Want the occasional useful email?
New calculators, updated cost data, and the occasional money-saving guide. No account needed, and you can leave any time.
By Alex Diaz · How we calculate this
A straightforward panel swap at the same amperage generally costs a few hundred to around a thousand dollars in labor plus parts, while upgrading to higher-capacity service (say 100 amp to 200 amp) costs meaningfully more and sometimes requires the utility to update the service connection too. This is a one-time cost, so your estimate measures it against roughly three months of your budget rather than treating it like a recurring bill.
These key factors affect electrical panel costs
Income and expenses
An electrical panel upgrade is often less about wanting to spend the money than needing to: an insurance company flags an old fuse box, a home inspection turns up an undersized service, or you're adding an EV charger, a hot tub, or an addition the current panel can't support. Because the trigger is usually necessity rather than choice, the more useful question isn't just what the panel costs but how comfortably it fits alongside your other bills and any debt you're carrying, since a project you can't easily postpone deserves a closer look at what's actually left over each month.
Amperage upgrade and scope
Swapping a panel for one with the same amperage is a relatively contained job, but bumping up to a higher-capacity service, say from 100 amp to 200 amp, is a different scope of work entirely: it can mean a new meter base, heavier wire from the street, and sometimes a utility crew visit to upsize the service line before the electrician ever opens the panel. Ask upfront whether the quote you're comparing covers that outside work or just the panel itself.
Permits and inspection
Nearly every jurisdiction requires a permit and a follow-up inspection for panel work, since a mistake here is a fire risk rather than just a cosmetic one. The permit fee itself is usually a small add-on to the total, but skipping it to save money is a bad trade: unpermitted electrical work can complicate a home sale later and may not be covered if it's ever the cause of a fire.
How to use your results
- Get quotes from a few licensed electricians, since pricing for the same scope can vary substantially.
- Confirm whether a utility upgrade is needed in addition to the panel itself.
Ways to make an electrical panel upgrade more affordable
- Get quotes from multiple licensed electricians rather than accepting the first bid.
- Confirm the amperage you actually need rather than over-building for hypothetical future use.
- Check whether your utility offers any rebate for panel upgrades tied to efficiency programs.
More home improvement calculators
Peer comparison data
Bureau of Labor Statistics (median income by age), Experian (credit score by age)
Used by the “how you compare” figures in the sidebar, not by the costs on this page.
Every figure on this site, with its source and the date it was last verified
How you compare
Income
Credit score
Nothing added yet - add something to see your risk.