Cost of Luxury Vinyl Flooring [+ Breakdown]

There’s no doubt vinyl planks and tiles can save you money over real hardwood or ceramic tiles.

But how much will they save you?

There’s way to know exactly how much until you get an invoice, but it’s important to have a good estimate before the invoice for a few reasons, so you can…

1. Decide if how it compares to carpet, laminate, or other flooring
2. Create an initial budget
3. Decide if you want to DIY
4. Decide if you’re getting a fair price

That’s why the goal of this article isn’t just to give you some generic answer on what “average” luxury vinyl flooring costs (that won’t help most people much) but to break it down. I’ll break it down by vinyl planks vs vinyl tiles, by durability and quality, and by materials and installation.

This will allow you to compare, make a budget, and make sure you’re getting a fair price.

Sound good?

Let’s start by making we’re on the same page…

What is luxury vinyl flooring? Planks? LVT?

Luxury vinyl is a class of flooring. It’s not “luxury” in the sense that natural hardwood or stone flooring is. It’s luxury because it’s an upgrade over traditional sheet vinyl.

Within luxury vinyl, you have planks and tiles. Planks imitate hardwood and tiles imitate tile. You’ll find these abbreviated LVP and LVT, respectively.

All of these names can be confusing, but all you really need to know is this: Luxury vinyl flooring comes in planks and tiles, and for the purposes of this article, the price of both is more or less the same.

Anything else you want to know about vinyl flooring can be found in the Captain’s unbiasedluxury vinyl guide.

Now we’ll dive into what you’re actually here for: prices of flooring. I’ll start with the most generic prices (per room, house, etc), and then we’ll break it down into more detail.

Cost of vinyl planks and vinyl tile installed (by room and house)

If you’re here to get a rough idea of what you’ll spend have luxury vinyl installed in your room, this will give you an estimate. These numbers are for both vinyl planks and vinyl tiles, and the cost includes installation.

Small bedroom (eg. Kids room): $540 materials/$780 installed
Medium room (eg. master bedroom or small living room): $1260 materials/$1820 installed
Large room or medium basement: $2700 materials/$3900 installed

Those estimates are ballpark, and I had to make some big assumptions on average cost of vinyl but also your room size. We can get a lot more accurate if you know the square footage of flooring you need. Then, we can just multiply it by the cost per square foot.

Want a more accurate estimate? Click here to get a free quote from a professional in your zip code.

Cost of materials for luxury vinyl by square foot

So what’s the cost per square foot of luxury vinyl?

Earlier in this article, I mentioned the price is a wide range—about $2 to $7 per square foot. In a perfect world, this range is based on the quality of the LVT or LVP you purchase. The world isn’t perfect, but this is the best estimate we’re going to get.

So here’s a breakdown luxury vinyl cost by quality:
Budget quality: $1.50 to 2.50 sqft.
Average quality: $3.75 to $4.75 sqft.
High quality: $5.00+ sqft.

These estimates are for materials only. If you plan on having your luxury vinyl professionally installed, read on.

Labor cost for luxury vinyl planks and tiles

Luxury vinyl is maybe the easiest DIY flooring job. But hiring an installer saves you time, and you know you’re getting it done right the first time. For budgeting purposes, expect to pay $1.50 per square foot for luxury vinyl installation. This can be more or less depending on the condition of the current flooring and pattern of the room.

What impacts the price

The biggest price factor for luxury vinyl planks and tiles is quality (surprised?).

Quality is determined by how real the flooring looks and how well it holds up to daily life. You can find more about what’s important in our luxury vinyl guide, but one tip is the “wear layer” is the most important part of LVT and LVP durability. Thicker the better.

Captain’s warning! You want a thicker wear layer for improved durability, and you’ll most likely pay for it. Don’t let a retailer trick you into thinking thicker vinyl planks = more durability. Thicker planks can be better in some cases, but the plank thickness doesn’t matter as much as the wear layer thickness.

What are other types of flooring in the same cost ballpark?

But Captain, I’m not set on luxury tiles yet. What other types of flooring are comparable in price?

Your best bets are checking out carpet and laminate. Both of these types of flooring are slightly less expensive than luxury vinyl but chances are you end up spending about the same. And if cost is a concern, your best bet on saving on installation is with luxury vinyl because it’s the easiest DIY job.

If you want to go up in price, you might check out natural hardwood or ceramic tiles. Expect to pay at least double for the real thing.

Captain’s parting words!

Now you have an estimate of what it will cost to install new luxury vinyl (such as Masland) in your home. Hopefully, that helps you with your budget or deciding if luxury vinyl is the floor for you.

If you haven’t decided, I have guide on all of your flooring options.If you want help on buying luxury vinyl, check out my unbiased luxury vinyl guide.