What Markup Gives a 30 Percent Margin?
Markup, against cost
42.9%
To keep 30 percent of the price, add 42.9 percent to a $10,000 cost: $14,285.71.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Your cost for the job10000 $
- I want to setMargin percent
- That number30 % or $
Price to charge$14,285.71
| Your cost | $10,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Price | $14,285.71 |
| Gross profit | $4,285.71 |
| Markup, against cost | 42.9% |
| Margin, against price | 30%this is the one your accountant means |
| If you want this margin | Mark up cost by | On $10,000 cost, charge |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.1% | $11,111.11 |
| 15% | 17.6% | $11,764.71 |
| 20% | 25% | $12,500.00 |
| 25% | 33.3% | $13,333.33 |
| 30% | 42.9% | $14,285.71 |
| 35% | 53.8% | $15,384.62 |
| 40% | 66.7% | $16,666.67 |
| 50% | 100% | $20,000.00 |
Margin compared
Going the other way, the required markup climbs much faster than the margin does.
| Margin | Price to charge | Markup, against cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10% margin | $11,111.11 | 11.1% |
| 20% margin | $12,500.00 | 25% |
| 30% margin | $14,285.71 | 42.9% |
| 40% margin | $16,666.67 | 66.7% |
| 50% margin | $20,000.00 | 100% |
What else matters here
Thirty percent margin takes a 42.9 percent markup, a gap of nearly thirteen points. This is the range where treating the two words as synonyms stops being a small error and starts being most of the profit.
Thirty percent gross is the target a lot of trade coaching programs push, and it is achievable in trades with a strong warranty component, specialized skill or emergency response. It is much harder in commodity work where the client has three comparable bids.
If you cannot hold thirty percent, the answer is usually on the cost side or on the selection side rather than in the percentage. Fewer, better jobs at a real margin beats a full calendar at a thin one, and a full calendar at a thin one is how small contractors go out of business while looking busy.
What this calculator assumes
- Markup is measured against your cost. Margin is measured against the price. They are never the same number and confusing them is the most expensive arithmetic mistake in the trades.
- A 50 percent markup is a 33.3 percent margin. To actually keep 50 percent of the price you have to mark up by 100 percent.
Questions people ask
What markup gives a 30 percent margin?
42.9 percent. On a $10,000 cost that is a price of $14,285.71.
Is a 30 percent margin realistic in construction?
In trades with real warranty exposure, specialized skill or emergency response, yes. In commodity work with three comparable bids on the table, it is much harder.
What if I cannot get 30 percent?
Look at cost and at which jobs you take rather than at the percentage. A full calendar at a thin margin is how busy contractors go out of business.
The markup vs margin calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.