Contractor bond cost calculator
Filed under Bonds & insurance
A bond premium is the face amount multiplied by a rate, and the rate is almost entirely a function of personal credit. This works the arithmetic both ways so you can see what your credit tier is worth before you speak to a surety.
Pre-filled with California’s statutory license bond. Change the amount, the credit tier and the term to see the premium band a surety works from.
Premium estimate
- Bond amount
- $25,000
- Rate band
- 1.0% – 2.0%
- Term
- 1 year
- Low end
- $250
- High end
- $500
A band, not a quote. A surety prices your file — credit, capital, capacity and claims history — and the same face amount can fall outside this band in either direction. Face amounts for California and North Carolina are read from those boards; the rate bands are illustrative credit tiers, not a filed rate or a published market average — your surety's quote is the only real number.
§ 1What this estimates
The premium you pay for a surety bond, per year, expressed as a band. It does not estimate the bond amount — that is set by the state board or by the project owner, and the presets carry the ones we have read from source.
§ 2How to use it
- § 1Pick a statutory preset, or type the face amount your board or owner requires.
- § 2Choose the credit tier that matches the personal credit of whoever will indemnify the bond.
- § 3Set the term. Multi-year bonds are usually priced per year, so compare the annual line.
§ 3Worked example
A California sole owner needs the statutory $25,000 license bond. On this calculator’s illustrative good-credit band of 1.0% to 2.0% — not a filed rate — the top of the band is double the bottom, on an identical bond for an identical obligation.
| Credit tier | Illustrative band | Annual premium on the CA license bond |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent (740+) | 0.5% – 1.0% | $125 – $250 |
| Good (670–739) | 1.0% – 2.0% | $250 – $500 |
| Fair (600–669) | 2.0% – 5.0% | $500 – $1,250 |
| Challenged (below 600) | 5.0% – 15.0% | $1,250 – $3,750 |
§ 4State notes
North Carolina is the interesting case: a bond can stand in for the board’s working-capital test entirely. $500,000 of bond replaces $75,000 of working capital at the Intermediate tier — which sounds attractive until you price the premium at a fair credit tier and compare it with the cost of simply holding the capital.
How the bond itself works is in the surety bond guide. Pricing a bond on a job rather than a license? The performance bond cost calculator runs the contract price through a surety’s sliding schedule. Choosing who writes it? We compare the best surety bond companies by Treasury limit and the bonds each one writes.
Checked against
- CSLB — Bond Requirements (SB 607, effective 2023-01-01)read 2026-10-18
- NCLBGC — Classifications and Limitationsread 2026-10-18
Not legal advice. Fees, bond amounts and deadlines are set by statute and change without notice — confirm with the board that issues your license before you file.