How much does a 400-amp panel upgrade cost in Raleigh, NC?

City

Service size

A 400-amp service upgrade in Raleigh, NC

$5,178

a large all-electric home, a shop, or two dwellings on one service · typical range $3,452 – $7,766

Typical totalinstalled, 400 amp	$5,178
Range you should see in bidsthree bids on the same scope normally land inside this	$3,452 – $7,766
Labor portion68% of the job — this is the part that moves by city	$3,521
Material portion32% — bought at national prices	$1,657
Electricians pay near Raleighabout $27/hr · Raleigh-Cary, NC metro	$57,080/yr
U.S. mean for the same tradeSOC 47-2111	$71,490/yr
Versus the national pricetrade pay here runs −20.2% against the U.S. mean	−$822

Notes

Where the number comes from. The national price for a 400-amp service upgrade is $6,000 installed — service panel upgrade pricing published for 2026. Labor is about 68% of that. Electricians near Raleigh, NC average $57,080 a year against a U.S. mean of $71,490 — a factor of 0.798 — so the labor half is scaled by that and the material half is not. Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Raleigh-Cary, NC metro area, SOC 47-2111.
Why the city matters, not just the state. Trade pay moves inside a state as much as it does between states. Crews do not commute across a state to bid a job, and materials ship at national prices either way — so a metro wage is the honest input here and a state average quietly rounds four different cities into one number.
What is in the price: the panel, breakers, a new meter base, grounding electrodes, the service mast, permit inspection time, and labor.
What is not: the utility drop, trenching for an underground service, any rewiring inside the house, and repairs to walls the mast passes through. These are the lines that turn a $5,178 quote into a $6,472 invoice, so ask about each one before signing.
Use this as a bid check, not a quote. It prices an average job in average condition. Difficult access, the state of what is being replaced, the season, and a crew booked out three months all move the real number, and none of them are in a national average for the job.

a 400-amp service upgrade in Raleigh, NC

$5,178 is the typical number, and three bids on the same scope normally land between $3,452 and $7,766.

That is $822 less than the same job priced at the national average.

Why the city changes the number

About 68% of this job is labor — $3,521 of the $5,178 above. Labor is the only part that moves locally; a bundle of material costs what it costs wherever it is nailed down.

Electricians near Raleigh average $57,080 a year, against a U.S. mean of $71,490. That is a factor of 0.798, so the labor half is scaled by it and the material half is not.

Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Raleigh-Cary, NC metro area, SOC 47-2111.

What the quote should include

The lines that turn a quote into an invoice

Ask about each of them before you sign. On a job this size they are the difference between $5,178 and something a quarter higher.

Use it as a bid check, not a quote

This prices an average job in average condition. Access, the state of what is being replaced, the season, and a crew booked out three months all move the real number, and none of them are in a national average.

If a bid lands outside $3,452 – $7,766, that is not automatically wrong — but it is the question worth asking out loud.

Nearby sizes

400 Amp Service Upgrade Cost, and When a House Actually Needs OneMost houses that ask for 400 amps need 200 and a load calculation. The ones that do need 400 pay for two panels, a bigger meter socket and usually a new utility transformer connection.
What Makes Electrical Work Expensive — Access, Not WireThe same circuit costs three times as much in a finished house as in an open one, and nothing about the circuit is different.
Rewiring a House: Cost, Signs You Need It, and How the Work Is DoneAccess sets the price. The same square footage costs far more in a plaster house with finished floors above and below than in a ranch with an open basement and attic.
Knob and Tube, Cloth Wiring and Aluminium — What Old Wiring CostsOld wiring is not automatically dangerous. Old wiring that has been modified by forty years of homeowners usually is.