Chain link runs a median $44 per foot installed against wood’s $32 to $62, and once you match heights the real difference is only about $8 a foot. Chain link costs less than wood almost everywhere. The gap you see quoted online, though, is mostly a height mismatch. Most cheap chain link figures describe a 4-foot galvanized fence, and most wood figures describe a 6-foot privacy fence. Line the two up at the same height with the same installer and the difference per foot is smaller than the folklore says; the difference that shows up ten years later is bigger.
Three Sources, Three Answers Per Foot
Every range below is a 2026 figure, and at the low end they disagree by a factor of three. That is not noise. Each source is pricing a different fence.
Ergeon’s numbers come from its own completed jobs: 1,408 chain link installs across 15 states with a median of $44 per foot, and 41,420 wood fences at $32–$62 per foot (updated July 2026). Those are full-service jobs, heavy on California, Texas and Georgia, and mostly 5 and 6 feet tall. HomeGuide’s typical $10–$20 chain link figure is for a 4-foot fence. Homewyse prices a 6-foot contractor-grade wood privacy fence with pressure-treated posts set in concrete at 8-foot spacing, as of May 2026. Ergeon’s median-of-completed-jobs approach is one of several sourcing methods we weigh against each other, a process outlined in How We Estimate.
So the $10 chain link price and the $45 wood price were never describing the same yard.
| Source | Chain link, per ft | Wood, per ft | What is being priced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ergeon completed installs, 2026 | $32–$71, median $44 | $32–$62 | Full service, mostly 5–6 ft residential |
| HomeGuide, 2026 | $8–$40, most pay $10–$20 | Not compared | Chain link, typical 4 ft |
| Homewyse, May 2026 | Not compared | $33.07–$53.00 | 6 ft wood privacy, PT posts in concrete |
Match the Height and the Gap Shrinks
Ergeon is the one source that prices both materials the same way, and its typical installed figures are $44 per foot for chain link against $52 for wood. That is an $8 gap. On a 150-foot backyard run it comes to about $1,200, which is money worth keeping but a long way from half the price.
Labor explains it. Of that $44 chain link foot, Ergeon attributes roughly $11 to materials and about $33 to labor and everything else. Posts have to be dug and set in concrete whether mesh or boards hang between them, and post work is the expensive part of any fence.
Above 6 feet, the math flips.
Ergeon’s 4- to 6-foot chain link runs $36–$43 per foot. At 7 feet it jumps to about $75, and at 8 feet about $78, because tall chain link moves to heavier commercial framework. An 8-foot chain link fence can cost more per foot than a 6-foot wood privacy fence; if a dog or a pool rule is forcing the height, get both quoted.
Where you live matters about as much as what you pick. Ergeon’s chain link averages run from $28 per foot in South Carolina to $57 in Maryland, and its wood fences average $67 per foot on the West Coast against $44 in Southern markets.
Chain Link With Slats Is Not a Cheap Privacy Fence
Slats are the obvious workaround. Buy the cheaper fence, weave in privacy strips, done. Installed, slats add roughly $3–$10 per linear foot, based on several 2026 contractor price guides.
Run it at 6 feet. Ergeon’s $36–$43 chain link plus $3–$10 of slats lands at $39–$53 per foot, while Homewyse’s 6-foot wood privacy fence is $33.07–$53.00. The ranges overlap almost completely.
And slats buy less. They leave slivers of sightline, they rattle, and they turn open mesh into a sail in a storm. If privacy is the reason you are fencing, price wood or vinyl first. Slats earn their place on a chain link fence you already own and do not want to tear out.
The Staining Bill That Chain Link Never Sends
Wood’s bigger cost arrives after the crew leaves.
Ergeon’s 111 completed fence-staining projects, updated May 2026, ran $655–$2,118 each with a median of $1,298. Stain makers and painting contractors generally advise recoating every two to three years, and transparent stains wear out fastest. Chain link asks for almost nothing: a loose tension band tightened now and then.
Nobody publishes good failure-rate data on unstained fences, so read lifespan figures loosely. Fixr puts wood at about 15 years and chain link at about 20, longer with vinyl coating.
Plenty of owners never stain a pressure-treated fence at all. It grays and checks and keeps standing for years; that is a legitimate choice, as long as you make it on purpose.
| Option | Installed, 150 lf | Upkeep over 15 years | 15-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chain link, galvanized | $5,400–$6,450 | Near zero | $5,400–$6,450 |
| Chain link plus privacy slats | $5,850–$7,950 | Near zero | $5,850–$7,950 |
| Wood privacy, never stained | $4,960–$7,950 | None | $4,960–$7,950 |
| Wood privacy, stained every 3 years | $4,960–$7,950 | About $5,190 (4 coats at the $1,298 median) | $10,150–$13,140 |
- Chain link rows use Ergeon’s typical 4–6 ft installed range of $36–$43 per foot; wood rows use Homewyse’s 6 ft privacy fence, May 2026.
- Staining uses Ergeon’s median project. A 150-foot fence stained on both sides can land above it.
- Gates, permits and removal of an old fence are left out of every row.
Where Each One Wins
Chain link is the right fence for a dog run, a back property line nobody looks at, or a sloped lot. Mesh follows the grade without the stepped or racked panels wood needs on a hill, so most of the slope surcharge disappears.
Wood wins as soon as privacy or looks are part of the brief. Check your HOA covenants before pricing chain link for a street-facing yard; many associations restrict it, and a quote for a fence you cannot build is worth nothing.
If budget alone decides it, remember the $8. At 6 feet with a full-service installer, chain link saves less than the 4-foot price lists implied.
Pricing vinyl, aluminum or cedar as well? Our fence installation cost guide covers five materials and has a calculator that totals a run with gates.
Line Items That Move Either Quote
Two quotes are only comparable when these match.
- Gates: Ergeon adds about $169 for a chain link walk gate and $984 for a double-leaf gate; its wood walk gates average $399 and drive gates $735 (2026).
- Old fence removal: $3–$10 per linear foot (Ergeon, 2026).
- Wire gauge: 9-gauge mesh is the heavy residential choice, and 11.5-gauge is cheaper and dents easily. Ask which one the quote assumes.
- Coating: Ergeon found galvanized and vinyl-coated chain link within a few dollars of each other installed, roughly $39–$42 per foot, so black vinyl costs less extra than most people expect.
- Height over 6 feet: tall chain link moves to commercial framework and roughly doubles per foot.
Slatting a Chain Link Fence Yourself
Of everything on this page, slats are the one job an owner can reliably do without a crew. Weaving them is slow and dull, but it takes no skill and no tools beyond gloves, and doing it yourself removes the labor share of that $3–$10 per foot. Measure the fence height first. Slats are sold by height, and a 5-foot slat in a 6-foot fence shows from across the yard.
- Wave Slat bottom-locking privacy slats (6 ft) — A bottom-locking slat, which stops the strips from sliding down and out over time. It comes in several heights and colors; coverage depends on your mesh size, so count before ordering.
- Privacy screen fabric — Zip-tied windscreen goes up faster than slats and costs less per foot. It looks temporary and catches more wind.
- Tension bands — If the fence has sagged, retighten it before adding slats; a slack fence full of slats looks worse than one without.
Slats and screens both add wind load. On an older fence with loose line posts, fix the posts first.
Every figure here is a 2026 national or company-wide number with its source named. State labor rates alone can nearly double either fence, so get two quotes at the same height, gauge and gate count before comparing them.
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