Paint coverage chart: how many square feet does a gallon of paint cover?
One gallon covers 350–400 sq ft per coat on smooth primed drywall, and the number moves with the surface, not the sheen. Every coverage rate this site uses, in one place.
One US gallon of interior wall paint covers 350–400 sq ft per coat on smooth, primed drywall — 400 is the label rate, 350 the working rate to plan on (Sherwin-Williams ProMar 200 data sheets, flat and semi-gloss alike). Coverage moves with texture and porosity, not sheen: orange peel 325, knockdown 275, bare drywall 280, popcorn ceiling 225, brick 200, stucco 175, exterior wood siding 275. A quart covers about 90 sq ft; a 5-gallon pail about 1,750 sq ft per coat. Two coats is standard: area × coats ÷ coverage, then add 10% for waste.
Rates and coverage figures updated August 2026. Compiled 2026 from sources last updated 2023–2026.Does paint sheen change how far a gallon goes?
No. Sheen changes durability and glare, not spread rate. Sherwin-Williams publishes the proof in its own data sheets: ProMar 200 Zero VOC flat (PDS 101.81A) and ProMar 200 Zero VOC semi-gloss (PDS 101.84) are both rated 350–400 sq ft per gallon per coat. Same rate, different finish.
Two things drive coverage: volume solids in the can, and the surface under the roller. A porous surface pulls paint into itself. A textured surface has more real area than its measured length × height. A knockdown wall measures 100 sq ft on a tape and takes the paint of about 127 sq ft of smooth drywall (350 ÷ 275). That is why a gallon covers 400 sq ft of smooth primed drywall and 225 sq ft of popcorn ceiling.
Sheen still matters for scrubbability and for how a wall's flaws read under raking light. It does not change how many cans you carry to the register. That choice belongs in the paint sheen guide, not in your quantity math.
How many square feet does a gallon of paint cover?
Use the row that matches what you are actually rolling, not the sheen on the label.
| Surface | Sq ft per gallon, per coat | Why it lands there |
|---|---|---|
| Smooth primed drywall (label rate) | 400 | Manufacturer's stated rate — sealed, non-porous, no texture |
| Smooth primed drywall (working rate) | 350 | What to plan on after cut-in, roller loss and tray residue |
| Orange peel texture | 325 | Light stipple adds real surface area beyond the measured area |
| Knockdown texture | 275 | Heavier profile — peaks and valleys both take paint |
| Bare / new drywall (unprimed) | 280 | Paper face and joint compound absorb the first coat unevenly |
| Ceiling, smooth | 350 | Same rate as smooth walls at the working rate |
| Popcorn ceiling | 225 | Porous acoustic texture — the thirstiest interior surface in this chart |
| Trim, doors and casing | 250 | Narrow surfaces, high cut-in waste, edges get coated twice |
| Quart of wall paint, smooth drywall | 90 | A quarter of the 350 working rate is 87.5 sq ft — a quart is a quarter-gallon in practice |
| Exterior vinyl siding | 375 | Non-porous and factory-smooth — the best exterior rate you will get |
| Exterior wood siding | 275 | Grain and weathered fiber absorb; lap edges need brushing |
| Brick | 200 | Porous face plus recessed mortar joints across the whole field |
| Stucco | 175 | Deep aggregate profile; a roller only reaches the high points |
| Elastomeric coating on stucco | 80 | Applied as a thick film by design — a coating, not a paint |
| Deck or fence stain, first coat | 250 | Bare wood drinks it; the second coat needs only about 0.67× the first |
Why does the label say 400 when painters plan for 350?
Both numbers are honest; they measure different things. 400 sq ft/gal is the label rate — the theoretical spread at the manufacturer's specified film thickness, on an ideal substrate, with nothing left in the tray. 350 sq ft/gal is the working rate, and it is the default used across this site. The 50 sq ft gap is cut-in around trim and corners, where you brush heavier than you roll; the film left on the sleeve and in the tray; and the fact that nobody rolls an even mil thickness across a whole wall.
