Aluminum fence cost per foot installed (2026 prices)

As of 10 November 2026, one Illinois contractor’s 2026 guide puts installed aluminum fence at $22 to $72 per linear foot, and a California seller citing general pricing guides gives $32 to $70. Privacy styles cost more: one Los Angeles installer’s 2026 planning range is $65 to $110 or more per foot for open and semi-private slat and $120 to $180 or more for full privacy.

Those per-foot rates assume a run of fence long enough to spread the setup costs. A short section at the house, the kind a Zone 0 retrofit calls for, prices very differently, as the last part of this page shows. For the full Zone 0 budget, see Zone Zero compliance cost.

How much does aluminum fence cost per foot installed?

Published per-foot figures we found, all pages accessed 10 November 2026:

By our arithmetic, Fixr’s 100-foot totals work out to $30 to $85 per foot. Globus calls its Los Angeles figures early planning ranges and says gates, demolition, masonry, difficult slopes, custom finishes and unusual foundations usually add to them. The same Globus page cites Angi at about $30 to $65 per foot for Los Angeles aluminum fencing, mostly ornamental, and HomeGuide at about $75 to $130 nationally for privacy aluminum. We could not open those two pages ourselves.

What does aluminum fence cost per foot for materials only?

Fixr gives materials by style (August 2025): $13 to $45 per foot for powder-coated, $15 to $55 for ornamental, $15 to $75 for picket, and $24 to $32 for privacy and black aluminum. It puts labor at $15 to $40 per foot, “depending on where you live,” and posts at $20 to $100 each.

For a 100-foot job, Fixr’s estimate splits into about $4,400 of materials and $2,750 of labor, so materials are the larger share on a long run.

What changes the price per foot?

• Style and privacy. This is the biggest swing in the sources. Globus’s Los Angeles range runs from $65 per foot for open slat to $180 or more for full-privacy tongue and groove, which it says uses more aluminum and catches more wind.
• Height. LatestCost (undated, no author named) gives about $25 to $45 per foot for a 4 ft fence and $35 to $65 for 6 ft privacy or security styles. Globus says an 8 ft fence should be priced project by project, not by adding a fixed percentage to the 6 ft price.
• Slope. LatestCost adds 5% to 15% for a mild grade and 15% to 30% or more for steep or uneven ground. Globus lists stepped bays, variable post heights, retaining walls and rock as cost drivers without figures.
• Posts and footings. Post spacing and whether posts are set in concrete or surface mounted change the cost, per Globus. Fixr’s $20 to $100 per post adds up on a run with short bays.
• Removal. Globus cites a cost guide at $3 to $9 per foot to take out an old fence (February 2026).
• Region. Fixr says labor runs $15 to $40 per foot depending on location. The Illinois and Los Angeles ranges above also cover different styles, so they do not isolate the regional gap.

Why does a short Zone 0 section cost more per foot?

A 5 foot section at the house is a small job, and small jobs carry fixed costs. JJ’s Fence Company in San Diego County publishes $2,000 to $2,500 for an aluminum Zone 0 section of 5 to 10 feet with no gate, from $3,000 with a gate, and $2,500 to $5,000 to replace a whole 30 to 50 foot side run (undated page, accessed 10 November 2026).

By our arithmetic, the short section works out to $200 to $500 per foot, and the full side run to about $50 to $167 per foot. At the $70 top of Globus’s general range, 5 feet of fence would be $350.

Globus explains part of the gap on its Los Angeles page: small projects can cost more per foot because mobilization, design and freight are spread over fewer feet. LatestCost says short projects often carry a minimum labor charge of $500 to $1,000. Our own explanation for the rest is that a Zone 0 section also needs a new post or wall connection at the house and a joint where the aluminum meets the old fence, which a per-foot average for a straight run does not include.

For a Zone 0 retrofit, ask for a fixed price on the whole section. If the side run needs replacing anyway, note that in the San Diego pricing the whole run starts at $2,500, against $2,000 for the short section alone.

How much fence would a Zone 0 retrofit cover?

Under the adopted state text, usually the 5 feet nearest the house, but no state Zone 0 rule is in force yet. The Board of Forestry adopted its rule on 19 August 2026 and withdrew it from the Office of Administrative Law on 8 September 2026, so as of 10 November 2026 nothing in it applies.

If it takes effect as adopted, a fence attached to the house or within 1 foot of it would need a 5 foot noncombustible span at the house end, and no new combustible fence could be built within 5 feet (14 CCR 1298.04(b)(8) and (9); 1299.03(d)(8) and (9)). Existing wood fence beyond that could stay and be repaired with wood. Our Zone 0 fence requirements page explains the rule, and existing wood fence and Zone 0 covers what you can keep. San Diego’s local guidelines (Rev. 4/22/2026) go further and target full compliance for existing homes, fences and gates included, by 28 February 2029.

The rule defines noncombustible by the ASTM E136 test, so ask for the product’s test report; see is aluminum noncombustible. If the section ends in a gate, our aluminum gate cost page has gate prices.

What should a fence quote include?

• Total length, height, style and post spacing.
• Whether posts go in concrete or bolt to a slab or wall.
• Removal and haul-away of the old fence.
• Any slope surcharge, permits and gates as separate lines.
• For a Zone 0 section, the noncombustible length from the house wall (5 feet under the adopted text) and how it joins the existing fence.