How to Price Christmas Light Installation in 2026 (Per-Foot Rates, Wreaths, Garland & Year-2)

Start with the number that pays your crew

Before you set a per-foot rate, know your fully loaded labor cost: wages, payroll taxes, insurance, fuel and the truck. Most residential holiday lighting crews land between $65 and $110 per crew-hour all in. A typical two-person crew hangs 150–250 feet of C9 roofline per hour on a single-story home, less on steep two-story work. That gives you a labor floor per foot before you add product, storage, takedown and margin.

Typical 2026 residential rates

C9 roofline: $6–$12 per linear foot for install, takedown and storage, with the customer owning the lights after year one or a lease model where you keep them. Permanent LED trim: $25–$45 per linear foot installed, which is why one permanent job can cover a year of software and then some. Mini-light bush and tree wraps: $20–$40 per strand or a flat per-tree price for bigger specimens. Wreaths: $60–$120 each installed, depending on size and whether they're lit. Bows: $25–$50. Garland: $12–$20 per foot lit.

Markets differ. Metro areas with high HOA density support the top of these ranges; rural markets push toward the bottom. Price to your market, not to a national average — and never let software invent the number for you.

Year-1 vs Year-2 pricing

The money in holiday lighting is the re-hang. Year one includes product; year two is labor and storage only. A 25% Year-2 discount is common and still very profitable because the design, measurement and sales work are already done. Put the Year-2 price on the first proposal — homeowners buy more readily when they can see next year is cheaper.

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Quote from the driveway, not the ladder

Every hour you spend measuring rooflines with a wheel or climbing to count peaks is an hour you're not selling. Light Designer estimates C9 footage, permanent footage, mini-light strands, wreaths, bows and garland from the photo, applies your rates, and generates the Year-1 and Year-2 prices automatically. You can adjust any line before it goes out. The estimate is only as good as your pricing, so set your rates carefully once during setup and let every quote inherit them.

Present it as a picture, not a number

A $2,400 quote on a text message gets 'let me think about it.' A $2,400 quote under a photorealistic render of the homeowner's own house gets 'when can you start?' Lead with the render, follow with the itemized total, and close with the Year-2 price. That order alone lifts close rates more than any discount.

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