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If you’re pricing out a panel upgrade in Fort Worth or the surrounding DFW area, the honest answer is: it depends on your home. Most electrical panel upgrades in this area typically run somewhere between $1,800 and $6,000, with the biggest swings coming from your current amperage, how the service enters your home, and whether the panel location makes the job easy or difficult. There’s no single number that applies to every house, but the cost drivers below are consistent across nearly every job we look at.

What Drives the Cost of a Panel Upgrade

A handful of factors decide where your project lands in that range. Understanding them ahead of time makes it easier to compare quotes and know what you’re actually paying for.

• Amperage change. Swapping a 100-amp panel for a new 100-amp panel is a different job than upgrading to 200-amp service, which usually requires new wire, a new panel, and sometimes new breakers throughout.
• Meter and service entrance work. If your meter base, weatherhead, or service drop also needs to be replaced or relocated, that adds labor and materials beyond the panel itself.
• Panel location and access. A panel in an easy-to-reach garage wall is a quicker job than one buried in a closet, behind finished drywall, or on an exterior wall that needs to be opened up.
• Permit and inspection fees. Panel work requires a permit in Fort Worth and most surrounding cities. This is a small piece of the total but it’s a required piece — don’t work with anyone who skips it.
• Grounding and bonding updates. Homes built before modern code often need grounding brought up to current standard as part of the upgrade, which adds some labor.
• Panel condition and brand. If the existing panel is a known problem brand, removal can take extra care and time. See our page on Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels for more on that.

Typical Cost Ranges by Project Type

These are typical ranges we see for panel-related work in the Fort Worth area. Your actual price depends on an in-person look at your specific setup — nobody can give you an exact number over the phone.

Why Older Fort Worth and DFW Homes Often Cost More

A lot of the homes we see calls for around Crowley, Fort Worth, and the surrounding suburbs were built between the 1960s and 1980s, when 60-amp or 100-amp service was standard and central air, electric ranges, and multiple large appliances weren’t part of the original design. When a homeowner wants to add central AC, an EV charger, or a hot tub decades later, the existing panel often doesn’t have the capacity or the physical breaker space to handle it. That’s usually when a simple repair turns into a full upgrade conversation.

Homes with additions, converted garages, or a finished basement built by a previous owner also tend to run higher, since it’s common to find circuits that were tapped onto the original panel without much regard for total load. An electrician doing an upgrade quote will usually flag these during the initial walkthrough, since they affect both the price and the scope of what needs to be brought up to code.

New Construction and Additions

Panel upgrade costs aren’t only about replacing an old panel. If you’re finishing out a garage, adding a workshop, building an addition, or putting in a second dwelling unit, you may need a larger panel or a sub-panel to support the new circuits, even if your existing panel is otherwise fine. That’s a different scope than a straight replacement, and it’s worth mentioning what you’re planning when you call for a quote so the electrician can size the job correctly the first time.

DIY and Unlicensed Work: Why It Costs More Later

Panel work is one of the few electrical jobs where cutting corners tends to show up later as a bigger bill, not a smaller one. Unpermitted panel work can complicate a home sale, cause problems with an insurance claim, and in some cases needs to be opened back up and redone to pass inspection. A licensed electrician pulling a permit costs more up front than an unlicensed handyman, but it’s the only way to know the work is actually safe and will hold up when it matters.

Permits and Inspections

Panel and service upgrades require a permit and a city inspection in Fort Worth and most neighboring municipalities. This isn’t optional paperwork — it’s how you know the work was done to code, and it matters when you sell the home or file an insurance claim. A licensed electrician handles the permit and schedules the inspection as part of the job.

Signs You May Actually Need an Upgrade

Cost is only half the question. Before you budget for a panel upgrade, it’s worth checking whether your current panel is actually failing or just undersized. We cover the specific warning signs in how do I know if my electrical panel is bad.

100-Amp or 200-Amp?

Not every home needs to jump straight to 200-amp service. If you’re trying to figure out whether your current amperage is enough for your household, see 100-amp vs. 200-amp panel: do you need to upgrade? for a breakdown of what each size typically supports.

Planning for What Comes Next

If a panel upgrade is on your radar because you’re also considering an EV charger, a hot tub, or a whole-house generator, it’s usually more cost-effective to plan the panel capacity around those additions now rather than upgrading again in a few years. Our whole-house generator cost guide walks through how generator installation interacts with your panel and service size.

Getting an Accurate Quote

The only way to get a real number is to have a licensed electrician look at your panel, your service entrance, and what you’re trying to power. Neighbors Electric is licensed in Texas (TECL #41555) and serves Fort Worth and the surrounding DFW area out of Crowley. Call (817) 533-0943 or contact us online to get a quote for your specific home.

Related electrical services

Need this handled? Neighbors Electric provides these services across Fort Worth and DFW:

• Electrical Panel Upgrades
• Electrical Repair
• Electrical Inspections