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Calcimator

Unit Price Estimator Calculator

Cost per unit from labor, material, equipment, and overhead.

About this calculator

This calculator builds a bid unit price in layers, and each layer only ever multiplies the one below it -- nothing here is subtracted or cancels. Direct Cost / Unit is the sum of four components (Labor / Unit, computed from Labor Hours / Unit times Burdened Labor Rate, plus Material, Equipment, and Subcontractor cost per unit); Overhead / Unit applies the Overhead (%) rate to that direct-cost total; and Profit / Unit applies the Profit (%) rate to direct cost plus overhead. Because Bid Unit Price is Direct Cost / Unit scaled by both markup percentages in sequence -- (1 + overhead%) then (1 + profit%) -- raising EITHER percentage always raises Bid Unit Price, and the two combine multiplicatively rather than by simple addition.

Total Quantity plays a different role from every other input here: it has zero effect on Bid Unit Price itself (the per-unit price is fixed by the cost components and markups alone, independent of how many units you are pricing), but it is the single largest lever on Total Bid Amount, since that figure is Bid Unit Price multiplied straight through by Total Quantity. Combined Markup (%) reports the overhead-and-profit stack together as one percentage over direct cost, which is always larger than either Overhead (%) or Profit (%) alone since it captures both layers at once.

Inputs

%
%

Results

Bid Unit Price ($)

$83.16

Total Bid Amount ($)

$8,316.00

≈ 8 smartphones

Labor / Unit ($)$32.50
Direct Cost / Unit ($)$67.50
Overhead / Unit ($)$8.10
Profit / Unit ($)$7.56
Total Direct Cost ($)$6,750.00
Labor % of Direct48.1%
Material % of Direct37%
Equipment % of Direct14.8%
Combined Markup (%)23.2%
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter the labor hours per unit and burdened labor rate per hour for this work item.
  2. Enter the material cost per unit including delivery and waste, and the equipment cost allocated per unit.
  3. Enter any subcontractor cost per unit if that portion of work is subcontracted.
  4. Set the overhead percentage (combined job-site and home office, typically 8–18%) and profit percentage.
  5. Enter the total quantity for this line item.
  6. Read the fully loaded bid unit price and total bid amount for the line item, plus labor/material/equipment breakdown percentages.

How the result changes with Labor Hours / Unit

Labor Hours / UnitBid Unit Price ($)Total Bid Amount ($)
0.25$63.14$6,314.00
0.38$73.15$7,315.00
0.75$103.18$10,318.00
1.25$143.22$14,322.00

What each input means

Labor Hours / Unit
Worker-hours required per unit of work.
Burdened Labor Rate ($/hr)
Fully burdened labor rate including wages, taxes, insurance, and benefits.
Material Cost / Unit ($)
Material cost per unit including delivery and waste.
Equipment Cost / Unit ($)
Equipment ownership or rental cost allocated per unit.
Subcontractor Cost / Unit ($)
Subcontractor cost per unit (if applicable).
Overhead (%)
Combined job-site and home office overhead percentage (typically 8–18%).
Profit (%)
Target profit percentage (typically 5–15%).
Total Quantity
Total number of units for this line item.

What each result means

Labor / Unit ($)
Labor cost component per unit.
Direct Cost / Unit ($)
Sum of labor, material, equipment, and sub per unit.
Overhead / Unit ($)
Overhead allocated per unit.
Profit / Unit ($)
Profit per unit.
Bid Unit Price ($)
Fully loaded bid price per unit including overhead and profit.
Total Direct Cost ($)
Direct cost for the entire quantity.
Total Bid Amount ($)
Total bid line item amount (unit price x quantity).
Labor % of Direct
Labor as a percentage of direct costs.
Material % of Direct
Material as a percentage of direct costs.
Equipment % of Direct
Equipment as a percentage of direct costs.
Combined Markup (%)
Total markup (overhead + profit) as a percentage of direct costs.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Labor Hours / Unit = 0.5, Burdened Labor Rate ($/hr) = 65, Material Cost / Unit ($) = 25, Equipment Cost / Unit ($) = 10 = 8 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Bid Unit Price
    Bid Unit Price = costPerUnit + profitPerUnit
    83.16 = $83.16
  3. Calculate Total Bid Amount
    Total Bid Amount = bidUnitPrice * totalQuantity
    8316 = $8,316
  4. Calculate Labor / Unit
    Labor / Unit = laborHoursPerUnit * laborRate
    32.5 = $32.5
  5. Calculate Direct Cost / Unit
    Direct Cost / Unit = laborCostPerUnit + materialCostPerUnit + equipmentCostPerUnit + subcontractor...
    67.5 = $67.5

Engine last updated . Checked against 1 independently-derived test — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Total Quantity have no effect on Bid Unit Price?

Bid Unit Price is built entirely from the per-unit cost components (labor, material, equipment, subcontractor) and the Overhead (%) and Profit (%) markup rates -- Total Quantity never enters that calculation. It only comes into play afterward, when Bid Unit Price is multiplied by Total Quantity to produce Total Bid Amount, which is why changing Total Quantity moves Total Bid Amount directly while leaving Bid Unit Price completely unchanged.

Do Overhead (%) and Profit (%) add together or compound?

They compound in sequence, not add. Overhead / Unit is applied to Direct Cost / Unit first, producing an intermediate cost-plus-overhead figure; Profit / Unit is then applied to THAT figure, not to the original direct cost. So Combined Markup (%) -- the two layers expressed as one percentage over direct cost -- always comes out slightly higher than simply adding Overhead (%) and Profit (%) together.

Why does raising Labor Hours / Unit and raising Burdened Labor Rate have the same effect on Bid Unit Price?

Labor / Unit is the product of the two (Labor Hours / Unit times Burdened Labor Rate), so a given percentage increase in either one produces the identical percentage increase in Labor / Unit, and from there the identical dollar increase carries through Direct Cost / Unit and, after the overhead and profit markups, through Bid Unit Price. Neither input has any special weight over the other in this formula.

What does Combined Markup (%) tell you that Overhead (%) and Profit (%) don't, separately?

Combined Markup (%) is the entire gap between Bid Unit Price and Direct Cost / Unit, expressed as one percentage -- it is what you would need to add to direct cost in a single step to reach the same bid price, since overhead and profit are applied one on top of the other rather than side by side. It is always at least as large as Overhead (%) plus Profit (%) added directly, because compounding two positive percentages produces slightly more markup than adding them.

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