Aluminum fence cost in Portland, ME

Portland: what basic, standard and premium work costs

Three bands are cut from the same cited range and localized for Portland wages and prices. They overlap on purpose: a good standard job and a modest premium job can cost the same. The grid below prices the same bands at 3 common sizes.

Is Portland cheap or dear? The local comparison

Contractors rarely work more than an hour or two from home, so the neighboring metros set a rough ceiling and floor for your quotes. Midpoints for 150 linear ft range from $7,500 to $8,400 across Portland and its five closest metros.

Across 300 US metros, Portland comes in at #102 from the top. The priciest is Honolulu, HI at $9,700; the cheapest is Brownsville, TX at $6,500 (midpoints, 150 linear ft). Statewide, Portland is 2% above the Maine figure.

Other Maine metros

Cities with a workforce like Portland's

Big cities and small ones price differently, so here is Portland against the 4 metros with the closest total employment.

Local wages behind the labor line

Wages are the part of this estimate that changes most from town to town. 3 trades carry the job here, and each is compared with its US median. The weighted result for Portland is 1.05 times the national level.

For carpenters (47-2031, weighted 40%) the local median is $30.91 an hour, which is 6% above the national $29.12. The middle half of them earn between $28.45 and $35.95 an hour. BLS counts 2,230 of them working in the area, 77.3 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 43.1), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Construction laborers (47-2061), 40% of the weighting: a median of $23.31 an hour, in line with the US median of $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $21.50 and $27.46 an hour. About 1,470 work in the metro. That is 51.0 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 70.5 nationally, so expect fewer local crews to bid.

For sheet metal workers (47-2211, weighted 20%) the local median is $31.77 an hour, which is 7% above the national $29.71. The middle half of them earn between $28.98 and $35.09 an hour. BLS counts 540 of them working in the area, 18.7 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 7.7), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Quotes come from real crews, not medians. If the carpenters on your job are paid at the 75th percentile ($35.95 an hour) instead of the median, the labor line grows by about $180. At the 25th percentile ($28.45) it shrinks by about $90. The total moves by 2.4% or 1.2%, so wages alone rarely explain a quote that is far outside our range.

For context on the local economy, BLS counts 288,480 jobs in the Portland-South Portland area. That makes it the 89th largest of the 300 metros we cover, with 0.19% of US employment.

Why two Portland quotes can differ

• Style

  Aluminum picket runs $25-$50 per linear foot installed, ornamental fence $40-$75, and privacy designs $75-$130 (HomeGuide).

• Soil and slope

  Steep slopes and rocky clay can add $15-$20+ per linear foot in labor.

• Pool codes

  Many codes require a pool barrier with gaps under 4 inches, which influences the style you can buy.

When to schedule aluminum fence in Portland

We use NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals for Portland Intl Jetport (5 miles from the city center). These are 30-year monthly averages, not forecasts.

April through November is the stretch where exterior installation runs into the fewest weather problems in Portland (8 of 12 months). January, February, March and December have an average daytime high under 45°F.

In January, February, March and December the average high stays below 45°F. Sealants, adhesives and some materials, such as vinyl, are harder to install well in the cold, and short daylight cuts the working day.

Portland gets about 48 inches of precipitation in a normal year, including roughly 69 inches of snow. The wettest months are April, October and December (5.3 inches in October). Inside the workable window, July and August are the driest, at 3.4 and 3.6 inches. The station averages about 5 days a year at 90°F or above.

Does the season change the price? Probably, but we do not have a sourced seasonal price curve, so the estimator shows a year-round figure and does not adjust by month. When you collect quotes, ask whether scheduling in a slower month gets a better rate.

Planning more than one job in Portland?

Because every project leans on different trades, Portland's wage level does not move all prices equally. Against the US midpoint, chain-link fence runs +2% and inground pool −4%.

Extras that change the Portland total

Extras are quoted nationally and then scaled to Portland by the average of the local wage index (1.05) and goods index (0.97), a factor of 1.01. Tick any of them in the estimator above to add them to your total. Treat these as planning figures: an add-on touches different trades than the main job, so the scaling is an approximation.