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For Locksmith Shop Owners
The Locksmith Pricing Guide for the Whole Country
What each job usually costs, what locksmiths earn in your state, what to charge at 2 a.m., and how to put your prices online without losing the call.
Most locksmith prices land between $75 and $250 all in. A daytime house lockout runs $75 to $150, a rekey is $20 to $40 per cylinder plus the service call, and a chip car key is $150 to $300.
Locksmith Prices by Job
These are common US ranges in 2026, gathered from published price pages. The last column is different. It is the median dollar amount named in customer posts about that job. People mostly post when a bill hurt, so read that column as what an angry customer paid, not what a fair job costs.
| Job | Common Range | Nights and Weekends | Median in Customer Posts |
|---|---|---|---|
| House Lockout | $75 to $150 | $150 to $300 | $448 |
| Car Lockout | $75 to $200 | $150 to $300 | $318 |
| Rekey, Per Cylinder | $20 to $40 plus call | Add the night call fee | $500 per house |
| Deadbolt Supplied and Fitted | $130 to $300 | Add 50 to 100% | $588 for new locks |
| Smart Lock Install | $150 to $300 | Rarely urgent | $250 |
| Chip Car Key, Cut and Programmed | $150 to $300 | Add 50 to 100% | $500 |
| Proximity Fob for a Newer Car | $250 to $500 | Add 50 to 100% | $500 |
| Fob Programming Only | $50 to $200 | Add 50 to 100% | $350 |
| Broken Key Extraction | $75 to $175 | Add 50 to 100% | $300 |
| Safe Opening | $150 to $400 | Quote per job | $700 |
| Commercial Lock Change | $200 to $500 | Quote per job | $200 |
Customer post medians come from 17,522 customer posts, classified October 2026. The sample is small on some jobs, such as 20 posts for new locks and 35 for car lockouts.
What a Service Call Fee Should Cover
Every locksmith price has three parts. Say them out loud and half your price fights go away.
- Service call, usually $35 to $100. It pays for the drive, the van, insurance and time.
- Labor, usually $50 to $150 an hour. Car key work sits at the top because the tools cost thousands.
- Parts. A basic deadbolt is $25 to $60. A commercial grade one is $90 to $250. A transponder blank is $20 to $120.
Add those up on the phone and give one total. Customers do not hate a $180 lockout. They hate hearing $29 on the phone and seeing $340 at the door. In our review sample, 188 of 1,126 one and two star reviews say the bill beat the quote.
What to Charge After Hours
Add 50 to 100 percent for nights, weekends and holidays. Somebody is awake, insured and on call, and night volume is low. Nobody serious argues with that if they hear it first.
Emergency clicks are also the most expensive in the trade. "Emergency locksmith" costs $21.95 a click, compared to $15.70 for "locksmith near me." Your night price has to carry that ad cost if you buy those clicks.
How to Work Out Your Price Floor
Do this before you look at any competitor. Here is a worked example for one van. Swap in your own numbers.
| Daily Cost | Example |
|---|---|
| Tech pay, 8 hours at the US median of $24.68 | $197 |
| Payroll taxes and insurance, about 30% | $59 |
| Van, fuel, phones, software | $120 |
| Ads for 4 booked jobs, 10 clicks each at $15.70 | $628 |
| Total for the day | $1,004 |
| Break even per job at 4 jobs a day | $251 |
Look at what moved that number. Ads are the biggest line. Take them to zero with map pack calls and your break even drops to $94. That is why ranking matters more than almost any other price decision you will make. Test your own numbers in the missed call calculator.
Locksmith Pay and Lockout Pricing by State
Pay comes from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. It counts locksmiths on payrolls, so owners who work for themselves are left out. The lockout column is our planning range. We take the $75 to $150 national daytime range and move half of it with your state's pay, because parts and vans do not get cheaper when wages do. Big cities run above it and rural counties below it.
Highest pay is in District of Columbia ($36.89), Connecticut ($33.31), Hawaii ($31.00), Delaware ($30.60), New York ($29.73). Lowest is in Arkansas ($17.20), Oklahoma ($18.59), New Mexico ($20.15), Mississippi ($20.64), Alabama ($20.84).
