Tile is sold by the box, priced by the square foot, and installed with a waste factor that depends on your layout pattern. This calculator handles all three so you order the right number of boxes the first time.
Tiling a floor and want to compare against plank flooring? See the Flooring Linear Feet calculator.
About pricing on this page
This calculator is intentionally price-light. Absolute dollar figures for tile, labor, and accessories are deliberately omitted because they vary too widely by region, brand, and installer to be useful as planning estimates. The relative-comparison tables below show how one tile type or complexity level stacks up against another — which is the durable, actionable information. For a real budget, get two or three written quotes from local installers after they have seen the job.
Tile Quantity Calculator
Enter your surface dimensions, layout pattern, and box coverage. Results include waste allowance and cost.
The Tile Quantity Formula
Boxes = (Area sq ft × (1 + Waste %)) ÷ Sq Ft per Box, rounded up to the next whole box.
Two details matter. First, always round boxes up — a partial box does not exist, and returning an unopened box is far easier than sourcing one more later. Second, buy from a single dye lot. Tile is fired in batches and shade varies measurably between lots, so a box bought three weeks later may not match.
Worked example: A 12 × 14 ft kitchen floor in 12×24 in tile, straight layout. 12 × 14 = 168 sq ft. Add 10% waste: 168 × 1.10 = 184.8 sq ft. At 15.5 sq ft per box: 184.8 ÷ 15.5 = 11.9 → 12 boxes (186 sq ft). At $4/sq ft that is $744 in tile, plus $1,680 labor at $10/sq ft = $2,424 installed.
Tile Size, Box Coverage and Pieces per Box
Box coverage varies by manufacturer. Use these as planning figures and confirm against the actual carton label before ordering.
| Tile Size | Sq Ft per Tile | Pieces per Box | Sq Ft per Box | Boxes per 100 Sq Ft | Common Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 × 6 in (subway) | 0.125 | 80–100 | 10.0–12.5 | 9–10 | Backsplash, shower walls |
| 4 × 4 in | 0.111 | 90–100 | 10.0–11.1 | 9–10 | Bathroom walls, accents |
| 6 × 6 in | 0.25 | 44 | 11.0 | 10 | Utility floors, walls |
| 12 × 12 in | 1.0 | 15–16 | 15.0–16.0 | 7 | Standard floor tile |
| 12 × 24 in | 2.0 | 8 | 15.5–16.0 | 7 | Modern floors, showers |
| 18 × 18 in | 2.25 | 7 | 15.75 | 7 | Large floors |
| 24 × 24 in | 4.0 | 4 | 15.5–16.0 | 7 | Open-plan floors |
| Mosaic sheet (12×12) | 1.0 | 10–11 | 10.0–11.0 | 10 | Shower floors, accents |
Waste Allowance by Layout Pattern
The waste factor is not padding — it is the material consumed by cuts that produce unusable offcuts. Diagonal and herringbone layouts cut every perimeter tile at an angle, which roughly doubles waste against a straight grid.
| Pattern | Waste % | Labor Premium | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight / grid | 10% | Baseline | Straight cuts only, offcuts reusable |
| Offset / running bond | 15% | +10% | Half tiles at alternating row ends |
| Diagonal / 45° | 20% | +25% | Every edge tile cut at an angle |
| Herringbone | 20% | +40% | Angled cuts, slow layout |
| Versailles / French | 15% | +35% | Mixed sizes, complex planning |
| Large format 24 in+ | 15% | +30% | One bad cut wastes 4 sq ft |
Tile Cost — Material and Installed
| Tile Type | Material Share | Labor Share | Relative Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic ceramic | ~15% | ~85% | Baseline (1.0x) | Budget floors, rentals |
| Porcelain | ~30% | ~70% | 1.2–1.5x baseline | Most popular, durable |
| Wood-look plank | ~40% | ~60% | 1.5–1.7x baseline | Long planks need leveling |
| Natural stone | ~50% | ~50% | 2–3x baseline | Requires sealing |
| Glass mosaic | ~55% | ~45% | 3–4x baseline | Backsplash accents |
| Shower walls (any tile) | ~25% | ~75% | 1.5–2x baseline floor | Waterproofing adds cost |
Substrate preparation is a separate but adjacent cost. Adding cement board, a waterproofing membrane in a shower, or tearing out existing tile are typically priced as add-on line items, and the labour share of each is higher than the tile installation itself because the work is hard to access and slow to complete.
Materials You Also Need to Order
Tile is the headline number, but these consumables are routinely forgotten and cause mid-job trips to the store.
| Material | Coverage per Bag/Box | Quantity per 100 Sq Ft | Pricing Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thinset mortar (50 lb) | coverage per bag/box | quantity per 100 sf | Sold by bag |
| Grout (25 lb) | coverage per bag/box | quantity per 100 sf | Sold by bag |
| Cement board (3×5 ft) | coverage per bag/box | quantity per 100 sf | Sold by sheet |
| Tile spacers | coverage per bag/box | quantity per 100 sf | Sold by bag |
| Grout sealer | coverage per bag/box | quantity per 100 sf | Sold by bottle |
| Bullnose / edge trim | coverage per bag/box | quantity per 100 sf | Sold by linear foot |
Edge trim and bullnose are sold by the linear foot, not the square foot. Measure every exposed tile edge — the top of a backsplash, the outside corner of a shower curb, the transition at a doorway.
Buying Exactly the Square Footage Needed
Ordering 168 sq ft of tile for a 168 sq ft floor guarantees a shortfall. Cuts at the perimeter produce offcuts that are too small to use, and a few tiles will break during handling or cutting. Beyond that, you want two or three spare tiles stored in the basement — when a tile cracks in five years, a matching replacement is otherwise impossible to find.
Mixing Dye Lots
Tile shade varies between production runs, and the variation is often invisible in the store but obvious across a finished floor in daylight. Every box carries a dye lot or batch number. Buy all your tile in one order from one lot, and check the lot numbers match when the delivery arrives rather than after installation has started.
Forgetting the Third Dimension in a Shower
People calculate a shower as if it were a floor, using only the footprint. A 3 × 5 ft shower has 15 sq ft of floor but roughly 104 sq ft of wall at 8 ft high. Missing the walls understates the order by a factor of seven. Calculate each wall as width × height separately, then add the floor and any niche or bench surfaces.
Using Floor Waste Factors for Patterned Layouts
A 10% allowance is right for a straight grid but leaves you short on a diagonal or herringbone layout, where every tile along the perimeter is cut at an angle and the offcut is unusable. Those patterns need 20%. On a 200 sq ft floor that is the difference between 220 and 240 sq ft — roughly one and a half boxes, which is exactly the gap that forces a second order from a different dye lot.
About these price ranges
Pricing varies widely by region, season, project size, and site conditions. Treat every figure on this page as a planning estimate for budgeting only — not as a quote. Coastal metro markets commonly run 20–40% above national ranges while rural inland markets can fall 10–20% below. Always collect at least three written quotes from local contractors before committing to a budget.
Unsourced estimates: Tile material prices, labor rates per square foot, and all accessory pricing. The relative-comparison tables below are sourced from the general installed-cost methodology described in industry references, not from a specific published price index. These are informed planning figures rather than data drawn from a published price index, and they carry a correspondingly wider margin of error.