How Much Does a Lead Paint Inspection Cost in 2025?
Highlights
Getting a lead inspection costs $338 on average, with most inspections costing between $238 and $438.
Lead inspection cost factors include the size of the home, your location, the age of the home, and any additional tests you might need.
If there is lead paint in your home, you have the choice of abatement (sealing the lead paint with more paint, drywall, or new siding), or removal—abatement is far less expensive and is usually just as safe as removal, but it’s not a permanent solution.
If someone in the home has been harmed by lead, you’ll need a home lead risk assessment.
The average lead inspection costs $338, while it’s normal to see a range of costs between $238 and $438.
Lead is a chemical substance often found in the soil, pipes, and paint. The government banned the paint in 1978. If you’re remodeling or buying a home built before 1978, a test will reveal any problem areas. You can also assess your lead paint risk based on the home’s age. Contaminated dust from paint is one of the leading causes of poisoning, with children being the most susceptible.
Lead Paint Inspection Cost Factors
There are quite a few cost factors to consider when setting a budget for lead paint inspection, such as the size of the home, your location, the overall condition of the home, labor, additional testing costs, and more.
Home Size
Larger homes take more time to fully inspect for lead paint, leading to increased costs. If you live in a particularly large home, you could pay upwards of $1,600 for the inspection alone.
| Home Size (Square Feet) | Average Lead Paint Inspection Cost |
|---|---|
| <1,000 | $200–$500 |
| 1,000–2,000 | $400–$800 |
| 2,000–3,000 | $600–$1,200 |
| 3,000–4,000 | $800–$1,500 |
| 4,000+ | $1,600+ |
Location
Lead paint inspection costs tend to vary by region, with areas with higher living costs having higher inspection prices.
| State | Average Lead Paint Inspection Cost |
|---|---|
| California | $870 |
| Florida | $610 |
| Georgia | $550 |
| Illinois | $570 |
| Michigan | $550 |
| New Jersey | $690 |
| New York | $740 |
| North Carolina | $590 |
| Ohio | $570 |
| Pennsylvania | $570 |
| Texas | $560 |
Home Condition
The age and overall condition of your home are other major cost factors. Older homes usually have many layers of paint, each of which may or may not contain lead. It takes more time for your local lead paint inspector to thoroughly check each paint layer, leading to increased costs. They may even have to use specialized equipment, which will drive costs up as well.
Interior vs. Exterior
While the hourly lead paint inspection rates are the same for interiors and exteriors, it usually takes more time to inspect interiors due to the various types of surfaces present, such as doors, walls, windows, trim, wainscotting, crown molding, and so on. If needed, the cost to paint the home interior after lead paint removal ranges from $950 to $3,050.
Exterior lead inspection includes an extra step: Soil inspection. This is to check if flaking lead paint from the home’s exterior walls has contaminated the surrounding soil. This extra test will add $25 to $200 to your final costs. If needed, the cost to paint the home exterior after lead paint testing ranges from $1,800 to $4,550.
Labor
Since lead paint inspections require minimal materials, you’ll mainly be paying for labor or how long the inspector needs to completely check your home. Lead paint inspectors don’t typically charge by the hour and will instead provide a quote for the entire job. You can expect to pay more for larger homes or in areas with a higher cost of living.
Pros usually test for lead using a special X-ray machine, which measures how much lead is in old paint. They do so by aiming high-energy beams at different painted surfaces and then letting the machine analyze the presence of lead, which measures the amount of lead per square centimeter. Some pros also use paint chip sampling to test for lead. They test paint samples removed from the home with a special machine in the lab. This sort of test reports the percentage by sample weight.
Additional Testing Costs
It’s common to bundle testing services together to check for the presence of hazardous materials besides lead. These often include testing for mold and asbestos, among other contaminants. Mold testing costs $670 on average, while asbestos testing costs between $250 and $750.
Repairs and Removal
If lead is discovered, you’ll need to take action to make the home safe to live in. Usually, you’ll have the choice of either removal or abatement. Lead paint removal costs vary widely depending on the type and size of the surface but will usually range between $8 and $17 per square foot. You’ll also need to pay additional drywall repair costs after the hazardous materials have been removed.
The other option is abatement, which safely encapsulates the lead paint rather than removing it altogether. This is a less expensive option—though you’ll still need to consider the cost to hire a painter who can safely encapsulate lead paint. On average, lead paint abatement costs $4 to $8 per square foot.
