How we estimate project costs

Each project type has a national benchmark expressed per unit, per square foot of roof, per ton of cooling capacity, per square foot of finished bathroom, and so on. Benchmarks include typical labor, materials, and standard disposal for that work.

We multiply the benchmark by the size you enter. Where jobs get cheaper per unit as they grow, mobilization, setup, and dump fees spread across more work, we apply a mild scale adjustment rather than pretending cost is perfectly linear.

Budget, standard, and premium tiers change material grade and finish expectations. This is usually the single biggest swing in a remodel: the same bathroom footprint can differ by more than double between tiers.

Steep or multi-facet roofs, second-story access, structural changes, moving plumbing or electrical, and hidden damage all raise cost. We express this as a complexity multiplier rather than burying it in the base rate.

Labor rates vary by state, so when your ZIP code is in Texas or Florida we apply a labor cost adjustment. It is built only from published federal data, with no invented multipliers, and it is calculated in two steps.

First, the wage level. We take the statewide average hourly wage for the construction occupations that actually do your project, such as roofers, heating and air conditioning mechanics, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters, tile setters, sheet metal workers and construction laborers, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 edition. Each occupation is weighted by its national employment, then compared with the national average for the same mix. Texas and Florida both sit below the national wage level for these trades.

Second, how much of a job is labor. Materials, equipment and fees do not move with local wages, so we only apply the wage difference to the labor portion of the work. That share comes from the U.S. Census Bureau 2022 Economic Census, table EC2223BASIC: annual payroll plus employer benefit costs divided by total revenue for the matching contractor industry. It ranges from about 22 percent for residential remodelers to about 38 percent for painting contractors.

The result is a factor between 0.93 and 0.97 depending on state and project, always shown on the estimate so you can see exactly what was applied. Outside Texas and Florida no adjustment is applied and the estimate is presented as a national planning benchmark. A statewide wage level is not a city price, and permit fees, code requirements and local demand are not included in it.

We report a low, typical, and high figure. The spread reflects genuine market variation between contractors and unknowns that only a site visit resolves. If your quote sits near the edges of the range, that is not automatically wrong, it is a prompt to ask what is included.

Our company records are used for contractor search only. They do not contain pricing and are never used to validate or adjust a project estimate.

When you search by ZIP code and a distance, we measure between ZIP code center points published in the 2024 US Census Bureau ZCTA Gazetteer. Those positions are approximate area centers, not exact business premises, so a result shown as roughly 12 miles away may sit somewhat closer or farther in practice.

A company can only appear in a distance search when its ZIP code matches one of those center points. Where it does not, the company remains fully reachable through exact ZIP, name, trade, city and state search. A recorded address is a contact location, not a service area, so always confirm coverage with the company.

Benchmarks are reviewed as market conditions change, and we will say so when a model changes materially. Think a number is off? Tell us , specific, local corrections are the most useful thing you can send us.