pricetheworkEstimating on public data

Mulch calculator

How many cubic yards a bed needs, and what the mulch, the delivery and the spreading cost.

Wages follow the area. Material and haulage do not.
ft
ft
in
Three inches is the usual bed depth. Two for a top-up over existing mulch.
%
Settling, spillage and uneven ground. Ten percent is a common allowance.

Breakdown

U.S.
ItemQuantityUnitCost
Mulcharea x depth / 27, plus waste allowanceseed $38.00 at 2026-07 · WPUSI012011 374.039 to 374.039 (2026-07)10.19 cu yd$38.00$387.04
Delivery15 cu yd per truck, rounded upstarting figure, replace with your hauling cost1 load$85.00$85.00
Spreading labour2.5 cu yd per worker-hourOEWS 2025-05 · 37-3011 · incl. payroll burden4.07 hr$26.43$107.67
Direct cost$579.71

What to charge

your markup, your overhead
%
%
%
$
%
Direct cost$579.71
Price to the client$707.55
Gross marginmarkup 22.1% on cost is a margin of 18.1% on price18.1%
Overhead at 15.0% of revenuea property of the business, not of this job: annual overhead over annual revenue-$106.13
Net margin3.1%
What is left after this job carries its share of the business$21.71

Keep it

saved against today’s figures

The markups above are starting values, not advice. Profit is not asked for separately on purpose: a markup already carries your profit intent, and adding a profit percentage on top of it counts the same money twice. Overhead is taken out of revenue rather than added to the price, so the gap between gross and net is the part most estimates never show.

Labour comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release for the selected state, multiplied by 30% to cover payroll taxes, insurance and workers’ compensation, because the published figure is a wage and not what an hour costs an employer. Material starts from a figure of ours and is carried forward by the BLS producer price index. Both are starting points. Your own costs will differ, and the numbers you enter are the ones worth keeping.

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