Posted By: Kevin Wielgus

How much does new carpet cost?

We understand why this is a popular question. Even as flooring professionals it can be difficult to answer a simple question like, "How much does carpet cost?" It’s like asking “how much is a car?” or “how much is a house?” Just as a home’s price is based on location, condition, size and level of finishes, carpet projects have many factors that go into determining the project cost. This results oversimplifying the answer with a price per foot range that is so big it isn’t very helpful.

What should I plan to spend on new carpet?

Unless you’ve bought carpet recently and for the same property, it’s hard to know a budget range, and that's usually what prompts this type of research. You may be wondering…

• Can we afford to replace carpet now, within a year, ever?
• How much should we be saving up?
• How much is it going to cost to re-carpet that home we’re about to buy?
• How much is it going to cost to re-carpet this house to make it ready to sell?
• Should we do it now so we can enjoy it for a while?

Carpet Price Context

For context, we’re a flooring and carpet dealer based in Plainfield, Illinois, so this is based on pricing in/near Chicago in June 2025. If you are reading this in 2026 or in another part of the country, the numbers may be different.

Carpet, Basic Pad, Basic Installation

• Entry level $3-5/sf
• Mid range $6-9/sf
• Premium - $9/sf and up

Removal, disposal, stairs, and furniture moving are the most common “add-ons” for a carpet project. So if you don't have an empty space without stairs, budget another $0.50 to $1.00 per square foot just to be safe.

Pricing for 1,000 Square Feet of New Carpet

For comparison, let’s look at a project involving 1,000 square feet of carpet. Keep in mind, this may only be 800-900 sf of actual living space as carpet installation generally has 10-20% waste or carpet you need to buy, will be cut away during the installation process.

On one end of the spectrum, 1000 sf of “apartment grade” carpet installed in an empty space (no furniture and old carpet already removed) could be under $3,000. That would include a very entry level of carpet quality, a basic pad, and basic installation.

That same carpet installed in an occupied space with old carpet and pad that need to be removed and disposed, and furniture that will need to be moved around could bring the total to about $3,500

What about FREE extras?

If you’re thinking those things should be “free” - consider how much quicker the job will be if the entire area is empty and clean vs. if we have the remove the old carpet and pad plus all the staples and dust involved with that, plus the cost to dispose of it, and move furniture from room to room, possibly evening disassembling a few pieces and it is hopefully obvious that there is time, energy and expense in handling these details. Installers don’t remove old carpet and move furniture for free. FREE and INCLUDED IN THE PRICE are not the same thing. We’ll only charge for what we have to do at YOUR property, not at other properties.

As long as you’re talking to the same company, most of the elements of the project have fairly standard pricing:

• Removing old carpet
• Disposing old carpet (check your town to see if you can throw away for free)
• Standard Furniture Moving
• Installation Labor
• Padding will likely have a small range to account for potential upgrades

The cost with the most variable will be the actual carpet choice.

For example, another project of 1,000 sf of a luxury/premium carpet can reach $10,000 or more based solely on the carpet choice.

That’s quite a difference! Almost 3x the price of the most basic version. Since many of the costs are fixed, even when the carpet is 10x the price, the whole project won’t increase that much.

At least for our company and clients, 1,000 of mid-grade carpet in an occupied home with all services included will be between $4,500 and $6,000

Find a trusted carpet professional

We suggest having an open and honest conversation with your flooring professional to make sure the carpet will not only fit your budget, but provide the beauty, comfort and durability you seek.

Be careful measuring for new carpet

We have plenty of customers that have tried to measure their own homes. If I had to categorize the results, only about 1 in 10 gets it right, and by right, I’m saying within 5%. Another 1 in 10 may be over-guessing. So about 8 in 10 are usually under-estimating by at least 10%.

It’s not their fault. Carpet estimating is full of challenges. Here’s an example, how much carpet do you need for a 10x10 room? According to elementary school math, that’s 100sf. But since carpet typically comes in a 12 foot wide roll, we need to order 12 feet wide by 10 feet long or 120 sf. On a simple square room you can be off by 20% On a bigger project, we’ll try to find a place to use that extra 2 feet, but sometimes it’s just a waste.

What factors influence the cost of the actual carpet material.

Quantity of  Carpet's Raw Material

At the risk of oversimplifying, the thicker the carpet is, the more it will cost. Many popular “plush” style of carpet may come in a variety of thickness options, or “face weight”. If everything else about the carpet is exactly the same, the carpet that weighs 60oz will cost more than the carpet that weighs just 50oz

Because this is just one of several factors, it is quite possible (likely even) to find a 30oz carpet that costs MORE than a 60oz carpet.

Quality of  Carpet's Raw Material

Just like gold is more expensive than silver, the fibers that are used to make carpet also have a range of prices. The most common materials, starting with the most expensive are:

$$$$ - Wool
$$$ - Nylon
$$ - Polyester
$ - Olefin/Polypropylene

Again, because this is just one factor, it’s possible to see upper-middle grade polyester carpets that cost more than entry level wood carpets.

Complexity of Carpet Manufacturing

This isn’t the place to learn how carpet is made (that can be another post), but trust me when I say there are a lot of factors and decisions made in the manufacturing process. If you think of adjectives to describe one carpet vs. another, anything that ends in -ER is likely more complex to manufacture and therefore will likely be more expensive. SoftER, SilkiER, SmoothER, DensER (or is it more dense?)

Patterns, and multiple color or anything that is beyond “basic” is also bound to increase the price of the carpet material.

Technical Complexity Example - Carpet Gauge

Here’s an example of just one factor when making a carpet - the Gauge Rate, or how far apart the needles are that punch the yarn onto the carpet. A carpet with 3/8 Gauge has 390 needles across a 12’ roll of carpet, whereas a carpet with 1/10 Gauge has 1440 needles across that same 12’ roll of carpet. That’s almost 4x as many needles! When the yarn is changed on the machine, say for a different style or color, that’s a lot more needles that need to be threaded. Not to mention a lot more spools of yarn that need to be managed. Each needle has 2 spools of yard so no spool runs out in the middle of making the carpet. Anyone that’s threaded a needle, or tried to keep spools organized can tell you, that more needles/yarn = more work.

The higher gauge allows use of finer yarns, giving a "higher resolution" look with more "yarns per inch"

Kevin’s Carpet  Buying Advice

Determine what is important to you about the new carpet. For some, comfort and softness are top priorities. For others it is durability. For those that want it all, be prepared to pay for it. For those that have a more modest budget, pick your priorities and find a carpet professional that can give you the best advice for your circumstances and goals. Thin carpet that feels like sandpaper and will last a year or two will be a fraction of the cost of a thick, buttery soft carpet designed to last 20 years. There isn’t bad carpet, but there are bad carpet and customer combinations.