How this calculator works
The calculator adds the four dollar lines you type, then applies the contingency percentage on top:
subtotal = panel + permit + trench + extra
total = subtotal × (1 + contingency)On the tested example, panel $4,500 + permit $250 + trench $0 + extra $0, at 10% contingency, is a $4,750 subtotal and a $5,225 total. There is no location multiplier, no "average panel upgrade" baked in, and no SKU. If every line is $0 the engine asks you to enter at least one line from a bid rather than inventing one.
That is the same refusal as the homepage cost section: labour rates, adopted code, permit fees and the state of the existing wiring move the invoice too far for a national figure to help anyone. Type the quote you actually have.
A diagnostic or call-out charge on repair work is a real line too. If the bid credits it against the job when you proceed, it is already inside the panel or extra number. If it does not, put it on extra so the total still describes the invoice you will see if you stop after the visit. This form will not invent that charge.
What each input means
| Input | What it is actually asking |
|---|---|
| Panel / service | The load centre, panel replacement, or service-equipment line on a written estimate. 0 is the honest default until someone who has seen the panel prices it. |
| Permit | Building-department fee and inspection, if itemised. Set locally. $0 means untyped, not exempt. |
| Trench / run | Work that leaves the building: trench, conduit, restoration, a feeder to a detached structure. Does not scale smoothly with "a panel job." |
| Extra circuits | Everything else on the bid that is not the panel or the trench. Lighting, EVSE, appliance circuits, a subpanel, making-good. |
| Contingency | A percentage you hold. Ten percent is a placeholder. Unknown walls and unknown utility dates want more. |
Worked examples
Including one where the naive answer misleads, which is the example most calculators leave out.
A panel line with a real permit figure
Panel $4,500, permit $250, trench $0, extra $0, 10% contingency. Subtotal $4,750. Total $5,225. That is the default arithmetic this engine is tested against. Replace $4,500 with the number on your proposal and the permit with the fee your department actually charges. The addition is the same.
The same panel plus a detached-garage feeder
Keep the $4,500 panel and $250 permit, add $3,200 trench and restoration because the garage is detached, and $1,800 for the garage subpanel and two circuits, still at 10%. Subtotal $9,750. Total $10,725. The panel did not double. The run did the doubling. Leaving trench at $0 because "it is just electrical" is how a garage quote blows up after the bid is signed.
The one where a national average misleads
A roundup that says "panel upgrades cost $X in America," typed into the panel box as if it were a bid. Two houses on the same street can differ by a utility replacement, a full interior, aluminium branch wiring, or a trench. Applying one national figure to both hides that they fail for different reasons. Type the lines from a written estimate. If you do not have one, leave the panel line at $0. A $0 line is more honest than a fake average.
What changes the result
The panel line moves the total linearly. Trench often does not scale with that line at all. Doubling a panel price does not double a 40-foot bore under a driveway. That is why trench is separate.
Contingency is a multiplier on everything you have already typed. Ten percent of a subtotal that omitted the utility contribution is not 10% of the project. Put the missing line in, then hold contingency on top.
Spaces and amps change which lines exist. A full panel (see the space checker) turns "add a circuit" into a subpanel or a service line. A load calculation that overshoots (see the load calculator) turns a circuit bid into a service conversation. This tool will not notice either unless you type the resulting dollars.
Local considerations
Permit fees, inspection, whether the electrician pulls the permit, and whether the utility has a separate charge for a service change are local. Labour rates are local. The adopted NEC edition is local. None of those belongs on this form as a state dropdown that changes the price, because a state labour index without a sourced series would be a fake localiser. Your bid and your building department are the local data.
When not to use this
Do not use this as a quote, a loan figure, or proof the project is affordable. It cannot see the bus, the wiring type, a wall that hides a run, or a utility appointment three months out.
Do not use a panel price you found in a blog roundup of "average electrical panel cost." If you cannot name who priced it, on what panel, in which city, leave the line at 0.
Do not use it to decide whether the work is safe to skip. A burning smell, heat at a device, or a breaker that will not hold is the safety check, and that tool will not tell you that you are probably fine.
HyreElectrical does not perform electrical work. Matching is still being built. The enquiry form is not a dispatch line.
