Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Quote this job at
$1,096
Price per cu yd
$91.36
Your total cost
$794
Gross profit
$302
Gross margin
27.5%
Material (incl. waste)
$504
Labour cost
$290
Crew hours
6.6
Crew days (8h)
0.8
Break-even per cu yd
$66.20
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Got your number — what next?
Pick one, it takes 20 secondsHow to use this
- 1Enter job size (cubic yards) (cu yd).
- 2Enter material cost per cu yd ($).
- 3Enter waste / overage (%).
- 4Enter crew hours per cu yd (hrs).
- 5Enter burdened crew rate ($/hr).
- 6Enter overhead allocated to this job ($).
- 7Enter markup on total cost (%).
- 8Read your quote this job at on the right — it updates as you type.
- 9Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Junk Removal & Haul-Off is priced per cubic yard, and the number that actually decides whether the job is profitable is the fully-loaded cost per cu yd — material plus waste, plus crew hours at your real burdened labour rate, plus the overhead every job has to carry. This calculator builds that number from the ground up rather than reverse-engineering it from a competitor's price. At the defaults here, material runs about $42.00 per cu yd and labour runs roughly 0.55 crew-hours per cu yd, which at a $44/hr burdened crew rate is about $24.20 per cu yd in labour alone. Landfill tipping fees vary by material and by county; a flat truckload price fails the moment the load is heavy. Junk removal typically runs $90–$180 per cubic yard hauled. Change the crew rate to your real burdened cost — wages plus payroll tax, workers' comp, vehicle, insurance and non-billable time — because using a bare wage rate is the single most common reason a busy junk removal & haul-off business still ends the year with no profit. The markup field is a markup on total cost, not a margin: a 35% markup on cost is a 25.9% gross margin, and confusing the two is worth thousands a year on a full schedule.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Job size (cubic yards): 12 cu yd
- Material cost per cu yd: 42 $
- Waste / overage: 0 %
- Crew hours per cu yd: 0.55 hrs
- Burdened crew rate: 44 $/hr
- Overhead allocated to this job: 0 $
- Markup on total cost: 38 %
Results
- Quote this job at: $1,096
- Price per cu yd: $91.36
- Your total cost: $794
- Gross profit: $302
- Gross margin: 27.5%
- Material (incl. waste): $504
- Labour cost: $290
- Crew hours: 6.6
- Crew days (8h): 0.8
- Break-even per cu yd: $66.20
What each field means
Inputs
- Job size (cubic yards) (cu yd)
- The job size (cubic yards) used in the calculation, measured in cu yd. Starts at 12 cu yd so you have a working example on load.
- Material cost per cu yd ($)
- The material cost per cu yd used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 42 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Waste / overage (%)
- The waste / overage used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 0 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–60 %.
- Crew hours per cu yd (hrs)
- The crew hours per cu yd used in the calculation, measured in hrs. Starts at 0.55 hrs so you have a working example on load.
- Burdened crew rate ($/hr)
- The burdened crew rate used in the calculation, measured in $/hr. Starts at 44 $/hr so you have a working example on load.
- Overhead allocated to this job ($)
- The overhead allocated to this job used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 0 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Markup on total cost (%)
- The markup on total cost used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 38 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–200 %.
Results
- Quote this job at
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Price per cu yd
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Your total cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Gross profit
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Gross margin
- Returned as a percentage. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Material (incl. waste)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Labour cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Crew hours
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Crew days (8h)
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Break-even per cu yd
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
How much should I charge per cu yd for junk removal & haul-off?
Work from cost, not from the market. Junk removal typically runs $90–$180 per cubic yard hauled. Take your material cost per cu yd, add your waste factor, add crew hours times your burdened hourly cost, add your overhead allocation, then apply your markup. If that number lands well above local pricing, the problem is usually productivity or overhead, not greed.
What is a burdened labour rate and why does it matter here?
Burdened rate is what an hour of crew time truly costs you: wages, payroll taxes, workers' compensation, vehicle and fuel, tools, insurance, and the unbillable hours between jobs. It is commonly 1.4x to 1.8x the bare wage. Quoting off bare wages is the fastest way to run a busy, unprofitable business.
Is markup the same as profit margin?
No, and the gap is bigger than people expect. Markup is added to cost; margin is a share of the price. A 35% markup gives a 25.9% margin, and a 50% markup gives a 33.3% margin. If you need a 40% margin you must mark up by 66.7%.
How should I handle the waste factor on junk removal & haul-off?
The default here is 0%, which is a reasonable starting point for straightforward work. Complex layouts, cuts, patterns and awkward access all push it higher. Track your actual waste for a few jobs and replace the default with your own number — it is one of the easiest measurable wins in estimating.
Should overhead be a percentage or a fixed amount per job?
Both work if you are consistent. Percentage-of-cost is simpler and self-scaling; a fixed per-day allocation is more accurate when your jobs vary wildly in size. What fails is having no overhead line at all and hoping the markup covers it.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Junk Removal & Haul-Off Cost Calculator (2026 Pricing). Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/junk-removal-cost-calculator
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/junk-removal-cost-calculator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Junk Removal & Haul-Off Cost Calculator (2026 Pricing) — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Junk Removal & Haul-Off Cost Calculator (2026 Pricing) — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/junk-removal-cost-calculator) (2026).