Benchmark—Percents Example

The most common benchmark percents are 0%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%.

These benchmark values are sometimes used when estimating a solution involving percentages.

Real-World Example

If an item costs $36.00 and there is a 7% sales tax, the benchmark of 10% can be used to mentally estimate the sales tax of the item.


10% of 36, done mentally, is 3.6.

 

Since 7% is a bit less than 10%, the sales tax will be a bit less than $3.60.