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Privacy Fence Cost Calculator

Takeoff from post embedment and picket layout · prices are cited, not ours

Fence quotes come per linear foot, which hides what you are paying for. This counts the pickets, posts, rails and concrete first, then lets you price them.

Fence cost estimate

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Quantities from the picket layout and the post embedment rule. Prices are pre-filled from a dated third-party range, cited below, and are yours to change.

Specification summary

Generated from on . Reopen that address to reproduce these figures exactly.

Entered

Result

graderailsfrost linefence heightembedmentFrost depth, not fence height, usually decides how deep the posts go.
Privacy fence elevation

Worked example

A 100 ft run of 6 ft privacy fence, posts at 8 ft, 5 1/2 in pickets butted tight, in a place with no frost.

  1. Sections and posts first. A 100 ft run at 8 ft spacing needs 13 sections, so 14 posts. The post count drives both the concrete and most of the labour.
  2. Then the pickets. 100 ft is 1,200 in, divided by the picket width plus any gap.
  3. Then the post holes. Depth is the greater of one third of the fence height and the local frost depth, and the concrete is the hole volume less the post that sits in it.
  4. Then you price it. Either a whole-fence rate per linear foot, which is how installed quotes read, or line by line if you are buying materials yourself.
  5. Compare the two. A per-foot quote against your own line-item total is the only way to see what the labour and margin actually are.

Enter a frost depth and watch the total move. Deeper holes mean longer posts and more concrete, and it is the single input most likely to make a quote from a warmer state look wrong.

The formula

The count is layout, and the concrete is geometry. Neither depends on a price:

pickets = ⌈ 12L / (w + g) ⌉    posts = ⌈ L / s ⌉ + 1    V = (π(d/2)² − p²) × depth / 1728
L
fence length, ft
w, g
picket width and the gap between pickets, in
s
post spacing, ft
d, p
hole diameter and post size, in
depth
the greater of one third the fence height and the local frost depth
V
concrete per post, cubic feet, with the post volume taken out

Post depth is the input that quietly moves the money. It sets how much concrete you buy and how long the posts have to be, and it is set by your frost line rather than by the fence.

Why a per-foot quote hides the important part

Fence work is quoted per linear foot, and that is a blended number. It rolls up pickets, posts, rails, concrete, labour, hardware, overhead and margin into one figure, which makes two quotes impossible to compare except on the total.

The quantities are not in dispute. A 100 ft fence at 8 ft post spacing needs 14 posts whoever builds it, and a 6 ft fence needs its posts a third of that height in the ground unless frost says deeper. Those follow from the layout, not from the market.

So price the parts you can see. If a quote is well above your line-item total, that gap is labour, hardware, waste and margin, and asking about it is a reasonable conversation. If the materials line alone is double the yard price for the same counts, that is a different conversation.

Frost depth is the input people forget. A quote priced for a warm state assumes shallow holes. Move the same fence somewhere with a 42 in frost line and the posts get longer and the concrete roughly doubles, before anyone has raised their rate.

Published fence prices, and whether they have aged

These are not this site's numbers. They are what HomeGuide, how much does a wood fence cost publishes, quoted so you have something to enter and can judge it yourself. Unusually for a cost page it is bylined and dated: Written by Sarah Noel, edited by Tamatha Hazen, fact-checked by Kristen Cramer, published 2025-12-22, read by us on 2026-09-06.

Wood fence cost, as published by HomeGuide, how much does a wood fence cost
ItemLowHighUnit
Privacy fence, 6 ft, installed$25$50per linear ft
Privacy fence, 8 ft, installed$50$75per linear ft
Materials only$10$30per linear ft
Labour only$5$20per linear ft
Picket fence, installed$20$40per linear ft
Split rail, installed$15$35per linear ft

Source: HomeGuide, how much does a wood fence cost, published 2025-12-22, read 2026-09-06. HomeGuide dates and bylines its figures, which is better than most, but they are national ranges for installed work and not a quote for your yard.

Whether those figures have aged

The Producer Price Index, softwood lumber from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, series WPU0811, stood at 300.614 in July 2026. Softwood lumber is +15.0% against July 2025, so a range published before then is likely low.

Source: BLS series WPU0811, read 2026-09-07. An index tracks what producers charge, not what your supplier charges: use it for the direction of travel, not to set a figure.

What this leaves out

The takeoff covers pickets, posts, rails and post concrete. It does not include gates and their hardware, post caps, stain or sealer, fasteners, demolition of an existing fence, spoil removal, or permits and survey work where a fence sits near a boundary.

Gates in particular are worth pricing separately. A gate needs heavier posts on both sides, its own hinges and latch, and it is the part of a fence most likely to be rebuilt in five years.

Where the money actually goes

On a straightforward run, pickets are the largest material line by count but rarely the largest by cost. Posts and concrete usually are, because a post is longer stock, and every post takes a hole, a bag or two of concrete and the time to dig and set it. That is why post spacing matters more to the price than picket width does.

Widening spacing from 6 ft to 8 ft on a 100 ft run removes four posts and their concrete. It also puts more span on each rail, so check the rail size against the span before treating it as free money.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a privacy fence cost per foot?
Installed quotes are commonly written per linear foot, and the range published by HomeGuide is cited on this page with its date. What this calculator adds is the quantity behind that rate: how many pickets, posts, rails and bags of concrete your run actually needs.
Why does frost depth change the price so much?
Because it sets how deep every post hole goes. Deeper holes mean longer posts and more concrete per post, multiplied by the post count. It is the input most likely to make a quote from a different climate look wrong.
Does this include a gate?
No. A gate needs its own pair of heavier posts, hinges and a latch, and is normally quoted separately. Add it from a supplier's price rather than letting this page guess.
Should I use the per-foot price or the line items?
Use the per-foot rate to sanity-check a quote, and the line items if you are buying materials and building it yourself. Doing both and comparing them is the useful exercise.
How many pickets do I need for 100 feet?
At 5 1/2 in wide and butted tight, 219. Add a gap between pickets and the count drops; the calculator does it from your own picket width and gap.
Are these your prices?
No. This site publishes no price of its own. The pre-filled figures are a dated, bylined range from HomeGuide, cited on the page, and you should replace them with your own quote.

Check these numbers yourself

How every figure here is verified: Sources & Method. Who builds this: About. Found something wrong? Tell us and it gets fixed or removed.

Figures on this page last checked against the source documents on 2026-09-06. Codes are amended locally; confirm against the edition your jurisdiction enforces.

Related calculators

Estimates only. Quantities are a takeoff from your dimensions, with no waste allowance and no gate, hardware, stain, demolition, permit or survey costs included. Post depth follows the one-third convention and the frost depth you enter, neither of which replaces local requirements. This site publishes no price: the pre-filled figures are a third party's, cited with their date. Confirm quantities against your own layout and prices against your supplier.