How to estimate residential electrical work comes down to four steps and one method. Count every device as an assembly, the box, the device, the cover, the wire and the labor unit. Measure the runs by the foot and count the panel and the breakers. Price the permit, the inspection and any subcontracted trench. Then apply the loaded labor rate, the overhead share and the markup, and print the lines. The free template on this site does the last step from the material total and the hours; The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, cited below, puts the median annual wage for cost estimators at $78,740 in May 2025, and an electrician who follows the method prices like one.
Count the devices as assemblies
Walk the plan room by room and count receptacles, switches, fixtures and specials, each carrying its assembly; the count gives the material and the hours together. The free estimate template on this site prints the lines and the margin from your own takeoff and markup, and Markupbird Pro keeps the estimate against the customer and the job with the win or loss recorded against the markup.
Measure the runs and price the panel
Home runs by the foot from the panel, the panel and breakers at the supplier's price, the service if it changes; the permit and inspection as their own line. The free estimate template on this site prints the lines and the margin from your own takeoff and markup, and Markupbird Pro keeps the estimate against the customer and the job with the win or loss recorded against the markup.
Apply the rate, the overhead and the markup
Labor at the loaded rate, overhead on the direct cost, markup on the cost with overhead, and the margin the total carries; the template prints the lines, and Pro keeps the estimate with the win or loss against the markup.
Questions people ask about how to estimate residential electrical work
How long does it take to estimate a house rewire?
As long as the count takes; with assemblies and a rate table the pricing is minutes, which is why the template on this site takes the totals rather than the count.
What markup should the estimate carry?
Whatever covers the overhead share and leaves the profit the company needs, chosen with the margin in front of you; the template prints the margin the total carries at any markup you try.
What is different about estimating electrical work in a finished house?
The hours for fishing cable, opening and patching, and protecting the house, which come from the company's own record on similar houses and are most of the difference from new construction.