Fence installation cost by city
| City | Permit type | Usual filed value | Middle half of firms' usual job | Permits | Usual days, issue to final | City page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Coral, FL | Fence | $4,235 | $2,750–$5,000 | 4,177 | 21 | Cost page |
| Cleveland, OH | Fence | $4,242 | $3,150–$5,500 | 890 | 168 | Cost page |
| Orlando, FL | Fence | $4,600 | $2,430–$5,549 | 910 | 55 | Cost page |
| Chicago, IL | Fence | $5,000 | $3,150–$7,340 | 1,583 | 160 | Cost page |
| Denton, TX | Fence | $5,300 | $4,200–$8,312 | 652 | — | Compare firms |
| St. Louis, MO | Fence | $5,693 | $4,580–$7,000 | 866 | 213 | Cost page |
| Miami, FL | Fence & Gate | $6,000 | $4,000–$8,600 | 1,340 | 86 | Cost page |
| Wheaton, IL | Fence | $6,003 | $5,300–$7,020 | 552 | 375 | Cost page |
| Naperville, IL | Fence | $6,200 | $5,000–$9,025 | 1,331 | 405 | Compare firms |
| Saint Paul, MN | Fence | $6,500 | $4,356–$8,994 | 1,256 | — | Cost page |
| Honolulu, HI | Fence & Gate | $7,504 | $5,754–$15,000 | 580 | 130 | Cost page |
| Scottsdale, AZ | Fence & Wall | $7,831 | $3,324–$10,670 | 571 | — | Cost page |
Scottsdale's type includes block walls, which pulls its figure up; Miami and Honolulu include gates. Cities that exempt ordinary fences from permits, such as Austin, Seattle and Minneapolis, have no fence type in our files and are not in the table.
What drives the price
The record does not show material or length, but the spread inside each city does:
- The middle half. In Cape Coral, 125 fence firms' usual jobs sit mostly between $2,750 and $5,000; in Honolulu, 20 firms sit between $5,754 and $15,000. A quote above the top of your city's band should come with a reason you can see: a longer run, masonry, ornamental metal or a pool barrier.
- Pool barriers. A fence that doubles as a pool barrier has to meet barrier rules. The CPSC's guidelines say the top "should be at least 48 inches above grade" with no more than 4 inches of clearance at the bottom (CPSC Pub. 362). A barrier quote should say it meets the local pool code.
- Who sets the market. Fence permits concentrate in a few firms in some cities: the five busiest held 71.7% of Saint Paul's fence permits and 64.4% of Cleveland's, against 9.1% in Miami.
Filed value is not the final price
The filed value is what the installer wrote on the application before setting a post. Nobody audits it, and a gate added later or a change from wood to vinyl is rarely refiled. Hold the quote against your city's middle-half range, and ask for the linear feet, height, material and number of gates in writing so you can compare quotes like for like.
Permit rules in brief
Whether a fence needs a permit at all depends on the city. Austin's rule is typical of cities that exempt fences: no permit for "a fence that is not over 7 feet" high, "unless located within a flood hazard area" (City of Austin, read 23 October 2026). Cape Coral, Naperville, Saint Paul and Wheaton review every fence. Zoning rules on height near the street apply even where no building permit is needed. Department-by-department rules are in do I need a permit for a fence.
How long the permit stays open
Cape Coral closes fence permits in a usual 21 days and Orlando in 55. Wheaton (375 days) and Naperville (405) take about a year, and only 45.3% of Naperville's fence permits a year or more old reached a final. A fence goes up in a day or two, so a long open permit is a final nobody booked.
Check a fence quote in five minutes
- Find your city in the table and open its cost page.
- Put the quote next to the middle-half range.
- Ask whether the price includes the permit, and who books the final inspection.
- On your city's compare page, find the installer and read its fence permits and finished share. Our fence contractor hiring guide covers the license to check.
See every Cape Coral fence firm by finished share →
What these numbers cannot tell you
Cities record no fence length, height or material, so there is no per-foot figure here. Fences under an exempt city's height limit never reach the record, so the table leans toward cities that permit every fence. Some installers file labour only, and nobody audits the figure.
How we know this
Fence permits are those each city files under a fence (or fence and gate, or fence and wall) work type over its three-year window ending September 2026 (a few cities end earlier; each city page names its window). The usual filed value is the median of permits that carry one; the middle-half range uses firms with three or more fence permits; days is the median from issue to final, blank where a city records no final date. Permit and barrier rules are quoted from the pages under Sources, read 23 October 2026.
Numbers come from City of Cape Coral building permits (the city's open permit table starts January 2025); City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal); City of Cleveland building permits; City of Miami building permits (since 2014); City of Saint Paul building and trade permits (the City's old approved-permits file up to June 2025, and the City's PAULIE permit system since September 2025), with the contractor named on each permit; City of Naperville building permits (the current permit system plus the city's older records); City of St. Louis building permits; City of Orlando building permits for one- and two-family homes, data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- What is the average fence installation cost?
Going by permits, the usual fence job was filed at $4,235 in Cape Coral, $5,000 in Chicago, $6,000 in Miami, $6,500 in Saint Paul and $7,831 in Scottsdale. That is the middle filed value for a whole fence job, not a per-foot price.
- How much does fence installation cost per foot?
The permit record does not say. Cities record a job value, not the fence's length, height or material, so we cannot divide one by the other honestly. Ask each installer for the linear feet and a total, then hold the total against your city's middle-half range; in Chicago that band is $3,150 to $7,340.
- Is there a fence installation cost estimator for my city?
Your city's fence cost page, linked in the table, is the closest thing: it shows the 10th to 90th percentile of filed values and, where home values are available, the usual job for firms working on lower, middle and upper-third homes. Cape Coral's is built on 4,177 permits.
- How much does fence installation cost in Florida?
In our Florida cities the usual fence permit was filed at $4,235 in Cape Coral, $4,600 in Orlando and $6,000 in Miami, where the type includes gates.
- Does a new fence need a permit?
It depends on the city. Austin exempts a fence that is not over 7 feet high unless it sits in a flood hazard area. Cape Coral, Naperville, Saint Paul and Wheaton review every fence, and a pool barrier needs a permit almost everywhere. See our fence permit guide for 20 departments' rules.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Hiring a fence contractor: 5 red flags and 8 questions, checked against fence permits in 12 cities
- Do I need a permit for a fence? The rule in 20 cities, and how many get filed
- Window replacement cost in 2026: what window permits were filed at in 16 cities
- Detached garage cost: what garage permits show in 16 cities
- Do I need a fence permit in Saint Paul? Yes, for every fence: the $45 plan review, height limits and when an inspector comes
For one city
- Work Exempt from Building Permits — City of Austin Development Services (accessed 2026-10-23)
- Safety Barrier Guidelines for Residential Pools (Pub. 362) — US Consumer Product Safety Commission (accessed 2026-10-23)