Trade Show Booth Budget Calculator

SEC. 01 — THE CALCULATOR

Build your number.

Ranges come from our published cost guide and real Las Vegas project history. Treat the output as a planning range, not a quote.

Booth size

Own or rent

Where is the show?

Shows per year

What is in the build?

LED wall / big screens Hanging sign Second story / double-deck Enclosed meeting room Premium finishes Storage between shows

ESTIMATED TOTAL PROGRAM COST$—

Planning ranges for one show, in 2026 US dollars, based on our published booth cost guide. Travel, staffing and pre-show marketing are not included. Every real project gets a line-item quote.

XLSX

Take the whole budget with you

A five-tab planning workbook: every line item above with estimate / actual / variance columns, a countdown timeline that fills in from your show date, and the published cost reference. No email required.

Download the worksheet →

SEC. 02 — WHERE THE MONEY GOES

The nine lines that make up a booth budget.

Four of them come from your builder. The other five arrive from the venue, the show contractor and the freight carrier — usually after the booth quote has already been approved.

01 — Fabrication or rental

The structure itself. Custom runs $100–$250 per square foot; rentals are quoted all-in per show. This is the line everyone budgets, and it is usually only about half the story.

02 — Graphics

Large-format prints, backlit SEG fabric, dimensional letters. Typically 8–15% of the build. Backlit costs more than flat print and changes booth presence more than almost anything else per dollar.

03 — Technology

Screens, LED walls, interactive demos. On a tech-forward booth this reaches 20–30% of the total build budget — the fastest way to move the number in either direction.

04 — Furniture & flooring

Seating, counters, planters, padding and carpet or plank. Modest on its own, but rented show furniture at onsite rates adds up faster than most exhibitors expect.

05 — Drayage

The fee to move freight from the dock to your space, billed per hundredweight (CWT) — commonly $1,500–$5,000+. It is charged by weight, so crate engineering directly changes this bill. See our drayage guide.

06 — Install & dismantle

Union labor at most major venues, billed hourly with overtime and double-time multipliers outside standard windows. A booth engineered to go up fast costs less here every single show.

07 — Freight

Round-trip shipping. Cross-country for a 10×20 runs $3,000–$8,000. For a Las Vegas show, a booth built in Las Vegas crosses town instead of the country — this line nearly disappears.

08 — Show services

Electrical, rigging, internet, cleaning — ordered through the venue. Order at advance rates: onsite pricing routinely runs far higher for the identical service.

09 — Storage

Only applies if you own the structure. We store client exhibits at our Las Vegas facility and reconfigure between shows, which is how an owned booth gets cheaper every time it goes up.

SEC. 03 — WORKED EXAMPLES

Three budgets, three very different answers.

Example /01

First-timer — 10×10 rental, one Vegas show

An all-in rental package, local freight, light show services. No storage, no capital purchase. The calculator puts this at $7,000–$22,000 for the show — and the booth itself is under half of it.

Example /02

Growth brand — 10×20 custom, three shows

Own the structure, store it with us, swap graphics between shows. Year one runs $29,000–$89,000 all-in. Year two drops sharply, because the fabrication line is already paid for.

Example /03

Enterprise — 20×20 island, LED, cross-country

Island engineering, hanging sign, enclosed meeting room, a video wall and coast-to-coast freight. That lands at $77,000–$256,000. Technology and drayage are the two lines moving it most.

Those spreads are wide on purpose. The low end of each is simple finishes, modest tech and local freight; the high end is premium materials, a heavy AV package and cross-country shipping. The same footprint can honestly cost either number — which is exactly why “what does a booth cost” has no single answer.

All three assume the booth gets reused. A structure engineered to reconfigure — 10×20 at one show, island at the next — costs more upfront and materially less per show across a season.

SEC. 04 — RENT OR BUY

The honest math.

Three shows a year is the line where owning starts to win.

Rent below three shows a year. The all-in price is lower, there is no storage commitment, and you are not carrying an asset that sits in a warehouse eleven months out of twelve.

At three or more, a custom build typically pays for itself in about 18 months. After that, each show costs you graphics, freight, drayage and labor — not another booth.

A lot of our clients run both: a custom core they own, extended with rental components for the one big annual show. Compare the two in our custom vs. modular guide.

SEC. 05 — QUESTIONS

Budget questions, answered straight.

Can’t find yours? Ask us directly — real answers, not runarounds.

Q/01How much should I budget for a trade show booth?

A custom booth typically runs $100–$250 per square foot to build, so a 10×20 lands between $15,000 and $40,000. But fabrication is only 40–60% of what exhibiting actually costs — drayage, install labor, freight, show services and storage make up the rest. Budget the whole program, not just the build.

Q/02What is drayage and why is it so expensive?

Drayage is the fee for moving your freight from the loading dock to your booth space, billed per hundredweight (CWT) by the show contractor. It commonly runs $1,500–$5,000+ for a mid-size booth. It is the single most underestimated line in most budgets because it is billed by weight, not by size.

Q/03Is it cheaper to rent or buy a trade show booth?

If you exhibit at three or more shows a year, owning a custom booth usually pays for itself within about 18 months. Below that, renting wins — the all-in price is lower and there is no storage commitment. Many exhibitors run a hybrid: a custom core they own, extended with rental components for the biggest show.

Q/04What does a trade show booth cost per square foot?

Custom fabrication generally runs $100–$250 per square foot depending on structure, technology and finish level. A simple inline sits at the low end; a double-deck island with LED and an enclosed meeting room sits at the top. Rentals are quoted all-in per show rather than per square foot.

Q/05How far in advance should I budget and book?

Standard custom fabrication takes 6–8 weeks from approved design, and rush builds can be turned in 3–4 weeks. Work backwards about six months from your show date to set budget, brief a builder, approve design, and still catch advance rates on electrical and drayage.

What will this booth actually cost?