Illustration for Christmas Light Installation Cost

If a company quoted several hundred dollars, or a few thousand, here’s how to read that number.

What installers publish

These prices come from the companies’ own websites, checked on October 9, 2026. Some list a per-foot rate. Others list a starting package price.

Installer (market) Published price Lights and what’s included
A+ Lawn (Des Moines, Altoona, Ankeny, IA) Holiday lighting starting at $995 Company designs, installs, takes down and stores
Holiday Lights Phoenix (Phoenix Valley, AZ) Roofline $8–$12/ft; trees $200–$400 each; $800 job minimum Installer’s lights; in-season bulb replacement, takedown, storage
Dominion Lightworks (Central Virginia; Dec 2024 page) Front roofline $5.70/ft; $7.80/ft on unwalkable roofs or ridgelines “Basic installation” rates; custom work quoted separately
Yard Boss (Lincoln and Omaha, NE) First year from $350; about $650 typical; later years 40% less You buy lights in year one; covers install, maintenance, takedown, storage
All Washed Up (Lynchburg, VA; also a house washing company) Packages from $795; average about $1,500 Company’s lights, leased to you; removal and storage included

For a 150-foot roofline, the Phoenix rate works out to $1,200 to $1,800. The Virginia front-roofline rate comes to $855. A quote that looks high may simply include the lights, a season of service and storage.

Why trees cost so much

Rooflines are priced by the foot because they are mostly straight runs. Trees are priced by the piece. Wrapping a trunk and its limbs takes a lot of ladder moves for a short run of lights. The Phoenix installer charges $200 to $300 for a tree under 15 feet and $300 to $400 for a palm 15 to 30 feet tall.

If the quote is over budget, ask for each tree as its own line. At that company’s rates, dropping one small tree saves more than cutting 10 feet of roofline.

Rented lights or your own

This choice changes what you’re paying for.

  • Rented (leased) lights. The company owns them, stores them and fixes dead bulbs during the season. You rent them again each year. Several companies only hang their own lights. A Des Moines installer and the Virginia washing company both say so.
  • Lights you buy. The Nebraska installer sells you custom-fit lights in year one. It then charges returning clients 40% less. On its $650 typical job, that’s about $390 a year after the first.

Either way, ask who stores the lights and what happens if you move. The Nebraska company says its lights are cut to fit one home. Most clients leave them behind when they sell.

Takedown and the weather

Most of the full-service prices above include takedown. Confirm it in writing. The Virginia washing company starts takedown the first week of January. The Nebraska installer removes lights from January 2 to February 28 and won’t put crews on snowy or icy roofs.

That matters in a place like Des Moines. NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the airport show an average November high of 48.3°F. January’s average high is 30.9°F, with about 9.4 inches of snow. Takedown lands in the cold months, so installers set removal windows rather than dates. Book early. The Nebraska company sets an October 31 deposit deadline for its returning clients.

Why your washing company may offer lights

Some exterior cleaning companies also hang holiday lights. The Virginia company above is one, and a Springfield, Missouri washing company is another. If yours does, ask whether it bundles lights with a fall gutter cleaning or house wash. Then compare its per-foot rate with a lighting specialist’s. For the business side, see our guide to adding Christmas light installation to a pressure washing business.

What a quote should include

A good quote lists these items:

  1. Linear feet of roofline, and the rate per foot or the package.
  2. Each tree, bush or wreath as its own line.
  3. Who owns the lights, and whether you can supply your own.
  4. In-season repairs, and how fast they come out for a dead strand.
  5. Takedown and storage, with a takedown window.
  6. How clips attach. If you have mesh gutter guards, say so. In a November 2025 thread, a homeowner with screwed-on mesh guards said the hooks they bought were too big. They would mean puncturing the mesh. Other replies suggested bending smaller hooks.
  7. Insurance. Ask for proof of liability coverage, the same way you would when hiring a house washer.
  8. Deposit and payment terms. The Nebraska installer requires a 50% deposit to get on the schedule.

Doing it yourself

On a single-story ranch, hanging lights yourself is reasonable. Still, CPSC estimates about 160 decorating injuries a day in the holiday season, and over 40% involve falls. OSHA’s ladder card says to keep three points of contact. An extension ladder used to reach a roof should extend at least 3 feet above where it rests. Don’t stand on the top three rungs, and keep metal ladders away from power lines. For two-story rooflines, hiring out is usually the safer call.

Permanent lights, briefly

Permanent track lights stay up all year. One Des Moines provider says most installs cost $25 to $35 per foot. For 150 feet, that’s $3,750 to $5,250 upfront. For the break-even math, see permanent roofline lights vs hiring an installer every year.

For what an exterior cleaning visit costs before the lights go up, see house washing cost. If you’d rather pay one company yearly, read about annual house wash plans. How we gather prices is on our methodology page.

Sources

Based on 12 sources · How we price