OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Rent Per Square Foot Calculator
Commercial Rent Per Square Foot and Per Square Metre, Cost Per Employee
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How the Rent Per Square Foot Calculator works
This rent per square foot calculator compares spaces on one basis. Enter the rent, whether it is quoted monthly or annually, and the floor area in square feet or square metres. The calculator normalises everything to annual and monthly cost per square foot and per square metre, and optionally per person.
Rent per square foot calculator: monthly and annual quotes
Commercial space is quoted inconsistently — annually per square foot in the UK and US, monthly per square metre across much of Europe, sometimes as a lump sum with no area stated at all. Normalising to a single unit is the only way two units can actually be compared.
Convert everything before comparing. One square metre is 10.7639 square feet. A unit at £28 per square foot per year and one at €25 per square metre per month are not remotely close, and without conversion the second looks cheaper than it is. Establish annual cost per square foot for every option first, then argue about the buildings.
Ask which square feet are being charged. Landlords quote gross, net internal, and net usable areas, and the differences are large. Gross area can include shared lobbies, plant rooms and circulation space via a load factor — commonly 10% to 20% in the US — meaning you pay for a bigger number than you can occupy. A cheaper rate on a gross basis frequently costs more per usable square foot than a higher rate quoted net. Ask what basis the figure uses and get it in writing.
Rent is rarely the whole cost. Service charges, business rates or property taxes, buildings insurance, utilities, and a dilapidations liability at the end of the term can add 30% to 50% on top of headline rent. In the US the equivalent distinction is gross versus triple-net: a "cheap" NNN rate excludes taxes, insurance and maintenance that the tenant then pays separately. Compare total occupancy cost per square foot, not rent per square foot.
Cost per person is the number that matters for an office. Typical modern office allocations run from roughly 70 to 150 square feet per person depending on layout and hybrid working patterns. Dividing total occupancy cost by headcount produces the figure that can be compared against payroll, tested against a hybrid schedule, and defended in a budget. Space per head also flags the space that is generously sized today and constraining in eighteen months.
Read the term, not just the rate. A rent-free period, a break clause, a service-charge cap and the rent review mechanism change the effective cost far more than a pound per square foot. Two years rent-free on a ten-year term is a 20% discount that never appears in the quoted rate, and an upward-only review clause is a cost that appears later. Amortise the incentives across the committed term to get the number to compare.
Rent per square foot table by monthly rent
A 2,400 square foot space shared by 18 people, with only the monthly rent changing.
Annual cost per square foot and per square metre for 2,400 sq ft
| Monthly rent | Annual rent | Per sq ft a year | Per sq m a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $12,000.00 | $5.00 | $53.82 |
| $1,500 | $18,000.00 | $7.50 | $80.73 |
| $2,000 | $24,000.00 | $10.00 | $107.64 |
| $2,500 | $30,000.00 | $12.50 | $134.55 |
| $3,000 | $36,000.00 | $15.00 | $161.46 |
| $3,500 | $42,000.00 | $17.50 | $188.37 |
| $4,000 | $48,000.00 | $20.00 | $215.28 |
| $4,500 | $54,000.00 | $22.50 | $242.19 |
| $5,000 | $60,000.00 | $25.00 | $269.10 |
| $5,500 | $66,000.00 | $27.50 | $296.01 |
| $6,000 | $72,000.00 | $30.00 | $322.92 |
| $6,500 | $78,000.00 | $32.50 | $349.83 |
| $7,000 | $84,000.00 | $35.00 | $376.74 |
| $7,500 | $90,000.00 | $37.50 | $403.65 |
| $8,000 | $96,000.00 | $40.00 | $430.56 |
| $8,500 | $102,000.00 | $42.50 | $457.47 |
| $9,000 | $108,000.00 | $45.00 | $484.38 |
| $9,500 | $114,000.00 | $47.50 | $511.29 |
| $10,000 | $120,000.00 | $50.00 | $538.20 |
| $10,500 | $126,000.00 | $52.50 | $565.11 |
| $11,000 | $132,000.00 | $55.00 | $592.02 |
| $11,500 | $138,000.00 | $57.50 | $618.92 |
| $12,000 | $144,000.00 | $60.00 | $645.83 |
| $12,500 | $150,000.00 | $62.50 | $672.74 |
Rent per square foot formula and worked examples
The formula: annual rent per sq ft = annual rent ÷ area in square feet, and monthly rent per sq ft = that figure ÷ 12. One square metre is 10.7639 sq ft, so the per-square-metre rate is the per-square-foot rate × 10.7639.
First example. an office of 2,500 sq ft at £5,000 a month is £60,000 a year, or £24.00 per sq ft per year and £2.00 per sq ft per month. Per square metre that is £258.33 a year.
Second example. a 300 m² unit at £36,000 a year is £120 per m² — 3,229 sq ft, or £11.15 per sq ft. With 25 staff it costs £1,440 per person per year.
How many square feet per person? Open-plan offices commonly plan on 80–120 sq ft per person; divide the area by headcount and compare.
FAQ
How do I calculate rent per square foot?
Divide the annual rent by the floor area in square feet. If the rent is quoted monthly, multiply by twelve first. Comparing a monthly figure with an annual one is the most common error in commercial rent comparisons.
How many square feet are in a square metre?
10.7639 square feet. To convert a rate per square metre into a rate per square foot, divide by 10.7639; to go the other way, multiply. Getting this backwards inflates or deflates the comparison by roughly ten times.
What is a load factor?
The uplift applied to your usable area to include a share of shared spaces such as lobbies, corridors and plant rooms. It typically adds 10% to 20%, so rentable square feet can exceed the space you can actually occupy.
What should I budget beyond the rent?
Service charges, business rates or property taxes, insurance, utilities, fit-out and any dilapidations obligation at lease end. Together these commonly add 30% to 50% to the headline rent, so always compare total occupancy cost per square foot.
See also: all Profit & Growth tools, Rates & Pricing, Invoicing & Payments.
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