Contract pricing benchmark + margin calculator

What Texas providers publish for aerobic maintenance contracts, and what a contract leaves you after drive time, labor, mileage and chlorine. Enter your own numbers; nothing is saved.

PUBLISHED TEXAS PROVIDER PRICES

PRICE POINTS

LOWEST

$249

MEDIAN

$299.50

HIGHEST

$535

Annual contract price, one point per published tier. A range contributes its midpoint. Published guides and the Virginia row are excluded — a guide quoting a statewide range is not a price anybody charges.

WHAT IS PUBLISHED, BY REGION AND TIER

REGION	TIER	A YEAR	VISITS	INCLUDES
Austin / Hays / Comal area	Standard contract	$348	3	3 inspections a year; pump-outs quoted separately Page states the $700 pump-out covers tanks up to 1,000 gallons in one place and up to 1,250 gallons in another.
McLennan County	Yearly contract	$249	—	Scheduled inspections, alarm/electrical tests, county report filing, chlorine tablet replenishment; 1- or 2-year terms
Falls, Bell, Hill, Bosque, Limestone counties	Yearly contract	$299	—	As above
Texas (provider service area)	Essential	$275	3	3 inspections, 3 reports, state-required testing; repairs and parts extra; 48 business-hour response
Texas (provider service area)	Pro (includes chlorine)	$535	3	As Essential plus complete chlorine maintenance; monthly option $155 down + $40 x 11; 24-48 business-hour response
Waller, Montgomery, Grimes, Harris, Fort Bend, Austin counties	Aerobic contract (2-year)	$250–$350	—	Stated as $500-$700 every two years Annualized: $500-$700 / 2 years = $250-$350 per year.
Northern Virginia	ATU total O&M (incl. electricity)	$500–$700	—	Total owner cost including electricity - not a contract price. Label it that way.
Texas (statewide guide)	Published guide	$300–$500	—	Guide range
Texas (statewide guide)	Published guide	$300–$600	—
By metro (guide)	Published guide	$200–$500	—
National (guide)	Published guide	$175–$600	—

Providers are named in the Sources list, beside the page each price came from.

NORTH CAROLINA

No verified public price points yet. Two ranges turned up in earlier research with no source we could record, so they are not shown — an unsourced range on this page would be worth less than nothing to somebody pricing a book of work.

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WHAT A CONTRACT LEAVES YOU

Use a published price

Annual contract price ($)

Visits per year (visits) TX: at least once every four months (30 TAC §285.91(4), Table IV) = 3; 2 with qualifying electronic monitoring (§285.7(e)(3)). NC: per Table XXXII, e.g. 2/year for Type IVa and Va/Vc ≤1,500 gpd after year one (15A NCAC 18E .1301(b)).

Drive minutes per visit (your share of the route) (min)

On-site minutes per visit (min)

Report and filing minutes per visit (min)

Loaded labor cost per hour ($/hr)

Miles per visit (mi)

Vehicle cost per mile (enter your own) ($/mi)

Chlorine per visit (0 if the owner supplies it) ($)

Included parts allowance per visit ($)

Filing or portal fee per report ($)

Target margin (%)

COST PER VISIT

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ANNUAL COST

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MARGIN

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MARGIN %

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REVENUE PER VISIT

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BREAK-EVEN PRICE

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PRICE FOR TARGET

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Computed from: Published prices retrieved Oct 9, 2026; 30 TAC §285.91(4); 30 TAC §285.7(e)(3)

Data refreshed Oct 9, 2026.

Summarizes public rules/records as of Oct 9, 2026; not legal advice; verify with your permitting authority.

How many visits a Texas contract has to cover

Testing is required at least once every four months — three a year — under 30 TAC §285.91(4), Table IV. With qualifying electronic monitoring the required tests drop to two a year (§285.7(e)(3)), which is the single biggest lever on the cost side of a contract and the reason the visit count is an input rather than a constant.

What the published prices do and do not include

The tiers differ in what they cover far more than in headline price: some include chlorine and some quote it separately, pump-outs are almost always extra, and one row is a two-year contract annualised. The “includes” column carries each one’s own wording, because comparing $249 against $535 without it is comparing two different products.

Why the stats exclude the guides and Virginia

Six Texas provider prices are counted. The published guides are not: a guide saying “$300 to $600 statewide” is a summary of a market, not a price a customer was charged. The Virginia row is not either — it is a total owner cost including electricity, which its own note says, and folding it in would move the median on a basis nobody is quoting.

Five rows are withheld

Three Texas providers and both North Carolina ranges came from earlier research whose source URL was never recorded. They stay in the data file so they can be re-sourced, and they are not on this page — a price with no link behind it is the kind of number that gets repeated until it is treated as fact.

Common questions

What do Texas aerobic maintenance contracts cost?

Published Texas provider prices on Oct 9, 2026 ranged from $249 to $535 a year for three-visit contracts (median $299.50 across six price points); higher tiers include chlorine.

How many visits does a Texas contract need to cover?

Testing at least once every four months, so three a year (30 TAC §285.91(4)), or two a year with qualifying electronic monitoring (§285.7(e)(3)).

How is the margin calculated?

Annual cost = visits × (labor time × labor rate + miles × cost per mile + chlorine + parts + fees); margin = price − annual cost.

Sources

The rules behind this

How Often Must an Aerobic System Be Inspected in Texas? Maintenance Provider vs Technician in Texas: Who Does What How Often Are NC Septic Systems Inspected? (Table XXXII)

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