| State | Median Hourly Pay | Versus US | Locksmiths | Daytime Lockout Plan | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $20.84 | -16% | 200 | $70 to $140 | Yes |
| Alaska | $28.07 | +14% | 80 | $80 to $160 | No |
| Arizona | $21.37 | -13% | 260 | $70 to $140 | No |
| Arkansas | $17.20 | -30% | 100 | $65 to $125 | No |
| California | $29.33 | +19% | 2,060 | $80 to $165 | Yes |
| Colorado | $22.84 | -7% | 380 | $70 to $145 | No |
| Connecticut | $33.31 | +35% | 120 | $90 to $175 | Yes |
| Delaware | $30.60 | +24% | 50 | $85 to $170 | No |
| District of Columbia | $36.89 | +49% | not published | $95 to $185 | No |
| Florida | $23.61 | -4% | 1,440 | $75 to $145 | No |
| Georgia | $25.99 | +5% | 330 | $75 to $155 | No |
| Hawaii | $31.00 | +26% | 50 | $85 to $170 | No |
| Idaho | $20.90 | -15% | 150 | $70 to $140 | No |
| Illinois | $27.94 | +13% | 430 | $80 to $160 | Yes |
| Indiana | $22.91 | -7% | 250 | $70 to $145 | No |
| Iowa | $22.29 | -10% | 120 | $70 to $145 | No |
| Kansas | $25.45 | +3% | 110 | $75 to $150 | No |
| Kentucky | $24.58 | -0% | 120 | $75 to $150 | No |
| Louisiana | $22.38 | -9% | 190 | $70 to $145 | Yes |
| Maine | $25.32 | +3% | 140 | $75 to $150 | No |
| Maryland | $29.01 | +18% | 270 | $80 to $165 | Yes |
| Massachusetts | $28.57 | +16% | 300 | $80 to $160 | No |
| Michigan | $26.02 | +5% | 230 | $75 to $155 | No |
| Minnesota | $28.40 | +15% | 220 | $80 to $160 | No |
| Mississippi | $20.64 | -16% | 80 | $70 to $140 | No |
| Missouri | $24.11 | -2% | 220 | $75 to $150 | No |
| Montana | $27.02 | +9% | 110 | $80 to $155 | No |
| Nebraska | $23.59 | -4% | 50 | $75 to $145 | No |
| Nevada | $22.81 | -8% | 170 | $70 to $145 | Yes |
| New Hampshire | $27.17 | +10% | 40 | $80 to $160 | No |
| New Jersey | $27.41 | +11% | 480 | $80 to $160 | Yes |
| New Mexico | $20.15 | -18% | 140 | $70 to $135 | No |
| New York | $29.73 | +20% | 960 | $85 to $165 | No |
| North Carolina | $22.07 | -11% | 480 | $70 to $140 | Yes |
| North Dakota | $21.30 | -14% | 70 | $70 to $140 | No |
| Ohio | $22.96 | -7% | 400 | $70 to $145 | No |
| Oklahoma | $18.59 | -25% | 180 | $65 to $130 | Yes |
| Oregon | $24.25 | -2% | 250 | $75 to $150 | Yes |
| Pennsylvania | $25.08 | +2% | 530 | $75 to $150 | No |
| Rhode Island | $27.58 | +12% | 80 | $80 to $160 | No |
| South Carolina | $22.39 | -9% | 140 | $70 to $145 | No |
| South Dakota | not published | not published | not published | $75 to $150 | No |
| Tennessee | $24.16 | -2% | 340 | $75 to $150 | No |
| Texas | $21.09 | -15% | 1,420 | $70 to $140 | Yes |
| Utah | $26.69 | +8% | 180 | $80 to $155 | No |
| Vermont | not published | not published | not published | $75 to $150 | No |
| Virginia | $25.76 | +4% | 430 | $75 to $155 | Yes |
| Washington | $27.89 | +13% | 380 | $80 to $160 | No |
| West Virginia | $27.25 | +10% | 50 | $80 to $160 | No |
| Wisconsin | $23.25 | -6% | 130 | $75 to $145 | No |
| Wyoming | not published | not published | not published | $75 to $150 | No |
Where the government does not publish a figure, the row uses the national range. License column follows our state license list, and those rules change, so confirm with your state before you rely on it.
Why You Should Put Your Prices Online
Most owners were told never to do this. The data says the opposite.
- "Was I scammed?" is the top customer complaint, in 865 posts and 181 bad reviews.
- 142 of the 744 questions Google shows on locksmith searches are about cost.
- Reddit holds the top answer on most cost searches. Almost no real shop answers them.
- 40 of 115 result pages show a bait price from $15 to $49, so the honest number is missing.
A shop with a plain price page can beat all of that. We broke down who ranks and how in the locksmith price page that ranks in your city.
How to Publish Prices Without Losing Your Margin
- Show ranges, never one number. A range is honest, because a Schlage and a Medeco are not the same job.
- Say what moves the price. Time of day, distance, lock type, vehicle year.
- Say what the service call covers and whether it is included.
- Name your city, and add your license number if your state issues one.
- Promise one total on the phone, then a text with that total before the van leaves.
- Put the same prices in the service list on your Google Business Profile.
- Reply to bad reviews about price. Owners answered only 419 of 1,126 in our sample.
Where the Real Margin Sits
Lockouts bring the call. Other work pays better. Build your price list around these.
- Car keys. Customers compare you to the dealer more than to anyone else, with 1,236 dealer mentions. "Replace key fob near me" is up 124 percent in a year.
- Move in rekeys. "Is it cheaper to replace locks or rekey?" is the most repeated locksmith question on Google. Sell a flat package.
- Smart locks. Searches for "smart lock" are up 307 percent. Few shops even name the service.
- Landlords and businesses. "Commercial locksmith near me" is up 89 percent, and the work repeats.
See the rest of the numbers in our locksmith marketing data, and read which locksmith work makes the most money.
Use This Data
Writers, editors and students can quote any number on this page for free. Just link to this page as your source. Need a number we did not list, or a state or city breakdown? Call (714) 735-4988 or email info@bestlocksmithseo.com.
Locksmith Pricing Questions
How much does a locksmith charge on average?
Most jobs land between $75 and $250 all in. A daytime house lockout is usually $75 to $150. A rekey is about $20 to $40 per cylinder plus the service call. A chip car key usually runs $150 to $300.
How much should I charge for a lockout?
Start with the daytime range for your state in the table on this page, then check it against your own cost per job. Nights and weekends usually run 50 to 100 percent higher. Quote one total before you roll.
Should a locksmith publish prices online?
Yes, as ranges. The biggest customer fear in this trade is the bill. A page that shows ranges and says what the service call covers answers that fear before a competitor gets the call.
What is a fair locksmith service call fee?
Most shops charge $35 to $100. It covers the drive, the van, insurance and time. Say whether it is part of the total or added to it, because a hidden trip fee is what makes a customer feel tricked.
Why do locksmith prices change by state?
Labor is the biggest part of the bill, and pay varies a lot. The median locksmith in Connecticut earns $33.31 an hour and the median locksmith in Arkansas earns $17.20. Parts cost about the same in both.
Is a $19 locksmith real?
No. A price from $15 to $49 is the price of showing up. The real bill comes at the door. We found prices like that in results on 40 of 115 locksmith searches we checked.
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