If you are pricing a standby generator for a Palm Beach County home, start here. This page is the county total — the number most single-family homes land on, what is inside it, and the three things that move it. Every figure comes from the same county cost range the rest of this site uses, reviewed November 2026.

The short answer

A whole-home generator in Palm Beach County typically costs $11,000 to $17,000, installed and permitted. That is the turnkey number for a typical single-family home — the generator, the transfer switch, the pad, the fuel work, the permits, and the installation, all in. Three things move it: the size of the unit, the fuel, and the state of your electrical panel.

If you are comparing quotes, the number to compare is the turnkey total — not the price of the generator alone. A quote that looks cheap usually leaves something out.

Figures last reviewed November 2026 · Sources: see ‘How we get our numbers’ on the About page.

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What ‘turnkey’ actually includes

Turnkey means the generator is installed, permitted, started, and handed over working. Seven pieces, and a quote that leaves one out is not a turnkey quote:

The generator unit — the machine itself, sized by load calculation.
The pad and the placement — a concrete pad, set back from the house and the lot line to code.
The automatic transfer switch — the part that moves the house from grid to generator without anyone home.
The electrical work — the panel, the wiring from the switch to the panel, and any panel upgrade the job needs.
The fuel work — a gas line, or a propane tank and its line.
The permits and the inspections — building, electrical, and fuel, with the inspections that close them.
The startup and the walkthrough — the unit run, the load tested, and the homeowner shown how it works.

The line items

The line items, with what is inside each one:

Generator unit — the single largest piece, and the one that varies most with size. A 17–20 kW air-cooled unit runs roughly $4,000–$6,000. A 24 kW Generac Guardian — the size most whole-home installs in this county land on — retails at about $5,869, unit only, before installation. The unit is about one-third of the turnkey total.
Installation — the figure most often left out of an online quote. Angi’s 2026 average for installation — parts and labour, before the unit — is $4,520, from 4,364 verified projects. Installation labour in Palm Beach County runs roughly $1,500–$5,000, depending on the run from the meter, the pad, and the panel.
Transfer switch — about $1,200 in the county figures. The switch is the part that moves the house from grid to generator automatically; it is not optional, and it is not a small number.
Concrete pad — about $1,000, if one is needed. A standard 3 ft by 6 ft pad runs $50–$75 per square foot. Some homes already have a suitable pad; most do not.
Permits — about $175–$400 on a typical job across the five verified city schedules. Permit fees are a percentage of the job value — Boynton Beach 2.30%, Boca Raton 1.60%, Wellington 2.00%, Jupiter 2% — plus a minimum that is usually $75.
Fuel line — natural gas, $260–$820 to run the line. Propane, a tank and installation, $600–$2,500, more for a large or buried tank. The fuel work is usually quoted separately, which is why it is the line that most often surprises.
Electrical panel — $500–$2,000, if work is needed. A panel that is full, or an older panel that cannot take the transfer switch, adds this line. Many homes need nothing here.
The total — the turnkey range for a typical single-family home in Palm Beach County: $11,000–$17,000, installed and permitted.

Why the $5,154 national ‘average’ is not your budget

Search for generator cost and the first number you will see is $5,154 — a national average from a home-improvement site, built from a small set of self-reported projects, and about eight years out of date. It is the number most often quoted by people who have never bought a generator in Florida, and it is not a budget for a whole-home standby unit in Palm Beach County.

Three reasons it fails here. It is a national average — it mixes a partial-circuit install in Ohio with a whole-home install in Florida, and the two are different jobs at different prices. It is out of date — installation costs have been growing about 8.7% a year for a decade, and a number from eight years ago is not a price today. And it is usually a generator-only or partial figure, not a turnkey total — it leaves out the switch, the pad, the fuel, and the permits, which are a third of the job or more.

