Locksmith Prices in 2024

Last Updated on April 30, 2024

Cost to get a locksmith onsite | Cost to Unlock Car or House | Cost to Rekey | Cost for Car Keys | Price Variants

The top ranked search results for ‘How much does a locksmith cost’ are all wrong! Those sites that Google “thinks” are important are not written by locksmiths. They’re written by marketing teams for large companies that have no clue about what locksmiths really charge.

I am the owner of ACME Locksmith, a Phoenix locksmith company, that has been doing business in Arizona for over 25 years. We’ve serviced over 170,000 customers. This is the real information on how much locksmith charge in 2024, and how we price our services.

*The cost shown is cumulative. Start with the service charge price, and then add the cost of the service you are hiring for.

How the Prices for Locksmith Service Were Calculated

For national prices, we used charges taken from nationwide professional locksmith surveys conducted in 2017 and 2022. Both surveys are used because of the category changes made between 2017 and 2022.

There was a 5-year gap between the 2017 and 2022 price surveys and the 2022 survey did not include a line item for the service charge. However, it is industry standard to have a trip charge. In cases such as this, where the 2022 survey did not have all the information, the pricing shown in the table is 2017 pricing adjusted for inflation of 26% between 2017 and 2024.

How Much is a Locksmith Service Call?

The US average price to get a locksmith to your location will be approximately $115. Additional costs will depend on the service provided. Pricing may vary depending on city. There can also be additional charges for emergency hours, specialized services, and distance. Keep reading for more details.

PRO TIP TO SAVE MONEY: If you use a locksmith that has a physical shop, you can take your lock and key needs to their shop. This will eliminate the service call charge.

Locksmith services include a charge to get onsite ( a service call or trip charge) and then additional charges for the work performed. The trip charge in most major metropolitan areas hover between $95-130. In the Phoenix, AZ market a locksmith trip charge is roughly $115.

If you live in a city with a high cost of living, expect your cost to be slightly higher. For those living in a low-cost city, your charge may be a bit less.

Run, run, run from anyone quoting $29-$49 rates. They are scam.

Locksmith Pricing Per Service in 2024

Cost to Unlock a Door (Car or Home)

Unlock charges are composed of the service call charge and the cost to do the work (the unlock). Using the table above you can find those costs.

To unlock a car door lock you can expect to pay between $170-$210 during standard hours. The national average cost to unlock door locks is $180. In areas with lower cost of living, it will be slightly less, but it will be higher in expensive cities.

In the Phoenix market, the cost to unlock a door will be around $140.

All licensed automotive locksmith companies will give you and exact price upfront. That’s because legitimate companies unlock hundreds of cars per year.

If you run across a locksmith saying they can’t give you the total price to unlock a car before they see the car, do NOT hire them.

Cost to Rekey a Lock

Changing locks is not the same as having locks rekeyed. When you rekey house locks you use the existing door locks. You only change the lock pins so they work using a new key. There is no need to replace locks. For details see our article “What is lock rekeying“

The cost to rekey home locks is on a per cylinder basis. Every location you can slide a key into a hole is a ‘cylinder.’ A typical home will have two lock cylinders per door.

In 2024, the average cost to rekey a lock at your home is $25. Therefore, the cost to to rekey a house with three doors will be around $250. This includes the service call charge and the cost to take the locks off the door, rekey them, and reinstall them.

Price Variations for Rekeying

This price can vary based on:

• How many lock cylinders there are.
• Whether of not you have an existing key to the locks (it will be slightly more if you do not since it takes a bit longer).
• If it is an electronic lock (also takes a bit longer).

Check out our detailed article The Cost to Rekey a Home for additional information and money saving tips.

Also see our article: Is it Cheaper to have Your Locks Rekeyed or to Replace Locks?

Cost of a Car Key Copy

There are a ton of variables involved in getting copies of car keys, but there is one thing for sure: getting a copy of your car key now will be much cheaper than having to replace a lost car key. If you don’t have a spare key for you car, get one now.

Duplicate car keys can cost from $8 to several hundred dollars. Is it a traditional key or a transponder key? Are you just getting a copy or have you lost keys and need a replacement key made? Additionally, there are fees the locksmith has to pay their providers when adding a key to a car that range from $0 to $95, etc…. All of these impact the price of a car key.

Another impact to overall key cost is where you get the car key made? Auto locksmiths tend to be the most affordable when keys / FOBs need to be programmed.

The cost of a standard car key copy is only $8-15. But this cost goes up significantly for a transponder key (a key with a chip in it that needs to be programmed). The cost to copy a chipped car key will be from$65 – $190 for the key, cutting, and programming of the key.

Check out our detailed article How Much Do Car Keys Cost for more specific information and variances.

Things That Will Impact Prices

Emergency Service

Time of service: Anything outside of standard business hours would designate a call as emergency service. If you need someone to leave their family and come out at 8:00 pm on a Friday, the deserve something extra for that.

The range in Phoenix for emergency service is $50 and up. How much that price is will depend on what time of day it is. Is it just after normal hours? Is it a Sunday? Is it Christmas morning? The bigger the inconvenience, the bigger the charge. Just be sure to get the exact price upfront.

Fast Response Time: If you need service during regular hours, but you need it ASAP, you will pay additional for that.

This is because your locksmith is likely on another job. To get to you, they will need to pack up, leave an existing customer, head to you to take care of your needs, then head back to the job they were working on before they left it.

Even if the locksmith is not on another job, they will likely have jobs scheduled and fitting an emergency call in will delay the next job and risk upsetting that customer.

Mileage

The lock company you call will have a standard service. For calls within that area, there is no additional charge.

But when calls comes in outside of that area the locksmith may add on an extended service or mileage fee. This fee not only accounts for the additional fuel, but also the additional time it takes to get to your call and not being able to service others.

I know of many lock companies in densely populated areas charging $1-$2 per mile to account for the addition travel. At my company we charge our labor rate by the amount of additional time it takes to get to you.

Specialized Skills

There are some locksmith skills that not many technicians have. Safe drilling and repair is a prime example. For the skills that very few possess, the service will be priced more expensively.

How to Find the Cheapest Locksmith Near Your

The cheapest locksmith is likely not the one that gave you the cheapest quote. When you ask a locksmith, “How much does your locksmith service cost” some locksmiths are going to give you a very cheap price just so you hire them, and it’s a scam. There are no $29 to $49 locksmith services.

You will find the cheapest locksmith near you and get the best locksmith price, when you are quoted an exact price upfront. No exceptions.

When you call a credible locksmith you will find that:

1) They quote you an exact price for common services and
2) The credible locksmiths all charge within a few dollars of each other.

Detailed Locksmith Pricing Articles

How much does it cost to rekey house locks?

How much does it cost to rekey a business?

How much does a car key cost?

Ho much does it cost to drill a safe?

Summary

Locksmith prices very depending on what needs to be done but:

• On site services are composed of a trip charge and
• The work needing to be done.
• The average price range for onsite service will be $160-$270 for typical car and home services.

You will always save money if:

• You hire a local locksmith you that has a shop you can take your needs into (when possible)
• You rekey existing locks instead of replacing locks