Cost to install a tile floor, itemized

A 12 × 10 ft floor in 12 × 24 in porcelain takes $432 in tile, thinset and grout at today’s store prices, and each day one tile setter works adds about $505 to the price, overhead and profit included (U.S. median wage). Type your floor, your city and the installer’s time for the whole job, or a quote to see how many hours of work it pays for.

Your tile floor at today’s prices

Each figure says where it comes from: the tile, thinset and grout at stores’ posted prices, the installer’s time at what a tile setter costs an employer where you live, and the share of the price tile contractors spend on overhead and keep as profit. The time and the overhead share are yours to change.

Filled in as an example: a 12 × 10 ft floor (120 sq ft) in a 12 × 24 in porcelain tile from Floor & Decor, installer’s time not yet typed. Type over any of it with your own floor, tile and installer’s figures.

Floor area (sq ft)Length × width of the floor to tile. The tile calculator adds rooms and L shapes and shows where the cuts fall. Where you liveSets the tile setter’s wage. BLS publishes none for the Houston or Atlanta areas, so they take the U.S. figure. Who buys the tile Installer’s time (worker-hours)Ask how many people for how many days: two people for two 8-hour days is 32 worker-hours. Leave it empty and the estimate shows what each day adds. A quote’s total ($), if you have one

Your tile, and the installer’s overhead share

Tile price ($ a box)The example: Montalcino Fairbanks II Gray matte porcelain floor and wall tile, 12 × 24 in, Floor & Decor. One box covers (sq ft)On the box or the store’s page: the example’s 7 tiles cover 13.79 sq ft. Tile sizePicks the trowel and the thinset: tiles with a side over 15 in take CUSTOM’s large-format mortar. Grout joint Tile thickness (mm)Grout fills each joint to the tile’s full depth. Extra for cuts and breakage (%) Overhead and profit (% of the price)Tile and terrazzo contractors’ average in 2022, from the Census Bureau.

This floor’s tile, thinset and grout at today’s prices: $432. Each day one tile setter works adds about $505.

Your floor: 120 sq ft of 12 × 24 in tile
Part	Cost	Where the figure comes from
Tile: 10 boxes	$316	Montalcino Fairbanks II Gray matte porcelain floor and wall tile, 12 × 24 in at $31.57 a box of 7 (13.79 sq ft), Floor & Decor in Hilliard, OH, Oct 28, 2026; 10% extra for cuts and breakage, in whole boxes.
Thinset: 3 bags of 50 lb	$91	CUSTOM VersaBond-LFT large-format tile mortar, Gray, 50 lb at $30.26 a bag, Mill Supply Co. in Baltimore, MD, Oct 12, 2026. CUSTOM’s chart: 42 sq ft a bag with a 3/4 × 9/16 in U-notch at 30° trowel, the size for a tile 24 in long
Grout: 1 bag of 25 lb	$25	CUSTOM Polyblend Plus sanded grout, Delorean Gray, 25 lb at $25.26 a bag, Shell Lumber and Hardware in Miami, FL, Oct 26, 2026. About 549 sq ft a bag for 12 × 24 in tile 8 mm thick with 1/8 in joints (CUSTOM’s chart, worked for this size)
Labor	Not added	Type the installer’s time above. Each worker-day adds about $505 to the installer’s price, overhead and profit included.
Materials at today’s prices	$432	$3.60 a sq ft of floor. Not yet the job’s price: the labor and the installer’s overhead and profit come in when you type the installer’s time. Not counted: removing the old floor and hauling it away, leveling, backer board or a membrane under the tile, edge trim and transitions, sealant at the walls, sales tax and delivery.

What an hour costs: no tile maker or public body publishes how long a floor takes to tile, so the estimate counts the time you type and no other. Tile and stone setters in the U.S. earn a median $26.77 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Benefits make up 30.5% of what construction employers spend an hour on pay and benefits (all trades, BLS, June 2026), so an hour of a tile setter at that wage costs an employer about $39, and an 8-hour day about $308.

Got a quote? Type its total above: the estimate shows how many hours of work it pays for.

What moves the price

The floor under the tile. Tile needs a flat, stiff base: leveling, a cement backer board or an uncoupling membrane are lines of their own, and an installer may only price them once the old floor is up.
Taking up the old floor and hauling it away, which this estimate leaves out.
Tile size. Tiles with a side over 15 in take a large-format mortar and a deeper trowel: CUSTOM’s chart gives 42 to 47 sq ft a 50 lb bag with a 3/4 × 9/16 in notch, against 60 to 95 sq ft with the notches for smaller tile. The tile standard, ANSI A108.02, offsets them by a third of their length at most unless the maker allows more.
The layout. A diagonal or herringbone pattern, or a small room around a toilet and a vanity, means more cut tiles and more time: the tile calculator counts the cuts for your room and pattern.
Edges and doorways: trim, a transition to the next floor, and sealant instead of grout where the tile meets the walls.

What owners paid

When owners hired someone for flooring, carpet, paneling or ceiling tile work in about 2021–2023, the middle half paid $2,000 to $7,000 and the typical job cost $4,000 (Census Bureau). That survey counts every floor covering and room size together, so use it as a check on a whole project, not as the price of a tile floor: flooring costs by metro.

Before you compare quotes

Ask every installer to price the same floor, in writing: the tile and who buys it, the size of the room, the old floor’s removal, the leveling and the layer under the tile, the trim and the sealant. Then put the quotes side by side in the tile quote worksheet, or keep every price for the project in a budget worksheet.