Data checked · source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
How much does it cost to install a ceiling fan?
Two completely different jobs share this name. Swapping a fan where a fan-rated box already exists is about an hour. Putting a fan where there is no box and no wiring is a different price entirely.
Expect roughly $224 to $2,894 to install a ceiling fan in the United States in 2026. The labour half of that is 1–6 hours at a billed rate of about $67–$97 an hour, which is what the US median electrician wage of $30.38 works out to once a shop covers burden, overhead and profit.
Where the money actually goes
This is the same quote, taken apart. Every line is a real price from a real listing or a published fee schedule, not a number we made up.
| Line | Low | High | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment | $100 | $2,000 | Which unit you pick. The table below lists them. |
| Parts and fittings | $57 | $213 | Most jobs need some of the parts list, not all of it. |
| Labour (1–6 hr) | $67 | $581 | Hours × billed rate. Varies by metro — see below. |
| Permit | $0 | $100 | Set by your city. Median $0. |
| Disposal | $0 | $0 | The old fixture goes in your bin. |
| Total | $224 | $2,894 |
The low column assumes a straightforward job with the cheapest listed equipment; the high column assumes the full parts list, the top of the labour range and the most expensive permit jurisdiction we measured. Most real quotes land in the middle.
What the equipment costs
| Option | Unit price |
|---|---|
| Swap an existing fan or fixture (box and wiring present) | $100–$300 |
| New install, no existing box or wiring | $400–$2,000 |
Source: HomeAdvisor — install a ceiling fan, checked August 6, 2026.
Specific products, with the price we saw
Not a recommendation and not an affiliate link. These are the listings we checked on August 6, 2026, so you can see whether the equipment line on your quote is close to retail.
Retail prices move. If one of these is wrong now, tell us and we will fix it with the date.
Parts list
What this job costs in 49 US metro areas
Materials cost roughly the same everywhere. Labour does not. The wage column is US government data; the labour column is that wage run through our published multiplier; the total applies it to the job above. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro comes out 18% higher than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford on the same work.
| Metro area | Electrician wage | Labour on this job | Estimated total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $50.53 | $202 | $269–$3,280 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $49.21 | $197 | $266–$3,255 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $48.93 | $196 | $265–$3,249 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $44.63 | $179 | $256–$3,167 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $43.77 | $175 | $254–$3,151 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $39.42 | $158 | $244–$3,067 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $39.37 | $158 | $244–$3,067 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $38.42 | $154 | $242–$3,048 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $37.99 | $152 | $241–$3,040 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | $37.41 | $150 | $240–$3,029 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $37.34 | $150 | $240–$3,028 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | $37.10 | $149 | $239–$3,023 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | $36.95 | $148 | $239–$3,020 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $36.62 | $147 | $238–$3,014 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $36.50 | $146 | $238–$3,012 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $35.98 | $144 | $237–$3,002 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $35.86 | $144 | $236–$2,999 |
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | $35.57 | $142 | $236–$2,994 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $35.49 | $142 | $236–$2,992 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $35.00 | $140 | $235–$2,983 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $34.08 | $136 | $233–$2,965 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $33.34 | $134 | $231–$2,951 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $31.54 | $126 | $227–$2,917 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | $31.31 | $125 | $226–$2,912 |
| Columbus, OH | $31.11 | $125 | $226–$2,908 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | $30.53 | $122 | $225–$2,897 |
| Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN | $30.45 | $122 | $224–$2,896 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $30.36 | $122 | $224–$2,894 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $30.11 | $121 | $224–$2,889 |
| New Orleans-Metairie, LA | $30.04 | $120 | $224–$2,888 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | $30.02 | $120 | $224–$2,888 |
| Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC | $29.98 | $120 | $223–$2,887 |
| Richmond, VA | $29.50 | $118 | $222–$2,878 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $29.43 | $118 | $222–$2,876 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | $29.33 | $117 | $222–$2,874 |
| Memphis, TN-MS-AR | $29.27 | $117 | $222–$2,873 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $29.03 | $116 | $221–$2,869 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $28.45 | $114 | $220–$2,858 |
| Albuquerque, NM | $28.43 | $114 | $220–$2,857 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $28.41 | $114 | $220–$2,857 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $28.37 | $114 | $220–$2,856 |
| Charleston-North Charleston, SC | $28.37 | $114 | $220–$2,856 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $28.20 | $113 | $220–$2,853 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $28.19 | $113 | $219–$2,853 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $28.02 | $112 | $219–$2,849 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $27.62 | $111 | $218–$2,842 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | $27.41 | $110 | $218–$2,838 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | $27.31 | $109 | $218–$2,836 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $24.43 | $98 | $211–$2,781 |
Wages: BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-2111 — public domain. Metros where BLS suppressed the figure are left out rather than estimated. Totals are FieldPricing calculations from the parts and hours on this page — they are not quotes and no contractor has agreed to them.
What did you actually pay?
Everything above this line is arithmetic on public data. It is honest, and it is not the same thing as a real invoice. If you have had this work done, the number on your invoice is worth more to the next reader than anything we can calculate.
No reports on this job yet. This site went up in August 2026 and nobody has sent one in. We would rather show you an empty table than invent entries to look established.
When reports come in, they get published here with the amount, the city and the month — never a name, never an email.
No account, no login, no newsletter. A person reads every submission before it appears, so it will not show up instantly. If we cannot make sense of one, we leave it out rather than guess — and if you would rather just email it, that works too.
What actually moves the price
Is there a fan-rated box already
A light fixture box is not a fan box — it is not rated for a moving load. If the existing box is a standard fixture box it has to be replaced, which means opening the ceiling or using a retrofit brace.
Is there wiring
No existing wiring is the single largest driver. Running a new circuit is $150-$600; if the walls have to be opened it can reach $2,000.
Ceiling height and angle
A vaulted, sloped or two-storey ceiling means scaffolding or a lift, plus a sloped-ceiling adapter and a downrod. Time roughly doubles.
Fan weight and size
Fans of 60 inches and up, and heavy dual-motor units, need reinforced mounting into a joist rather than a retrofit brace.
Doing several at once
Per-unit labour drops noticeably. Most of the cost of the first fan is showing up and setting up.
What we could not verify
We publish this list because a cost page that never admits a gap is not telling you the truth.
- Home Depot and Lowe's ceiling fan category price ranges — their category pages do not serve prices to an automated fetch. We used manufacturer-direct pricing instead, which runs higher than big-box promotional pricing.
How we got these numbers
- Wages — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 47-2111 (Electricians), pulled through the BLS public API. US federal data, public domain.
- Billed rate — wage × 1.3 labour burden × 1.70–2.45 overhead and profit, so 2.21×–3.19× the wage. Our assumption, published in full on the methodology page so you can disagree with it.
- Equipment and parts — retailer and supply-house listings, each linked above, checked 2026-08-06.
- Labour hours — HowLongFor — install a ceiling fan · HomeGuide — ceiling fan installation cost.
- Permit fees — Angi — ceiling fan installation cost.
We do not use RSMeans or Craftsman cost data. Their licences forbid building a database from them, so every number here traces to a public source or a public listing you can open yourself.
This page is not a quote. It is arithmetic on public data. Get it in writing from a licensed contractor before you spend anything. If a number here is wrong, tell us — we log every correction with the date.