A pizzeria's net margin is what is left of a month's sales after cheese, dough, toppings, boxes, wages, rent, every other bill and the delivery apps' commission. For example, the calculator below opens with a pizza shop in US dollars: $55,000 of sales a month, 29% food cost, 30% labor, and 35% of sales coming through delivery apps at 25% commission. Change each number to your own and it shows your margin before the apps, after them, and if those delivery orders came through your own ordering page instead.
Part of the free Restaurant profit margin calculator.
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Your net margin
Example numbersFood, drink and labor together.
What you would keep if no order paid commission.
Delivery apps take $4,813 a month: 77% of the profit you would otherwise keep.
At 25% commission, once 45% of your sales come through the apps, the month makes nothing.
The same $19,250 of orders on your own ordering page, paying a 2.9% card fee ($558) instead of commission.
Moving those orders to your own page would keep $4,254 more a month, $51,051 a year.
Compare with US restaurants
US limited-service median income before taxes, 2024: 4% of sales (food and drink 32.4%, labor 31.7%). From the National Restaurant Association's survey of more than 900 US restaurants. Medians, not targets.
Move app regulars to your own ordering page
Make a Menuthere ordering page with your menu and a QR code. Orders on it pay 0% commission, so regulars who order direct leave you more.
Sales, food and labor as a share of sales, rent and other costs. Example numbers are filled in to start.
The share of sales that comes through the apps and their average commission. The calculator takes it off your margin.
See your margin with the apps and with the same orders coming direct, then copy the numbers for your partner or accountant.
Price the cheese at what you pay this month
Cheese is usually the dearest thing on a pizza, and its price moves. The US average retail price of natural cheddar was $6.13 a pound in September 2026, against $6.05 a year earlier. Re-cost your pies whenever your distributor's mozzarella price changes, then put the new food cost % here.
Count delivery drivers in labor, not in other costs
If you run your own drivers, their wages, payroll taxes and any mileage pay belong in labor. Tipped drivers can be paid a lower cash wage under federal law only if tips make up the rest, so check your state's rules before you lower that line.
Look hard at the app share, not just the rate
In the example, pizza shops that send a third of their orders through the apps give up most of the month's profit. DoorDash's US Basic, Plus and Premier plans charge 15%, 25% and 30% on delivery orders. Try 20% and 50% in the app share box to see how fast the margin moves.
Questions owners ask
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Put your items on a Menuthere page. Customers pick, fill in their details and the order arrives on your WhatsApp. Free, with no commission.