Construction Profit Margin Calculator
Enter your project revenue and total cost to instantly calculate your profit margin % and see if your pricing is on track.
Project Details
Include in total cost:
• Materials & supplies
• Labor (including your own time)
• Subcontractors
• Equipment rental
• Overhead allocation (insurance, software, etc.)
Results
What Is Construction Profit Margin?
Profit margin is the percentage of revenue that becomes profit after all costs are paid. It's calculated as: (Revenue − Cost) ÷ Revenue × 100. A 25% margin on a $20,000 job means you made $5,000 in profit.
What's a Healthy Profit Margin for Construction?
Gross margin benchmarks by segment:
- Specialty trades (electrical, plumbing, HVAC): 15–25% gross margin
- General contractors managing subs: 8–15% gross margin (lower because subs do more of the work)
- Remodeling contractors: 20–35% gross margin
These are gross margins — before your own salary and company overhead. Net margin (what you actually take home) is typically 5–15% of revenue for a well-run small construction company.
Why Most Contractors Don't Know Their Real Margin
Most contractors know how much they charged. Few know what a job actually cost — especially when it comes to their own labor, small incidental purchases, and overhead. A $15,000 job that "cost $10,000 in materials" might have actually cost $12,500 once labor and overhead are counted. That changes a 33% margin to 17%.
The only way to know your real margin is real-time job costing that captures every expense as it happens. Hardhat Ledger does this automatically — scan receipts, log hours, and see your true margin on every active job.
See Your Real Margin on Every Job
Hardhat Ledger tracks every expense automatically and shows live job P&L. Know your margin before the job is done.
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