FREE CALCULATOR
Type your cost and the profit margin you want to keep. You'll get the price to charge and the markup that gets you there — the number most contractors get wrong.
Markup is a percentage of your cost. Margin is a percentage of the price. A $1,000 job with a 25% markup sells for $1,250 — but you only keep $250, which is 20% of the price. To actually keep 25%, you need to charge $1,333.33 (a 33.3% markup).
The formula: Price = Cost ÷ (1 − margin). For a 25% margin, $1,000 ÷ 0.75 = $1,333.33.
| Margin you want | Markup you need |
|---|---|
| 10% | 11.1% |
| 15% | 17.6% |
| 20% | 25.0% |
| 25% | 33.3% |
| 30% | 42.9% |
| 35% | 53.8% |
| 40% | 66.7% |
| 50% | 100.0% |
On a $40,000 remodel, quoting a 25% markup when you meant a 25% margin leaves about $2,700 on the table.
A rates library for your materials and labor (waste % and labor burden built in), estimates priced by target margin with overhead included, a client-ready quote, and estimate-vs-actual job costing. Excel and Google Sheets.
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost; margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price. The same dollar profit is always a smaller percentage as margin than as markup.
Markup = margin / (1 - margin). A 20% margin needs a 25% markup; a 30% margin needs a 42.9% markup.
It varies by trade and region; many small contractors target a net margin of roughly 10-20% after overhead. Price from your own overhead and goals rather than a rule of thumb.
Free to use, no sign-up. Built by Gragg Robotics, LLC in Waterville, Maine. More free tools: all calculators.