Fence Cost Calculator
Estimate a fence budget from your installed price per foot, the cost of any gates, and a contingency buffer for the surprises every yard hides. No built-in price list — you enter the numbers from your quote.
Calculator
At $25.00/ft installed over 100 ft plus gates, a fence runs about $2,940.00 on your numbers. Material, height and terrain move the per-foot price a lot — get itemized written quotes.
Fence pricing is almost always quoted per installed foot, so a budget is just that rate times your run, plus the gates, plus a cushion. This tool keeps those parts separate so you can see exactly where the money goes and swap in the numbers from a real bid.
Because the per-foot price comes from you, the estimate stays honest whatever the material or the market: a chain-link run and a cedar privacy fence use the same formula, just a different rate. Enter what your contractor quotes (or your material total divided by the footage for a DIY job) and read off the all-in number.
Formula
The estimate is the fence run at your rate, plus gates, grown by the contingency:
total = (length_ft × price_per_ft + gates_cost) × (1 + contingency%)
The contingency covers the things a flat per-foot rate misses: rocky or sloped ground, old fence removal, permit fees, and stepping the fence down a hill. Five percent suits a clean, flat, straightforward job; step it up for tricky access or an older yard.
Worked example
A 100 ft fence quoted at $25/ft installed, with $300 of gates and a 5% contingency:
- Fence run: 100 × $25 = $2,500
- Plus gates: $2,500 + $300 = $2,800 subtotal
- Plus 5% contingency: $2,800 × 1.05 = $2,940
That $2,940 is a planning number on your figures, not a bid. Material, height and terrain move the per-foot rate a lot, so gather a couple of itemized quotes before you commit.
What moves the price
Material and height. Chain-link and pressure-treated pine sit at the low end of the per-foot range; cedar, vinyl and ornamental aluminum sit higher, and every extra foot of height adds material and labor. A taller privacy fence also needs the third rail and deeper posts, which the per-foot rate should already reflect.
Terrain and removal. Rocky soil, tree roots, a steep slope that has to be stepped, and tearing out an old fence all add cost that a clean per-foot quote assumes away — that is exactly what the contingency is for. If your quote already itemizes removal and grading, you can drop the buffer back toward 5%.
Gates. Gates cost more per foot than plain fence because of the frame, hinges, latch and posts, so they get their own line here. A simple walk gate and a wide drive gate are very different numbers — total them up before you enter the figure.
Size the actual lumber first with the fence material calculator, and use the post-hole concrete calculator to price the bagged concrete — then feed those material totals back in here as a DIY per-foot rate.