical |
| Composite | $15 – $45 | $2,250 – $6,750 |
Note how wide the chain link band is. Basic galvanized mesh at four feet is the cheapest professional fence you can buy, while black vinyl coated chain link at six feet with drive gates climbs toward vinyl territory. HomeAdvisor puts an average chain link job at $2,409, most homeowners spending $1,298 to $3,576, with labor accounting for about half the total.
Wood fence pricing, the most common choice
A new wooden fence averages about $3,308, with most projects between $1,920 and $4,944, and outliers as low as $800 or above $8,000. Species matters more than most homeowners expect. Cedar and cypress run roughly $27 to $43 per linear foot installed. A common contractor recommendation is treated pine for the posts, which sit in the ground and need decay resistance, paired with cedar pickets, which take the sun and rain.
The line items that inflate a quote
- Height: a six foot fence needs more material and more labor per foot than a four foot fence. Wrought iron at four feet runs $25 to $35 per foot for materials; at six feet it moves to $33 to $36.
- Old fence removal: budget $3 to $5 per linear foot in labor, plus disposal. A mid size removal job runs roughly $600 to $1,400.
- Gates: a wide drive gate is a separate cost. On chain link a nine to ten foot drive gate adds around $1,199, while wood or vinyl gates at the same width run $1,300 to $3,500.
- Site conditions: slope, rocky soil, retaining walls, and poor access all add crew hours. Clearing the fence line matters too, and single tree removal averages about $750 with stumps at $100 to $150 each.
- Permits: modest but real. A chain link permit runs $20 to $60, and many jurisdictions exempt fences below a set height, often eight feet.
- Privacy slats on chain link: $3 to $10 per linear foot installed, a cheap way to get screening at roughly half the price of building a wood privacy fence.
Is your quote reasonable?
Start by dividing the bid by your measured footage. For a 150 foot backyard, a wood privacy fence quote of $1,900–$5,000 is normal, chain link $1,300–$3,600, and vinyl $2,300–$6,000. If the per foot figure lands well above the table, ask what is driving it: height, gate count, terrain, or removal of the existing fence are the usual honest answers. If it lands well below, check whether removal, disposal, gates, and permit are actually included or quoted separately later.
Two more things worth insisting on. First, ask whether the price assumes your property line is already known. A boundary dispute after installation is expensive to fix, and some contractors price a survey separately. Second, get the post specification in writing, including depth, setting material, and spacing, because posts are what decide whether the fence is still straight in ten years and they are invisible once the job is done. Collect three bids on the same written scope so the numbers are actually comparable.
Last updated: September 2026