The three things that move your number

Every home in the $11,000–$17,000 range is there for the same three reasons:

Unit size — the generator itself. A 22–26 kW unit is the whole-home class for most homes here; the size comes from a load calculation, not from the size of the house. The generator sizing guide.
Fuel — natural gas or propane, and how far the fuel has to travel. A propane tank at the far end of the lot costs more than a gas line at the meter. Propane vs natural gas.
The panel — a panel that is full or undersized adds $500–$2,000. A panel with room adds nothing.

The complete-quote checklist

Before you compare two quotes, check that each one names all six of these. If a line is missing, the quote is not complete — and the missing line is where the surprise will be.

The generator unit, named by model and size — not ‘a 22 kW unit’ but the model number.
The transfer switch, named by type and rating.
The pad, or a statement that one is not needed.
The fuel work — line or tank, named and priced.
The permits — every permit the job needs, priced.
The panel — either priced, or stated as not needed.

A quote that has all six is a quote you can compare. A quote that has three is a starting point. How installation proceeds, step by step.

The costs after installation day

The turnkey number is the purchase. Owning the generator has its own costs, and they are worth budgeting before you buy:

Maintenance plans — $499–$695 a year in Palm Beach County for a yearly service plan. A one-off service visit runs $350–$500.
Monitoring — Generac’s Mobile Link: basic free, premium from $54.99 a year. Kohler’s OnCue Plus is included with the generator, no annual fee.
Fuel — a full tank of propane is a cost, not a one-off; budget it as part of the outage, not the installation.
Repairs — out of warranty, a control board or a starter is a few hundred dollars; in warranty, it is the manufacturer’s.

The maintenance & service plans page has the full ownership figures; the remote monitoring page covers what the phone in your pocket can tell you while you are away.

If the house sits empty half the year, budget the absence package too

A house that sits empty through the summer needs more than a generator. It needs the generator to be watched — which means monitoring, a service plan that covers the months you are away, and a fuel plan that does not leave the tank empty in August. The absence package is not a separate product; it is the monitoring and the service plan, bought with the installation instead of after it.

The Cost Guide has a section on it — because the cheapest time to add monitoring and a service plan is before the installation is finished, not a year later.

Get the numbers in one file

The free Cost Guide is the whole breakdown on one sheet — every line item above, the complete-quote checklist, and the absence package for a house that sits empty.

Send me the Cost Guide

Cost questions, answered

What does a whole-home generator cost for a 2,500-square-foot house?

There is no price per square foot — the size comes from the load calculation, not the floor plan. A 2,500-square-foot home with one air conditioner and standard loads typically lands in the 22–26 kW class, and in the middle of the $11,000–$17,000 range. The load calculation is what sets it. The generator sizing guide.

Why are two quotes $3,000 apart?

Usually because they are not quoting the same thing. One includes the pad, the permits, and the fuel work; the other quotes the generator and the switch and leaves the rest as ‘to be confirmed.’ Compare the turnkey totals, and check the six-line checklist above — the difference is almost always a line that is missing.

Are permits included in the $11,000–$17,000?

Yes. The range is turnkey — installed and permitted. Permit fees in this county run about $175–$400 on a typical job, depending on the city. Permits and HOA approval, step by step.

What does it cost per kilowatt?

A 24 kW unit at about $5,869 is roughly $245 per kilowatt for the unit alone — but the unit is a third of the turnkey total, so the per-kilowatt figure for the installed job is higher and not a useful comparison. Compare turnkey totals.

What does it cost a year to own?

Budget $499–$695 a year for a service plan, plus monitoring — Generac Mobile Link premium from $54.99 a year, Kohler OnCue Plus included — and the fuel you use in an outage. A one-off service visit is $350–$500. The maintenance & service plans page has the full figures.

Palm Beach Backup Power is an independent information service. We are not a generator installer. These figures are published estimates, not quotes — the number for your home comes from your installer’s written quote.

What does a whole-home generator cost in Palm Beach County?