For installers
Christmas light installation price calculator
Enter a roofline, your crew costs and your target margin. Get the material cost per foot from real catalog prices, the full job cost, and the price per foot to quote.
How the job price is built
- Material units. Sockets = lit feet × 12 ÷ spacing. One bulb and one clip per socket, socket wire = lit feet × 1.05 + 3 ft. per run, one male and one female plug per run, plus timers.
- Material cost. Each unit is priced at the per-unit cost of the tier you choose: 500-bulb cases or 25-packs, 1,000 ft. spools by the foot, clip cases or packs, and plug cases or 50-packs. On the leased model, material cost is divided by the seasons the material lasts.
- Labor. Install crew-hours = lit feet ÷ pace. Each crew-hour costs crew size × wage × (1 + burden). Takedown and storage add the percentage you set, and travel and setup hours are added once per job.
- Price. Job cost = material + labor + overhead. Price = job cost ÷ (1 − margin), raised to your minimum if lower. Price per foot = price ÷ lit feet.
Material cost per foot at the snapshot date
With each item bought at its lowest unit cost (case or pack), the parts that scale with footage cost the following per lit foot. Plugs and timers are per run and per job, so they are not included here.
| Spacing | Bulbs | Socket wire | All in One clips | Per lit foot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 in. | $0.638 | $0.289 | $0.180 | $1.11 |
| 15 in. | $0.510 | $0.252 | $0.144 | $0.906 |
| 24 in. | $0.319 | $0.303 | $0.090 | $0.712 |
Price per foot is a result, not a guess
Quoting a flat rate per foot works when it comes from your costs. A crew that installs 60 ft. an hour and one that installs 100 ft. an hour have very different labor per foot, and a job with six short runs costs more per foot than one long eave because of plugs, lead wire and setup. Run a few past jobs through the calculator, compare with what you charged, and set your per-foot rate and minimum from the results.
LED wattage and circuit planning on the job
LED C9 bulbs draw roughly 0.5 to 1 watt each, against about 7 watts for incandescent C9s. At 1 watt per bulb, a 15 amp circuit at the 80% continuous-load limit carries 1,440 bulbs, so most residential rooflines run from one or two outlets. That keeps extension cord and SPT-1 lamp cord jumpers, and the labor to run them, to a minimum. Confirm the wattage printed on the bulbs you stock.
Frequently asked questions
How do I price Christmas light installation per foot?
Add your material cost for the job, your labor cost (install plus takedown and storage) and a share of overhead, then divide by (1 − target margin). Divide that job price by the lit feet to get your price per foot. The calculator does each step and shows the math.
What is the difference between margin and markup?
Margin is profit as a share of the price; markup is profit as a share of cost. A job that costs $1,000 and sells for $2,000 has a 50% margin and a 100% markup. Pricing to a margin keeps you from under-charging, because a 50% markup is only a 33% margin.
Should I charge customers for materials every year?
Two common models: the customer buys the lights with the first install (materials charged in full), or the company owns the lights and leases them season to season (materials spread over the seasons you expect them to last). Pick the model in the calculator and it spreads the cost accordingly.
How should I set install pace?
Time a few of your own jobs: lit feet divided by crew-hours on site. Pace varies with roof height, pitch, gutter type and crew experience, so use your own records. The default is only a starting point.
Why is material cost per foot calculated per unit?
An installer buys spools, cases and packs for the season and draws from stock job by job. Charging each job for the units it uses (sockets, bulbs, clips, feet of wire) gives a consistent cost per foot. Use the packs vs cases page to see how the buying tier changes that cost.