Price Per Linear Foot Calculator

Buying materials by length — lumber, piping, cable, fencing, fabric — gets confusing fast when two suppliers package things differently. One sells 10-foot boards, the other sells 16-foot boards, and the prices don't line up in any obvious way. This calculator cuts through that confusion by showing you the exact cost per foot, meter, or yard for two options side by side, then telling you which one is the better deal and how much you'd save.

Whether you're a contractor comparing vendor quotes, a homeowner pricing out a deck build, or a sewist choosing between two fabric shops, you'll get a clear answer in seconds. Just plug in the length and total cost for each option, pick your unit, and let the math do the talking.

Price per linear foot is how much you're paying for each foot of a material. It's the simplest way to compare two products that come in different sizes or quantities — and it catches pricing differences that aren't obvious at a glance.

Take a quick example: you're at the hardware store looking at two rolls of wire. Both cost $12. One gives you 10 feet. The other gives you 20 feet. Same price, but the first roll costs $1.20 per foot while the second is only $0.60 per foot. That's double the value for the same money, and you'd miss it entirely if you just looked at the price tag.

This comes up constantly with materials sold by length:

• Lumber — boards, planks, trim, and molding are all priced per piece but vary in length
• Piping — PVC, copper, PEX, and electrical conduit come in different stick lengths
• Fencing — panels, rails, and wire rolls vary widely by supplier
• Fabric — bolts and cuts sold by the yard or meter, often at different rates per shop
• Cable and wire — electrical, ethernet, and coaxial sold in spools of varying sizes
• Rope, chain, and hose — hardware stores cut these to order, but pre-packaged options vary

Any time you're choosing between two options and they aren't the same length, price per linear foot is how you make a fair comparison.

The formula is as simple as it gets:

Price Per Linear Foot = Total Cost ÷ Total Length

Say you're buying PVC pipe and one supplier offers 50 feet for $37.50:

$37.50 ÷ 50 ft = $0.75 per foot

A competing supplier has 75 feet of the same pipe for $48.75:

$48.75 ÷ 75 ft = $0.65 per foot

That $0.10 difference per foot might not sound like much, but on a project needing 200 feet of pipe, you'd save $20 just by knowing which supplier to call first.

Sometimes one supplier quotes in feet and another in meters — especially if you're sourcing internationally or dealing with specialty materials. These conversions help:

Or skip the math entirely — the unit dropdown in the calculator handles the conversion for you. Select feet for one option and meters for the other, and the comparison still works.

1. Enter Option A details. Type in the material length and select your unit (feet, meters, yards, or inches). Then enter the total cost. You'll see the price per linear foot calculated instantly.
2. Enter Option B details. Do the same for the second product or quote. The units don't need to match — if Option A is in feet and Option B is in meters, the calculator still compares them accurately.
3. Read the comparison. Scroll down to "Which one is cheaper?" for a clear verdict. You'll see which option wins and exactly how much you save per linear foot.

One thing worth doing: if your quotes include delivery charges, add those into the total cost. A $5-per-foot material with free delivery might beat a $4.50-per-foot material that charges $80 for shipping, depending on how much you're ordering. The calculator gives you the most useful answer when the total cost reflects everything you'll actually pay.

You need pressure-treated 2x6 boards for a deck frame. Two local suppliers carry the same grade:

• Supplier A: 12-foot boards at $8.40 each
• Supplier B: 16-foot boards at $12.80 each

Plugging these in:

• Option A: 12 ft, $8.40 → $0.70 per foot
• Option B: 16 ft, $12.80 → $0.80 per foot

Supplier A wins by $0.10 per foot. Your deck needs about 200 linear feet of framing lumber, so that's $20 back in your pocket. Not life-changing, but over a full materials list with joists, decking boards, and railing, those per-foot differences stack up.

A quilter needs cotton broadcloth and two local shops carry similar quality:

• Shop A: 5 yards for $42.50
• Shop B: 3 yards for $22.50

At first glance, Shop B looks cheaper — lower total price. But the per-yard breakdown tells the real story:

• Shop A: $8.50 per yard
• Shop B: $7.50 per yard

Shop B is genuinely cheaper per yard, not just a smaller cut. For a queen-size quilt needing 12 yards of backing fabric, that $1.00 per yard difference saves $12.

An electrician is buying 14/2 Romex for a kitchen rewire and finds two options at the supply house:

• 250-foot spool: $89.00
• 100-foot roll: $38.50
• Spool: 250 ft at $89 → $0.356 per foot
• Roll: 100 ft at $38.50 → $0.385 per foot

The spool saves about 3 cents per foot. That sounds tiny, but this renovation needs 500+ feet of cable across multiple circuits. The savings work out to roughly $14.50, and the electrician avoids making a second trip to the supply house for more. Bulk wins here — as long as the leftover cable gets used on the next job.

A rancher gets barbed wire quotes from two distributors. One quotes in metric, the other in imperial:

• Distributor A: 100 meters for $45.00
• Distributor B: 400 feet for $50.00

This looks impossible to compare without a conversion, but 400 feet works out to 121.92 meters. So:

• Distributor A: $0.45 per meter
• Distributor B: $50 ÷ 121.92 = $0.41 per meter

Distributor B is cheaper per meter even though it looks more expensive at first glance. The calculator handles this automatically — just select meters for one and feet for the other.

You don't need to calculate price per foot on every trip to the hardware store. But in these situations, it can genuinely change your decision:

Bulk vs. small quantity. A 500-foot spool usually costs less per foot than a 50-foot roll — but not always. Retailers sometimes run sales on smaller packages, or the bulk option includes a brand premium. Don't assume bigger is automatically better. Run the numbers.

Different suppliers, different packaging. One plumbing supply house sells copper pipe in 10-foot sticks. Another sells 20-foot lengths. A third offers 5-foot sections for small repairs. Without breaking it down to a per-foot rate, comparing these quotes is guesswork.

International or mixed-unit sourcing. If you're getting a quote in meters from one vendor and feet from another, your brain can't eyeball which is better. You need a common unit. This is especially common with specialty materials, imported goods, or industrial supply catalogs.

Project budgeting. Once you know the cost per foot, estimating your total material spend is straightforward — multiply by the footage you need. That's far more reliable than guessing based on how many packages or bundles you'll buy.

Account for waste before you compare. If your project calls for 8-foot pieces and the only option is 10-foot boards, you'll lose 2 feet per board to cuts. A marginally more expensive 8-foot option with zero waste might actually cost less in the end.

Don't chase the cheapest number blindly. A lower price per foot doesn't help if the material fails early. Thinner-gauge wire, lower-grade lumber, or bargain-bin fabric can cost more in replacements, rework, or callbacks. Treat the per-unit comparison as one input, not the final answer.

Include every cost in your total. Delivery fees, cutting charges, and minimum order surcharges are all real costs that change your effective per-foot price. If one supplier charges $50 for delivery and the other offers free pickup, that shifts the comparison — sometimes dramatically. Fold those extras into the total cost field for an honest result.

Match specifications, not just prices. Comparing the per-foot cost of premium cedar against standard pine is misleading — they're different products for different purposes. Make sure you're pricing the same grade, gauge, thickness, and finish. The calculator compares costs, but you need to compare quality yourself.

Ask about price breaks. Many suppliers offer better rates once you hit a quantity threshold — 500 feet vs. 100 feet, or a full pallet vs. individual pieces. If you're close to a break point, buying slightly more material might drop your per-foot cost enough to offset the extra spend.