# Parking Ratio Calculator

Created by Damian Szyszka
Reviewed by Dominik Czernia, PhD and Rijk de Wet
Last updated: Jan 31, 2023

With our parking ratio calculator, you can estimate how many parking spaces per square foot you need. The parking ratio is important, because it gives you a sense of how easy or difficult it will be to find a parking spot at a particular location. It will also help you to prepare a project for parking space in the apartments you design if you're an architect.

The parking ratio calculator is a simple tool that uses the parking ratio formula for quick estimations of this metric. This comes in handy when you need a grasp on the number of parking slots you should rent, or when just want to optimize your spending on parking. In this article, we also explain how to calculate the parking ratio step by step.

For other rental-related calculators, check out our rental commission calculator or our rent calculator, which are great support when it comes to making difficult decisions.

## How to use parking ratio calculator?

To use the parking ratio calculator, you can:

1. Begin by entering the rentable area of the building.
2. Specify the total number of parking spots.
3. Please remember that both values must be greater than 0.
4. Our tool will use the parking ratio formula and show you the parking ratio per 1000 sf (square foot).

That's all, simple as it is! Now, let's try to understand how to calculate the parking ratio in the following sections.

## What defines parking ratios?

Even though the calculation process is straightforward and simple, there are some factors you should take into account when you decide what ratio you should have:

• Use of the building — is it a parking ratio for apartments or offices?
• Location — is it the center of the city or in the suburbs?
• Local regulations — they might be specific to the city you live in.

In the last point, you must consider your region's parking minimums. Parking minimums are the number of parking spaces a building must have according to city code.

## Parking ratio formula

Let's see how to calculate parking ratio per 1000 sf. You need to use the following equation:

$\text{PR} = 1000 \times \frac{\text{PS}}{\text{RA}}$

where:

• $\mathrm{PR}$ — the parking ratio;
• $\mathrm{PS}$ — the number of parking spots; and
• $\mathrm{RA}$ — the rentable area in square feet.

✅ You need to multiply the $\mathrm{PS}/\mathrm{RA}$ ratio by 1000 if you were asked how to calculate the parking ratio per 1000 sf. Otherwise, you can skip that 1000 if you're interested in a simple parking ratio.

## How many parking spaces per square foot — an example

Let's say you want to find the parking ratio for the apartments you're building with 25,000 ft2 of total space, and you want to accommodate 1000 parking spots. In other words, you want to know how many parking spots per square foot you have planned. You need to use the parking ratio formula we introduce above:

$\begin{split} \mathrm{PR} &= 1000 \times \frac{\mathrm{PS}}{\mathrm{RA}} \\[0.8em] &= 1000 \times \frac{1000}{25000} \\[0.8em] & = 40 \end{split}$

So, in this case, the parking ratio for apartments equals 40 parking spots per 1000 sf, or 40:1000, for simplicity.

## How to calculate parking ratio in practice

To effectively use the parking ratio, you need to:

• Figure out how many people you want to welcome in your building. Are you planning to have a high density of employees in the medium-to-low area? Then you need more parking space.

• Take care of the capacity of your parking during peak time. Will it work if everyone comes into the office at once? Or maybe you know that's not possible, and only 60% of the cover will do the trick?

• Nevertheless, if you need a rule of thumb — 6 spaces per 1000 ft2, or approximately 100 m2, is most probably a good choice. Just don't provide less, as your office can only hold as many people as can get there!

After you have all your guests already, don't forget to provide them with hot beverages! If you're wondering what the perfect ratio of coffee is, please take a look at coffee ratio calculator. But coffee is not all; if you have an insight into what could be the cost of desserts for them, check out the cake pricing calculator.

Damian Szyszka
Rentable area
ft²
Parking spots
Parking ratio
: 1000
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