Related on this site
- How electrical cost is structured on the homepage The eight drivers this tool turns into lines.
- Panels and capacity Why two quotes for the "same" job differ.
- Choosing an electrician Itemised estimates, permit responsibility, change-order rule.
- Find electrical help An enquiry, not a booking.
Questions this calculator answers
- How much does a panel upgrade cost?
- Whatever the written bid says for your panel, your service, your run and your local permit. We do not publish a national average because labour rates, adopted code editions, whether the utility has to be involved, and the state of the existing wiring move the number too far for a roundup to help. Type the bid. If you do not have one yet, leave the lines at $0 rather than filling them with a blog figure.
- Why will you not give me an average?
- Because an average pretends a 100 A to 200 A change in an unfinished garage is the same job as a service upgrade through a finished wall with a utility wait. The homepage already says there is no honest universal price. Shipping one here would contradict that sentence with a fake number.
- What belongs on the panel line?
- The load centre or panel replacement, the main breaker if it is part of that price, and the labour attached to that equipment on the bid. If the bid splits "panel" and "service / meter / utility," put the service piece on extra or say so in the extra line. Do not average two bids into one box.
- What belongs on the permit line?
- The building-department fee, and inspection if it is itemised. It is set locally. Ask the electrician who pulls it, or the department that collects it. $0 on this line does not mean the work is exempt. It means you have not typed the fee yet.
- When does trench show up?
- When the run leaves the building: a detached garage, a pedestal, a standby generator pad, a well. Trenching, conduit, restoration of the yard and any boring under a drive are often the surprise, which is why they are their own line rather than buried in "electrical."
- What is the extra line for?
- Circuits that are not the panel: lighting, a range, a dryer, an EVSE, a subpanel, making-good of drywall. If the bid itemises them, type the sum. If it does not, ask for an itemised estimate rather than guessing.
- Should I hold contingency inside the contract?
- Hold it yourself unless you like funding optimism that is not yours. Ten percent is a planning placeholder on this form, not a rule. Opening a wall, a full panel that needs a subpanel, or a utility that will not schedule this quarter are the usual reasons it gets used.
- Is this a quote?
- No. It cannot see the bus, the existing wiring, the length of the run, or the utility calendar. Minus something to plus a lot, lopsided because unseen conditions add money. Use it to tell whether a bid has priced the same lines you have.
- Does a full panel change the price?
- Often. A job that needs a spare space in a full panel becomes a subpanel job, or a service upgrade. Count spaces on the panel space checker before you treat a "replace two breakers" number as the whole invoice.
- What if two bids are far apart?
- Usually they are not pricing the same lines. One included a subpanel, trench or permit; the other did not. Put each bid through this form as its own set of lines. The total will tell you whether the gap is a missing trench or a different panel scope. Asking both to itemise against the same four boxes is the useful next email, not averaging them.
- Who should pull the permit?
- The electrician, in almost every case that needs one. A professional should be able to tell you immediately whether the jurisdiction permits this work and who pulls it. Vagueness here is a warning sign. Type the fee they name. $0 on this line still does not mean the job is exempt.
- Does HyreElectrical do this work?
- No. HyreElectrical does not perform, supervise or warrant electrical work, and matching is still being built. The enquiry form is not a booking.
Sources and methodology
Figures dated 26 August 2026. Last reviewed .
- NFPA 70, National Electrical Code (National Fire Protection Association, retrieved 2026-08-26. Cited as the model code the permitted work is inspected against. Not a price list.)
- Hiring a contractor (Federal Trade Commission, retrieved 2026-08-26. Get itemised estimates in writing. Allowances are placeholders. This tool is the itemisation, not the contract.)
- Adopted state and local electrical codes (International Code Council, retrieved 2026-08-26. Permit fees and the adopted edition are local. This page does not price either.)
Related
- Panel space checker A full panel is the usual reason a small bid becomes a large one.
- Electrical load calculator Amps and dollars fail independently. Run both.
- Electrification readiness Heat pump, dryer and EVSE against spare you typed, before you budget the work.
- EV charger circuit Circuit class and run flag, still not a price.
- Generator sizing Watts first. Transfer-equipment dollars belong on this form, from a bid.
- Lighting circuit planner How many lighting circuits, not what they cost until someone bids them.