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How much does blown in insulation cost?

Blown in insulation costs $900 to $3,600 for an attic in 2026. What changes your price is below.

That is $1.00 to $2.80 per square foot for most jobs. Filling the exterior walls of an existing home runs $1,900 to $7,800. Cellulose to R-38 costs $1.80 to $2.80 per square foot and fiberglass $2.00 to $3.50. Some companies have a $1,500 to $2,000 minimum.

Blown in insulation costs $900 to $3,600 for an attic in 2026

Estimate your blown in insulation cost

Pick what you need and add your ZIP. The price updates as you go. Got a price already? Check it in the last step.

1Which one do you need?
2R-value target
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Is this price fair?

A fair price is $900 to $3,600.

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Low$2,250High
Your estimateUS average
$900to$3,600

Middle of the range: $2,250

$0$2,430$4,860
Normal range Middle

What you are paying for

Typical atticUS range for this job.$900 to $3,600
R-38, mild and mixed climatesR-value target.Base price
US averageLocal prices not added yet.US price
Middle of rangeHalfway between low and high.$2,250
How we calculate this

    Prices are for the United States in 2026 from published cost guides, checked September 2026. This is an estimate, not a quote.

    Middle $2,250$900 to $3,600

    Cost by area and material

    Attic$0.90 to $2.40 per square foot, or $900 to $3,600, in HomeGuide. Angi lists $3 to $7.50 for attics.
    Exterior walls, existing home$1.10 to $3.70 per square foot, or $1,900 to $7,800 for the whole house. Angi lists $1.75 to $3.50.
    Walls, new construction$2 to $4 per square foot.
    Cellulose to R-38$1.80 to $2.80 per square foot installed.
    Fiberglass to R-38$2.00 to $3.50 per square foot installed.
    1,000 square foot attic to R-38$1,500 to $2,000 for blown fiberglass in a simple attic.
    1,200 square foot attic$2,160 to $4,200.
    2,000 square foot attic to R-38$3,000 to $4,000.

    What pushes a quote up

    DepthYou are buying R-value, and R-value is depth. R-49 takes far more material than R-30.
    Attic or wallsWalls in a finished home mean drilling a hole in every stud bay, filling it and patching it.
    Cellulose or fiberglassCellulose has about R-3.7 per inch and is usually 10 to 15 percent cheaper. Fiberglass resists moisture better.
    Prep workDams around the hatch, baffles at the eaves, and air sealing around lights and pipes.
    Minimum charge$1,500 to $2,000 at some companies, even for a small attic.

    Blown in insulation cost by region

    Lower cost states$725 to $2,900. Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia and most rural areas.
    Average cost states$900 to $3,600. Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and most mid size cities.
    Higher cost states$1,175 to $4,700. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington, plus big metros such as Chicago, Denver and Washington DC.

    These rows are our estimate. We took the typical national range and adjusted it for local labor costs, which run about 20 percent lower in the cheapest states and about 30 percent higher in the dearest ones. Code minimum R-values rise as you go north, so northern attics need more bags for the same floor area.

    Why one guide says $1 a square foot and another says $7

    HomeGuide puts a blown in attic at $0.90 to $2.40 per square foot. Angi puts it at $3 to $7.50. Homewyse, which builds estimates from unit costs, says $3.75 to $7.77 as of May 2026. These are all for the same job name.

    Depth explains most of it. A top up of 6 inches over existing insulation and a fresh R-60 fill in a cold climate are both called blown in attic insulation, and the second uses several times the material. The higher numbers also tend to include air sealing, baffles and dams, which a bare price per square foot leaves out. When a contractor quotes you, ask what R-value you will end up with, and what prep is included. Then the numbers line up.

    Real installer numbers

    An Atlanta installer posts working ranges for 2026: blown fiberglass to R-38 in a simple attic is $1,500 to $2,000 for 1,000 square feet and $3,000 to $4,000 for 2,000 square feet. That is $1.50 to $2.00 per square foot, all in. It is a good anchor for a mild climate.

    Cellulose or fiberglass

    Cellulose is recycled paper treated to resist fire. It packs a little more R-value into each inch, blocks air movement better and usually costs 10 to 15 percent less. Fiberglass is lighter, does not settle as much and handles moisture better. In most attics either one works. The depth matters more than the material.

    Doing it yourself

    Home improvement stores rent the blowing machine. One 2026 calculator puts the saving at 40 to 60 percent of the labor. The hard part is the attic itself: heat, low clearance and staying on the joists.

    Why this costs more in 2026

    Insulation is bulky and light, so freight is a large share of what a bag costs. With heating oil up about 31 percent this winter, crews are also busy.

    Diesel passed $6 a gallon on the AAA national average for the first time on September 11, 2026 (CBS 8 reporting AAA). Builders also paid 4.8 percent more for materials in a year (Roofing Contractor). Ask how long your quote is good for.

    How to judge the quote in your hand

    Ways to pay less