Plan at 350 and you will not make a second trip. Plan at 400 on 2,000 sq ft of wall at two coats and you land about 1.4 gallons short: 4,000 sq ft of coverage needed is 11.4 gallons at the working rate, against the 10 you bought.
How much primer does a gallon cover?
Primer goes onto rougher, thirstier surfaces than finish paint, so its rates run lower — far lower on masonry, where the primer's job is to fill and bridge rather than to color.
| Primer type | Sq ft per gallon, per coat | Use it on |
|---|---|---|
| PVA drywall primer | 250 | Bare or new drywall, and every patched or skim-coated area |
| Stain-blocking primer | 250 | Water rings, smoke, tannin bleed, marker — anything that will ghost through |
| Masonry primer on rough stucco | 80 | Stucco and rough block — the rate collapses because the profile is so deep |
| Block filler on CMU | 100 | Concrete block; it fills open pores rather than coating a surface |
Patching walls first? The drywall calculator sizes sheets, mud and tape — and every patch you make is bare compound that needs PVA primer before the finish coats.
How much does a quart cover, and how many square feet are in a 5-gallon bucket?
A quart covers about 90 sq ft per coat on smooth drywall — one accent wall at a single coat, or the trim in a small bathroom. A quarter of the 350 working rate is 87.5 sq ft, so a quart is close to a straight quarter-gallon; measured against the 400 label rate it is well short of one. A 5-gallon pail covers about 1,750 sq ft per coat at 350 sq ft/gal, or 2,000 sq ft at the 400 label rate.
The pail is not automatically cheaper, and this is where most people overbuy. Interior paint runs $20–$80 per gallon, $40 typical; the table below is worked at $35 per gallon against $150 per 5-gallon pail, the price pair at which the crossover was checked. At those prices the pail is $30/gal — but you pay for five gallons whether you open them or not. $150 ÷ $35 = 4.3, so the pail never wins below about 4.3 gallons of requirement.
| Gallons needed | Cheapest mix | Cost | Leftover | Versus the obvious buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 gal | 1 gallon + 2 quarts | $63 | 0 gal | $7 under two full gallons ($70) |
| 2.0 gal | 2 gallons | $70 | 0 gal | Exact — no quart needed |
| 2.5 gal | 2 gallons + 2 quarts | $98 | 0 gal | $7 under three gallons ($105) |
| 3.0 gal | 3 gallons | $105 | 0 gal | A pail would cost $45 more |
| 4.0 gal | 4 gallons | $140 | 0 gal | Still beats the $150 pail by $10 |
| 4.3 gal | 1 five-gallon pail | $150 | 0.7 gal | The crossover: $150 ÷ $35 = 4.3 gal; cans here would be $168 |
| 5.0 gal | 1 five-gallon pail | $150 | 0 gal | $25 under five single gallons ($175) |
| 6.0 gal | 1 pail + 1 gallon | $185 | 0 gal | $25 under six single gallons ($210) |
| 8.0 gal | 1 pail + 3 gallons | $255 | 0 gal | $45 under two pails ($300), and no 2-gallon leftover |
Two rules fall out of that table at these prices. Below 4.3 gallons, cans beat the pail. Above one pail, add gallons instead of reaching for a second pail — the same $150 ÷ $35 rule applies again, so a second pail only pays at about 9.3 gallons and up.
How many coats do you need, and when does primer come first?
Two coats is the standard. One coat is a touch-up, not a paint job: it leaves lap marks and uneven sheen under raking light. Three coats is for a drastic color change — a saturated red or deep navy going to white, where two coats still let the old color read through at the corners.
