What do iron balusters and railings run per foot?

HomeGuide puts wrought iron at $65 to $135 a linear foot installed, about $1,600 to $3,400 for a typical 25-foot stair railing. Angi's 2026 averages are $50 to $120 a foot indoors and $70 to $200 outdoors, with an indoor staircase usually landing between $700 and $3,000.

Is a wrought iron railing really made of wrought iron?

Almost never. True wrought iron is no longer made on a commercial scale, and the trade uses the name for railings, gates and fences made of mild steel. That's fine for a railing; it just means the rust protection comes from the coating, so ask what finish the steel gets.

Can I put a wrought iron railing outside in Florida?

Yes, with the right finish. HomeGuide says plain black wrought iron is designed for indoor use and will rust outdoors. For an exterior railing, ask for galvanized steel with a powder coat over it, and have any scratch in the coating fixed quickly.

Will an iron railing hold up for decades here?

HomeGuide says 50 years or more depending on the finish and whether it's installed inside or outside, and its 2026 handrail guide gives wrought iron and stainless the longest lives of any railing material with proper maintenance. Outdoors, that life depends on keeping the coating intact.

How much upkeep does an outdoor iron railing need?

Angi's 2026 guide puts iron railing upkeep at $50 to $200 a year if you do it yourself, or $200 to $500 a year for a professional.

Wrought Iron Railing in Pompano Beach, FL

Typical cost: HomeGuide's figure is $65 to $135 a linear foot installed, or about $1,600 to $3,400 for a 25-foot stair railing.
Inside vs outside: Angi's 2026 guide puts indoor iron at $50 to $120 a foot and outdoor iron at $70 to $200.
Outdoor finish: plain black iron is made for indoors; outside, ask for galvanized steel under a powder coat, a pairing that lasts 1.5 to 2.3 times the two coatings' lives added together.
Lifespan: iron railings can last 50 years or more, depending on the finish and whether they're inside or out.

Pompano Stair Railing books you in with a local welder who does ornamental iron: iron balusters under a wood handrail, galvanized exterior stair railings, scrollwork and curved iron. Describe the stairs as they are now, and the welder rings you to come out, measure and price the metal, the finish and the install.

Wrought Iron Railing Types for Homes

Iron railings split into the indoor kind, usually balusters under a wood handrail, and the outdoor kind, which lives or dies by its coating. The style choices below sit on top of that split.

Black iron balusters with twist and basket details under a stained oak handrail on a carpeted staircase

Iron balusters with a wood handrail

Swapping wood spindles for iron balusters while keeping the handrail and newel posts keeps the parts your hand touches and changes the look of the whole stair. Indoors, plain black iron is fine; it's the outdoor version that needs protection. If you're only changing the balusters, that's a baluster replacement job.

Indoor staircase, whole job: $700 to $3,000, about $1,000 on average (Angi, 2026).
Balusters alone: HomeAdvisor lists balusters at $3 to $17 a piece.

Galvanized, black powder-coated steel railing beside the concrete side steps of a stucco home

Galvanized exterior iron stair railings

An exterior iron railing on concrete steps should be galvanized steel under a powder-coat finish. Galvanizing coats the steel in zinc, and the powder coat over it slows how fast the zinc wears; the American Galvanizers Association calls that pairing a duplex system and puts its protection at 1.5 to 2.3 times the two coatings' lives added together.

Galvanized materials alone: $60 to $90 a linear foot (HomeGuide).
Installation labor: $15 to $35 a linear foot on top (HomeGuide).
Outdoor installed: $70 to $200 a foot (Angi).

Black ornamental iron stair railing with scroll panels and a curved top rail at a home entrance

Ornamental and scroll iron railings

Scrolls, collars, baskets and custom panels are cut and welded to order, so fabricator hours show up on the quote. Angi puts iron fabricator rates at $70 to $150 an hour. A Broward fence company quoted on Thumbtack gave $100 to $900 a foot for custom wrought iron gates and fencing; that's gate work, not railings, but it shows how far custom iron can stretch.

Fabricator labor: $70 to $150 an hour (Angi).

Black iron railing following a curved staircase in a two-story foyer

Curved and spiral iron railings

Every bend in a curved or spiral iron railing is shop work. Angi prices curved and spiral iron at $150 to $250 a linear foot, two to three times its indoor rate for a straight run. Curved stairs have their own page: curved stair railings.

Curved or spiral: $150 to $250 a linear foot (Angi).

Installer measuring a concrete entry staircase for a new railing

Why Pompano Beach homeowners call Pompano Stair Railing

One local railing installer per request, not a call list
Free to homeowners: no referral fee
Ask for material, finish and hardware grade in writing
Permit and inspection named on the quote

Wrought Iron Railing Cost: Inside, Outside and Custom

Location and shape move an iron quote most: indoor or outdoor, straight or curved.

Installed, any location
$65 to $135 a foot (HomeGuide); HomeAdvisor's stair table shows $50 to $120.
Whole jobs (Angi, 2026)
a wrought iron railing averages $2,800, most between $700 and $6,000; an iron balcony runs $1,200 to $4,500; a deck or porch wraparound $2,500 to $6,000.
Permits
national guides show $50 to $300 for small railing jobs; Pompano Beach uses its own city permit fees.

Get the finish written into the quote: "black wrought iron" on a work order can mean bare painted steel or galvanized and powder-coated steel, and on an outdoor stair those are very different railings.

Iron, Rust and Finishes: What "Wrought Iron" Means Today

Real wrought iron is no longer produced commercially. The "wrought iron" railings, gates and fences sold now are mild steel, which welds the same way. The upshot for a buyer is simple: the steel will rust wherever its coating fails, so the coating is what you're paying for outdoors.

Indoor only
HomeGuide says plain black wrought iron is designed for indoor use and will rust if placed outdoors.
Outdoor build
Galvanized steel with a powder-coated finish. The coating slows how fast the zinc is used up, and the zinc keeps protecting the steel once the paint wears through.
Scratches
If the coating is scratched it has to be repaired quickly, or the iron rusts. Damaged galvanizing is repaired to ASTM A780, which allows zinc solder, zinc-rich paint or zinc spray.
Upkeep
$50 to $200 a year doing it yourself, $200 to $500 a year for a professional (Angi).
Lifespan
50 years or more depending on the finish and whether it's inside or outside (HomeGuide).

A railing a few blocks from the beach gets more salt than one inland (distance bands), so the finish matters more the closer you are. Rust at a post base or a chipped top rail is a repair worth doing early.

What to Get in Writing on an Iron Railing Quote

Iron quotes are easy to compare on price and hard to compare on what you're actually getting. Ask each one to spell out the following.

Steel and finish
Galvanized or bare steel, and the coating over it. For outdoor work, galvanized under powder coat is the duplex pairing described above.
Touch-up method
What gets used on scratches made during the install. For galvanized steel, ASTM A780 lists zinc solder, zinc-rich paint and zinc spray.
Shop or site welding
Scrollwork and curved sections are welded to order, so ask which joints are made in the shop, which on site, and how any site weld gets finished afterward.
Anchoring
How the posts fix to the stair or the concrete, and who patches the holes.
Permit and deposit
Who pulls the city permit, and how the deposit squares with the state deposit rule.

See aluminum railing.