Half the calls a fence company gets start with the same question: "What is the difference in price between wood and vinyl?" If you answer it clearly, with real numbers, you win the trust that books the estimate. Here is how the four common residential fences compare, for the customer and for you.
The installed price on a typical backyard
A typical suburban backyard takes 150 to 200 linear feet of fence. With typical mid-market rates (a starting price that covers the first 50 feet, then a rate per foot), before gates and tear-out:
| Fence | 150 ft | 200 ft |
|---|---|---|
| Chain link, 4 ft galvanized | $2,800 | $3,650 |
| Wood privacy, 6 ft | $5,000 | $6,500 |
| Aluminum, 4 to 5 ft | $5,600 | $7,300 |
| Vinyl privacy, 6 ft | $6,000 | $7,800 |
Those are the numbers in the free fence cost calculator. Your market may run higher or lower, but the order rarely changes: chain link is the cheapest, vinyl the most expensive of the four.
Chain link
Who buys it: landlords, dog owners, businesses, back property lines, anyone who wants a boundary for the least money.
What it costs you: galvanized fabric, terminal and line posts, top rail and fittings. Material is often $6 to $9 a foot, and an experienced crew can install 200 feet in a day on easy ground.
How to sell it: speed and price. A 200-foot chain link fence at about $3,650 is half the price of wood. Offer black vinyl-coated chain link as a step up for front yards, and privacy slats at around $900 for a 200-foot run if they want some screening.
Wood privacy
Who buys it: families who want privacy, the most common residential fence in most of the country.
What it costs you: posts, rails, pickets and concrete, roughly $14 to $17 a foot for treated pine and more for cedar. Two days for a 150-foot fence with a two-person crew.
How to sell it: privacy for the money. At $5,000 for 150 feet, it is the middle choice. Be honest that wood needs stain or seal every two to three years, and offer to stain the new fence for about $700. Board-on-board, cap and trim, and taller fences are upgrades you price per foot on top.
Vinyl privacy
Who buys it: owners who never want to paint or stain again, HOA neighborhoods, buyers planning to stay ten years or more.
What it costs you: vinyl panels and posts cost more than wood, often $20 to $28 a foot in material, but they go up faster because the panels are made. The risk is layout: a post off by an inch means a panel that does not fit.
How to sell it: no maintenance. At $6,000 for 150 feet it costs about $1,000 more than wood on the same yard. Show what the customer saves by never staining: at $700 every three years, two stain jobs cost more than the $1,000 difference.
Aluminum and ornamental
Who buys it: pool owners, front yards, homes where the view matters, HOA rules that ban privacy fences in front.
What it costs you: panels and posts, often $18 to $25 a foot in material, with self-closing hardware on pool gates.
How to sell it: looks and pool code. At $5,600 for 150 feet it sits between wood and vinyl. Most pool barrier codes require a self-closing, self-latching gate; price that hardware as its own line (about $150) so the customer sees why.
Gates and tear-out change the comparison
The fence type also changes what the extras cost:
- Walk gate: about $250 chain link, $450 wood, $500 aluminum, $550 vinyl
- Double drive gate: about $600 chain link, $950 wood, $1,200 vinyl, $1,300 aluminum
- Tearing out an old fence: about $400 for chain link and $600 for wood or vinyl, hauled away
A 180-foot wood privacy fence with a walk gate and tear-out comes to $6,950. The same yard in chain link with a walk gate and tear-out is $3,310 + $250 + $400 = $3,960.
How to help the customer choose
Ask three questions on the phone or on your website: what is the fence for (privacy, pets, pool, looks), how long they plan to stay, and whether an HOA has rules. The answer usually picks the material for them. Then show the range for that material and one step up or down.
Customers who compare materials on your site before they call are easier to close. That is why a fence estimate calculator that shows all four side by side saves you the "just tell me the price difference" call. For the price math behind each rate, see how much to charge per linear foot.
Frequently asked questions
Is vinyl fence more expensive than wood?
Usually yes, by about 15% to 25% installed. At typical rates 150 feet of 6 ft vinyl privacy is about $6,000 and the same in wood about $5,000, but vinyl never needs stain.
What is the cheapest fence to install?
Chain link. At typical rates 200 feet of 4 ft galvanized chain link is about $3,650 installed, roughly half the price of wood privacy.