Free calculator
Junk Removal Price Calculator
Quote a couch, a half truck load or a garage cleanout from your own numbers: break-even rate, target rate and a job quote with the second person on the truck, drive time and self-employment tax counted. Free, no sign-up.
- Your time on site$0
- Drive time (0 each)$0
- Vehicle$0
- Supplies$0
- Price floor, zero profit$0
How it works
A load price copied from another hauler leaves out the hours nobody pays for (driving, estimates, slow weeks), the dump fees, the second person on the truck, and self-employment tax.
This calculator grosses your take-home up for self-employment tax (15.3% on 92.35% of profit) and your income tax estimate, adds a year of business costs, and spreads the total over the hours customers actually pay for. That is your break-even rate. Your margin on top gives the target rate.
A job's price floor is every crew member's time on site and drive time at the break-even rate, plus vehicle cost per mile and supplies, with dump and disposal fees counted as supplies. Count the miles to the dump and back, and each extra dump run. The quote adds your margin and rounds up to the next $5.
A worked example
A $60,000 take-home goal with a 12% income tax estimate needs $81,223 of profit before tax. Add $8,580 a year of business costs and you need $89,803 of revenue. At 48 weeks of 50 hours with 60% paid, that is 1,440 paid hours: a break-even rate of $62.36 and a target of $73.37 with a 15% margin. Pay divided by all hours would say $25.00. A half truck load (2 people, 1.5 hours on site each, a 30-mile round trip, $75 of supplies and dump fees) has a $409.62 price floor and quotes at $485, with $75.38 of profit inside it. Make it a 60-mile round trip and the floor rises to $557.14 and the quote to $660.
Price every job at once
The Junk Removal Pricing Calculator workbook uses this same maths for Excel and Google Sheets: 19 example jobs from single items to estate cleanouts, a quote builder, a printable price sheet and a job tracker. $2.99, instant download.
Questions
How much should I charge for a half truck load?
It depends on your pay goal, your costs, your crew, your drive and your dump fees. With the example numbers a half load for 2 people needs $485 to pay its share. Enter your own numbers to see yours.
Where do dump fees go?
Put dump, recycling and disposal fees in supplies for the job. Put the extra miles for each dump run in round-trip miles.
Does it count the second person on the truck?
Yes. Set people on the job to your crew size and every person's time on site and drive time is counted.
Is this tax advice?
No. It is a planning estimate. Ask your tax preparer for your real income tax rate.