| Situation | Finish coats | Primer first? |
|---|---|---|
| Repaint, same or similar color, sound wall | 2 | No — spot-prime patches and repairs only |
| Drastic color change (dark to light) | 3 | Yes — tinted high-hide primer |
| Bare or new drywall | 2 | Yes — PVA primer at 250 sq ft/gal |
| Water, smoke or tannin stains | 2 | Yes — stain-blocking primer at 250 sq ft/gal, or it ghosts through |
| Glossy existing finish | 2 | Yes — scuff-sand, then bonding primer |
| Bare wood (trim, siding, fence) | 2 | Yes — bare grain absorbs unevenly |
| Any masonry: brick, block, stucco | 2 | Yes — masonry primer (80 sq ft/gal on rough stucco), or block filler at 100 on CMU |
| Aluminum or other metal | 2 | Yes — metal primer |
The complete primer trigger list
- Bare or new drywall, including patched and skim-coated areas
- A drastic color change in either direction
- Stains of any kind — water, smoke, tannin, marker, grease
- Glossy surfaces, after scuff-sanding
- Bare wood
- All masonry — brick, concrete block, stucco
- Aluminum and other metal
How do you turn coverage into gallons?
The math is paintable area × coats ÷ coverage rate × 1.10. Measure each wall as length × ceiling height, add them up, subtract openings if you are deducting them, take the substrate rate from the chart above, multiply by coats, then add the 10% buffer. The quick gallons estimator runs that in one screen; the visual paint planner lets you draw the room with its real doors and windows so the deductions happen for you.
| Room | Gross wall area | Net after openings | Gallons, 2 coats | With 10% waste | What to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 bedroom | 320 sq ft | 284 sq ft | 1.62 gal | 1.79 gal | 2 gallons |
| 12 × 12 bedroom | 384 sq ft | 348 sq ft | 1.99 gal | 2.19 gal | 2 gallons + 1 quart |
| 12 × 14 room | 416 sq ft | 380 sq ft | 2.17 gal | 2.39 gal | 2 gallons + 2 quarts |
| 15 × 15 room | 480 sq ft | 444 sq ft | 2.54 gal | 2.79 gal | 3 gallons |
The 12 × 12 is worth staring at. At 1.99 gallons before waste it sits a hundredth under two — the closest call of any common room size — and one 9 ft ceiling (2.26 gal), an orange-peel texture (2.14) or one fewer window (2.07) pushes it past. Add the buffer and it is 2.19 gallons, which is a quart on top of two gallons, not a third gallon.
Should you subtract doors and windows?
We use 21 sq ft per door and 15 sq ft per window. The sources disagree: doors are quoted at 20–21 sq ft, windows anywhere from 10 to 16 sq ft depending on whose table you read. On a 12 × 12 room the whole argument is worth about 6 sq ft — under 2% of that room's 348 sq ft of net wall.
If you are pricing the job rather than buying the paint, the painting bid estimator handles coats, prep condition and production rates on top of these coverage rates, and the whole-project budget tool puts paint next to the rest of the spend.
Where do these numbers come from?
Coverage rates here come from manufacturer product data sheets, not from aggregator articles: Sherwin-Williams ProMar 200 for the interior wall rates, and published spread rates for primers, block filler and elastomeric coatings. Aggregators are used only for prices, never for spread rates, because they copy each other.
On that point: Angi and HomeAdvisor are one source, not two. Angi owns HomeAdvisor, and NerdWallet republishes the same tables — three familiar names, one number. The genuinely independent aggregators in this category are HomeGuide, Angi/HomeAdvisor and Homewyse. Homewyse runs high and prices gross wall area including openings, so it is an upper bound, never a central estimate.
Vintage, stated plainly: this page was compiled in 2026 from sources last updated 2023–2026. HomeGuide's core interior painting page is bylined 28 August 2023 despite carrying a current year in its title, while its painter page dates to September 2025. Where a publisher's own pages conflict, we take the newer one.
Frequently asked
How many square feet does a gallon of paint cover?
A gallon covers 350–400 sq ft per coat on smooth, primed drywall. The 400 figure is the manufacturer's label rate at the specified film thickness; 350 is the realistic working rate once you account for cut-in, roller loss and paint left in the tray. Plan at 350. On textured or porous surfaces the rate falls: orange peel 325, knockdown 275, bare drywall 280, popcorn ceiling 225, brick 200, stucco 175. Multiply by your coat count, then add 10% for waste.
Does paint sheen change coverage per gallon?
