Electrical Panel Replacement Cost in Houston: 2026 Guide
Replacing an electrical panel like-for-like costs $518 to $2,192 nationally, averaging $1,346 per HomeAdvisor. The common upgrade from 100-amp to 200-amp service runs $1,300 to $3,000 per This Old House, and jobs that also need a new meter base, mast, or service conductors are commonly quoted at $3,000 to $6,000 all-in.
Houston pricing tracks those national bands. What changes the number here is the age of the housing stock and the two-party dance between the city and CenterPoint. Our electrical panel replacement page covers the service itself. This guide covers the money.
How much does panel work cost?
| Job | Typical cost | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Like-for-like panel replacement | $518–$2,192, avg $1,346 | HomeAdvisor |
| Upgrade 100 → 200 amps | $1,300–$3,000 | This Old House |
| Upgrade to 200 amps, full range | $1,800–$4,500 | Fixr |
| Panel plus service entrance work | $3,000–$6,000, commonly quoted | Secondary calculators |
| Subpanel installation | $400–$1,750 | This Old House |
| Relocate the panel | $800–$4,000 | This Old House / HomeAdvisor |
| Replace a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel | $1,500–$4,000 | HomeAdvisor |
| Fuse box to breaker panel | $1,500–$2,000, to $4,500 with rewiring | HomeAdvisor |
The panel hardware is the cheap part. Labor at $40 to $250 per hour, permit and inspection, drywall repair, and whatever the electrician finds behind the old panel carry the total.
What drives the price up or down?
Four things move the number most.
Amperage. Each step up means a bigger panel, bigger main breaker, and heavier conductors. 200 amps is the modern standard, and most new homes have shipped with it for a decade.
The service entrance. A 200-amp panel behind a 100-amp meter base and drop is a 100-amp house wearing a new badge. When the meter socket, mast, or service conductors need upsizing, the job grows, which is the gap between a $2,000 quote and a $5,000 one.
Relocation. Moving a panel out of a closet or to an exterior wall adds new conductor runs and wall repair, $800 to $4,000 by national guides.
The branch wiring. Old, damaged, or undersized circuits found at the panel add rewiring at roughly $3 to $5 per square foot. Nobody can see that until the cover comes off, which is why we look before we quote.
Why Houston homes outgrow their panels
Huge swaths of Houston housing went up in the 1950s through the 1970s, when 60-amp and 100-amp service was standard and the electric load was lights, a range, and one window unit. Those same houses now run central air, a garage full of equipment, and a kitchen of appliances.
The new loads are the tipping point. A Level 2 EV charger wants a 40 to 60 amp circuit of its own. An electric tankless water heater can demand more capacity than an entire 100-amp service. A garage conversion adds circuits and often a subpanel, and a tankless water heater swap is one of the most common reasons a panel conversation starts. When the breakers trip under normal life, the panel is telling you it is full.
Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels
Two panel brands get replaced on sight. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok panels, installed from the 1950s into the 1980s, have a documented history of breakers failing to trip under overload, and testing found they do not comply with UL requirements. Zinsco panels have their own failure mode, with independent testing finding breakers that fail to trip about a quarter of the time.
The practical problem is insurance. Inspection firms report it is practically impossible to get homeowners insurance with an FPE panel, and carriers increasingly flag both brands at underwriting. If a four-point inspection just found one in your house, the $1,500 to $4,000 replacement is the fix, and it usually closes the insurance issue at the same time.
Permits and CenterPoint: how a Houston panel swap actually runs
Houston does not let just anyone touch this work. City of Houston electrical permits are only issued to registered master electricians, and every electrician doing work in the city must be registered with the city’s Electrical Inspections section. The meter-and-loop permit itself is $94 plus a $33.56 administrative fee.
The utility owns the other half of the day. Only CenterPoint is allowed to pull and reset the meter, so the electrician coordinates the disconnect before work starts, swaps the panel while the power is off, and the city inspection releases CenterPoint to reconnect, per CenterPoint’s service standards. Done right, that is one planned day without power.
VCS has master electricians on the team, so we pull our own city permits, handle the CenterPoint coordination, and patch and paint the wall after, one contractor for the whole job. Panel work often rides along with our broader electrical services, from new circuits to rewiring.
What to do with your own quote
Ask two questions of any panel bid. Does it include the service entrance, or just the panel? And does it include the permit, the inspection, and the wall repair? The cheapest number usually answers no to both.
Estimates are free. Call VCS Construction and Remodeling at (713) 828-3097, or start at our electrical panel replacement page, and we will look at your panel, your loads, and your service entrance before putting a firm number on it.