How Much Does It Cost to Install Outdoor and Landscape Lighting?

Average Outdoor Light Installation Cost

Landscape Lighting Installation Cost Factors

Several factors influence the cost of installing outdoor lighting, from retrofitting to trenching to power sources. Each choice you make influences how much the project will cost.

Existing Landscaping

Retrofitting outdoor lighting in an existing mature landscape is more challenging and takes longer, costing more for labor. Contractors have to go around existing features, such as large bushes, between rows of plants, and under or around mature features and hardscaping. Additionally, any damage they do to the current design then has to be repaired once the installation is complete, further increasing costs.

Wiring

How much wiring you need depends on how far the lights are from your home. The greater the distance, the more wire you'll need. Installing new electrical wiring typically costs $3 to $5 per linear foot.

Digging and Trenching

Trenching costs $4 to $12 per linear foot. You'll need to dig trenches if you need to run new electrical cable and you don't want it just laying on your grass in plain view. Burying the wires gives a better finish, and it's much safer. It also means your wiring will last longer as it won't be exposed to storms and rapidly fluctuating temperatures.

Type of Lights and Fixtures

The types of lights you choose are one of the biggest cost factors. Simple pathway lighting can cost as little as $50 per light, installed, while gazebo and pool lighting can cost $500 or more.

Solar vs. Hardwired

Solar and hardwired lights generally cost similarly per unit. The differences are in the installation and the running costs. Solar lights don't need wire running from your home to the lights, and they don't consume household electricity; they rely on the sun's energy. Therefore, solar lights are more cost- and energy-efficient than hardwired lights.

Outdoor Lighting Costs by Type of Fixture

There are many different types of landscape lighting features, and they each carry different installation costs and needs.

Pathway Lights

Pathway lights cost an average of $100, or between $50 and $150 per fixture, installed. Sometimes known as mushroom lights, these soft lights provide a much-needed gentle glow to help you find your way along a pathway after dark.

Low-Voltage Landscape Lighting

Low-voltage landscape lighting costs around $120. You can pay between $90 and $150 per fixture, professionally installed. These lights use less voltage than the standard household 120-volt supply, so they require the installation of a 12-volt transformer. This reduces the load on your household's electricity supply and running costs.

Porch Lights

Professionals charge an average of $160 to install porch lights, with most people paying between $65 and $250 per fixture. Installation takes no more than an hour, so most of this cost is the lamp itself. These estimates don’t include the cost of installing an exterior power source. Solar-power lights don't require an external power source. A 16-watt model costs about $30 and takes eight hours to fully charge.

Floodlights

Expect to pay around $160 to have a floodlight installed. Some cost as little as $75, while others cost $400 or more. While this price usually includes pole installation, that's not always the case. If not, floodlight poles cost between $100 and $200. 

The cost of hiring outdoor lighting contractors to install floodlights for a football stadium is between $18,000 and $25,000. For a recreational tennis court, you'll pay around $13,000, while to light a full-size tournament court, expect to pay roughly $17,000. 

Downlights

With most people paying around $250 for downlights, the typical price range is $100 to $400 per fixture, installed. Downlights mimic moonlight. They're mounted high above the yard and have a shrouded bulb to provide a soft, moon-like illumination. 

Uplights

As with downlights, uplights cost between $100 and $400, with an average cost of $250. Uplights go at the base of the home's walls, a retaining wall, tree, or other landscape feature. Uplighting can deter intruders, but are more commonly used to enhance the appearance of your home or other property feature.

Outdoor Security Light

It costs an average of $425 to install an outdoor security light, or between $350 and $500. Outdoor motion sensor lights, or outdoor security lights help to deter intruders by turning on a harsh bright light when they detect motion within their field. 

Lamp Post

Lamp posts cost an average of $700 to install, but you can pay anywhere from $400 to $1,000. Because homeowners usually have lamp posts installed a fair distance from their property—often close to the sidewalk—they cost more to install; the pro has to run electricity from your home to the lamp post. 

Holiday Lights

Expect to pay around $440 for the cost to professionally install holiday lights outside, with an average cost of $220 to $660. For multistory residential structures, the total price can go up to $1,500. Hanging up holiday lights around your home perimeter can be a DIY job if you have several hours over the weekend, but larger companies offer packages that include the light strands, installation, and takedown.

Outdoor Lighting Costs by Type of Bulb

While the bulb type won't change the cost of the installation too much, the cost of replacement bulbs do differ significantly. Additionally, the running cost is substantially different. For example, metal halide bulbs cost three times more to run than LED bulbs of the same lumen output. 

• LED: $0.70–$8.00

• CFL: $12–$40

• Halogen: $2–$5

• HID: $10–$35

• Incandescent: $0.50–$5.00

Cost to Replace Exterior Light Fixtures

The cost of replacing outdoor lighting ranges from $65 to $175 for labor, depending mostly on location. The cost of the fixture itself starts at $20. Other factors that can affect replacement cost include features of the fixture and wiring complexity.

DIY vs. Hire an Electrician for Outdoor Lighting

Electrical wiring is the most important consideration when deciding whether to hire an electrician for outdoor lighting repair and installation. A bulb replacement shouldn’t require an electrician, but even simple repair jobs often require replacing and rerouting electrical cables. A local landscape lighting contractor should always perform these tasks since building codes often require it.

Tara Dudley, Landscape Designer, Landscape Project Coordinator and Owner of Plant Life Designs, notes, “Your local landscape contractor can also handle installing an outdoor lighting system as long as there is an exterior outlet to connect to, done by a licensed electrician.”