No — flat and semi-gloss from the same line carry the same 350–400 sq ft per gallon per coat rating. Sherwin-Williams rates ProMar 200 Zero VOC flat (data sheet PDS 101.81A) and ProMar 200 Zero VOC semi-gloss (PDS 101.84) identically. The real drivers are volume solids in the can and the texture and porosity of the surface underneath. Sheen affects durability, scrubbability and how much glare shows wall flaws; it does not change how many cans you buy.
How much does a quart of paint cover?
A quart covers about 90 sq ft per coat on smooth, primed drywall — roughly one accent wall at a single coat, or the trim in a small bathroom. A quarter of the 350 sq ft working rate is 87.5 sq ft, so a quart is close to a straight quarter-gallon; measured against the 400 sq ft label rate it falls well short of one. Quarts cost about 40% of the gallon price, which makes them the right buy when you need half a gallon or less to finish.
How many square feet are in a 5-gallon bucket of paint?
A 5-gallon pail covers about 1,750 sq ft per coat at the 350 sq ft per gallon working rate, or 2,000 sq ft at the 400 label rate. At two coats that is roughly 875 sq ft of wall. The pail is not always cheaper: at $35 per gallon against $150 per pail, single gallons win up to about 4.3 gallons of requirement ($150 ÷ $35 = 4.3). At 4.0 gallons, four cans cost $140 against the pail's $150.
How much primer does a gallon cover?
PVA drywall primer and stain-blocking primer both cover about 250 sq ft per gallon per coat — lower than finish paint because primer goes onto raw, absorbent surfaces. Masonry primer on rough stucco drops to 80 sq ft per gallon and block filler on concrete block to 100, since both fill an open profile rather than coat a smooth one. Primer is a single coat in nearly every case; calculate it separately from your finish coats, never at the finish rate.
How far does a gallon of paint go on exterior surfaces?
Exterior coverage per gallon per coat runs 375 sq ft on vinyl siding, 275 on wood siding, 200 on brick, 175 on stucco and 250 on a deck or fence's first coat of stain. Elastomeric coating on stucco covers only 80 sq ft per gallon because it is applied as a thick film by design. Porosity and profile explain the whole spread: vinyl is factory-smooth and sealed, while brick and stucco have deep texture and recessed joints a roller has to fill.
How many coats of paint do I need?
Two coats is the standard for any real repaint — one coat leaves lap marks and uneven sheen. Use three coats for a drastic color change, such as a deep navy or saturated red going to white, where two coats still let the old color read through at corners and edges. A tinted high-hide primer goes on first in that case. One coat is only appropriate for a touch-up in the same color on a sound, previously painted wall.
When do I need to prime before painting?
Seven conditions trigger primer: bare or new drywall, a drastic color change, stains of any kind (water, smoke, tannin, marker, grease), glossy surfaces after scuff-sanding, bare wood, all masonry including brick, block and stucco, and aluminum or other metal. Everywhere else — a sound repaint in a similar color — you spot-prime patches and repairs only, not the whole wall. Primer is one coat, figured at its own rate: 250 sq ft per gallon for PVA and stain-blocking.
Sources and method
Figures on this page were compiled in August 2026 from the sources below, whose own publication dates run from 2023 to 2026. Where they disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than averaged away.
- Sherwin-Williams product data sheets — ProMar 200 Zero VOC flat (PDS 101.81A) and semi-gloss (PDS 101.84), both rated 350–400 sq ft per gallon per coat; source for the interior wall coverage figures
- Manufacturer published spread rates for PVA and stain-blocking primers, masonry primer, block filler and elastomeric coatings
- HomeGuide interior painting cost guides — core interior page bylined 28 August 2023, separate painter page updated September 2025; used for paint, quart and pail pricing, with the newer page preferred where the two conflict
- Angi / HomeAdvisor interior painting cost data, 2024–2025 — counted as one source, not two: Angi owns HomeAdvisor and NerdWallet republishes the same tables
- Homewyse interior painting unit-cost tables, 2025 — priced on gross wall area including door and window openings; used as an upper bound only, never as a central estimate
- Compiled 2026 from sources last updated 2023–2026
This is an estimate for planning, not a quote or a bid. Confirm any figure against local contractor pricing before you commit money to it.