Home Lead Risk Assessment Cost
Risk assessments range between $500 and $1,500. A risk assessment is different from a simple inspection. Lead paint assessors investigate the source and severity of the problem. Then, they create a strategy of appropriate solutions for your safety and budget. Typically, a lead risk assessment only occurs after someone has been harmed by lead.
Assessments and inspections differ in several ways:
Assessments usually occur after you’ve found lead poisoning in children. It’s a lengthy and specialized process, as assessors research the source and recommend the best abatement strategies for each home.
Inspections occur mostly before real estate transactions. These differ because inspectors only tell you if the problem exists and where.
Lead Paint Abatement
Lead paint abatement removes the danger of lead from your home and makes it safe to live there, while mitigation simply minimizes your exposure while still leaving the lead paint in the home. Lead paint abatement costs around $10,000 and ranges between $3,000 and $17,000.
| Lead Paint Treatment Type | Description | Average Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Lead paint inspection | Interior and exterior inspection to determine if lead paint is present | $300–$700 |
| Lead risk assessment | In-depth analysis of the source and severity of lead contamination, plus recommendations for abatement strategies | $500–$1,500 |
| Lead paint abatement | Lead paint is either encapsulated, enclosed, or removed to eliminate health risks | $3,000–$17,000 |
Mitigation
Reduces exposure by sealing old paint in affected areas with new paint, siding, or drywall
Homeowners mostly mitigate
Costs from $6 to $13 per square foot.
Elimination
Pros strip and dispose of paint and remove and replace affected walls, windows, doors, and soil
Sometimes, subsidized housing property managers by the government
Costs between $10 to $17 per square foot.
Removal and abatement pros must comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved procedures, adding about $36 to $380 per project. This is the only way companies may legally remove the substance from your home.
Budgeting for a Lead Paint Inspection
Lead paint inspections are essential to keep you and your family safe, but they can still present a significant expense. Here are a few ways to budget for a lead paint inspection:
Check what year your house was built—if it was constructed after 1978 (when the US government outlawed lead paint), it almost certainly doesn’t have lead paint, meaning a test isn’t necessary.
Bundle your lead paint inspection with other assessments, such as general home inspections, HVAC inspections, plumbing inspections, or roof inspections to save money.
If your inspection discovers lead paint, consider encapsulating or enclosing it rather than removing it—this is usually just as safe and comes at a much lower cost.
Clear the home of as much debris and clutter as possible to ensure it’s accessible for your lead paint inspector, reducing labor hours.
How HomeAdvisor Gets Its Cost Data
No place is more important than your home, which is why HomeAdvisor connects homeowners with local pros to transform their houses into homes they love. To help homeowners prepare for their next project, HomeAdvisor provides readers with accurate cost data and follows strict editorial guidelines. After a project is complete, we survey real customers about the costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We pair this data with research from reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Homes built before the 1980s probably contain lead since the U.S. government banned it from consumer use only in 1978. Before this, products such as paint, plumbing, pipes, ceramics, and gasoline often used lead-based paint. If you live near an industrial area, pay for the cost to test the soil around your home for elevated levels.
You can find lead in the air, soil, water, and homes built before the 1980s since it was widely used in the production of paint, gas, pipes, and ceramics. Children's growing bodies can be more susceptible to poisoning and are at a higher risk of exposure through hand-to-mouth activities.
According to the EPA, if children are poisoned, it can result in behavioral and learning challenges, lower IQ, hyperactivity, slowed growth, hearing issues, or anemia.
If your home tests positive for lead, consider the safety of children and the severity of your family's exposure and act quickly. Get a risk assessment if your family's blood levels test positive.
For every instance of lead, there’s a unique test and removal process. Reducing exposure to lead risks requires time and management. Mitigation techniques may involve hiring a pro and spending more than $1,000. Complete elimination always requires a pro and could cost more than $10,000.
EPA regulations require training and certification for inspectors, risk assessors, and abatement workers. The EPA's Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule also requires a certification for contractors who disturb lead as a consequence of work in the home. Inspection, assessment, and abatement costs $550, while the RRP certification itself costs $300.
Lead paint looks the same as regular paint, which makes it hard to determine if your home uses lead-based paint. You can only determine the levels through testing. If the old paint is deteriorating or flaking, get it tested.
