Last updated: June 22, 2026
Quick answerField day shirt costs in 2026 run roughly $7.50 to $13 per shirt depending on quantity, with a full K–5 school order of 600 shirts landing around $7–$8 each all-in — blank, print, and setup included. At Eagle Ridge Apparel in Meridian, ID, that same 600-shirt run totals between $4,200 and $4,800 with no minimum order requirement and a one-business-day quote turnaround. The biggest variable isn't the design; it's how many shirts you're ordering.
A Meridian elementary PTA coordinator called us last February — field day was May 9th, she had six grade levels, and she needed a per-shirt number to bring to the principal before the next board meeting. That's the most common way this conversation starts. So here's the real 2026 pricing, broken down the way she needed it: blank cost, decoration cost, and how volume moves the number.
What actually drives the price
Field day shirt cost comes down to three things: the blank (the shirt itself), the decoration (the print), and how many you're ordering. Volume is the biggest lever by far.
The blank we default to for field day is the Gildan G500 5.3 oz cotton tee, which runs about $4.50 landed at 100+ pieces. Below that, catalog pricing tiers kick in at 12, 36, 72, 144, and 288 pieces, so the per-shirt cost climbs fast on smaller runs. A 1-color front-chest print adds $2–$4 per shirt at 100+ pieces, with a fixed setup cost of $25–$50 spread across the order. The more shirts you're printing, the less that setup hurts per piece. Honestly, it's pretty simple math once you see the tiers.
Real-world totals by quantity:
- 50 shirts: roughly $13/each
- 150 shirts: roughly $9/each
- 350 shirts: roughly $8/each
- 600 shirts: roughly $7.50/each
Volume wins. Every time.
Eagle Ridge prints field day shirts for elementary schools across the Treasure Valley — no minimums, free digitizing on the first run. Reach out or request a free quote and we'll get you a number within one business day.
Typical school order pricing
These ranges include the blank, the print, and a basic mockup. Custom artwork beyond a school mascot or theme may add a one-time $50–$95 design fee.
- 50 shirts (single classroom or staff only): $12–$14 per shirt. Total: $600–$700.
- 150 shirts (one grade level): $9–$11 per shirt. Total: $1,350–$1,650.
- 300 shirts (K–2 or 3–5): $8–$10 per shirt. Total: $2,400–$3,000.
- 600 shirts (full school, K–5): $7–$8 per shirt. Total: $4,200–$4,800.
Class-color tees: what changes and what doesn't
The most common field day setup we see is class-color tees — each grade gets its own shirt color, same print on all of them. Kindergarten yellow, 1st blue, 2nd red, 3rd green, 4th orange, 5th purple is pretty standard, though every school has its own take on it.
The good news: class-color orders don't cost more per piece than single-color orders. The print design stays the same across every blank color, so setup cost doesn't multiply. We produce six smaller sub-batches inside one order run.
The thing to watch: every blank color you pick needs to be available in every size you need. Most popular Gildan colors are stocked YXS through Adult 3XL, but some specialty colors only come in limited size ranges. We'll flag that at quote time so you're not surprised when the size matrix comes back.
Where budgets get blown
Four places we see PTAs get caught off guard:
- Rush production fees. Orders placed with less than 4 weeks before field day carry a 20–35% rush charge. (We do offer 24-hour rush for in-stock items, but at field-day volume that's a real premium.)
- Adult 2XL and up. Most blanks charge $2–$4 more per piece starting at 2XL. Budget for staff and chaperone sizes separately.
- Multi-color prints. Going from 1-color to 2-color adds $1–$2 per shirt. Full 4-color art adds $4–$6 per shirt.
- Vectorization fees. If your school logo is a low-resolution JPEG, we'll need to redraw it for clean printing — that's a $35–$95 one-time fee. Bring us an AI or EPS file and you skip it entirely.
Sponsor logos on a sleeve are a small per-piece upcharge too, if a local business is contributing to the event.
When to place the order
Standard production at field-day volume — 200+ pieces — takes 10–14 business days from mockup approval. Give yourself 3–7 days for PTA and admin to sign off on the mockup. Add it up and 4 weeks before field day is your safe minimum. Six weeks is comfortable.
The PTA presidents who order in February for a May field day never stress. The ones who call us 10 days out pay rush charges and refresh their email every hour. We've been doing this for 7 years in Meridian, and the pattern is very consistent.
Related
Ready to get a real number for your school's field day? Send us the shirt count, the date, and whatever design idea you're working with. We'll have a quote back to you within one business day. Reach out or submit a quote request online.
Frequently asked
How much do field day shirts cost per shirt for a whole school?
A full K–5 school order of 600 shirts typically runs $7–$8 per shirt all-in, or $4,200–$4,800 total, including the blank tee, a one-color print, and setup. Smaller orders cost more per shirt — 150 shirts lands closer to $9–$11 each.
Can we order different shirt colors for each grade level?
Class-color field day orders — where each grade gets its own shirt color with the same print on all of them — are one of the most common setups and don't add cost as long as you're hitting volume tiers per color. The print setup is charged once per design, not once per color.
How far in advance should we order field day shirts in Meridian Idaho?
Ordering 3–4 weeks before field day gives enough buffer for artwork approval, production, and any size adjustments — Eagle Ridge can often turn school orders in 7–10 business days, but spring is busy, so earlier is safer. Reach out and a quote comes back within one business day.
How We Make This Stuff
Everything covered in this post is produced in our Meridian, Idaho shop at 2700 E Lanark St. Eagle Ridge Apparel is a family-run print shop serving the Treasure Valley since 2019 — we embroider, screen print, DTF, sublimate, laser-cut leather patches, laser-engrave drinkware, and UV-print promotional goods on equipment we operate ourselves. No outsourced decoration, no overseas fulfillment, no third-party middlemen.
Most custom apparel orders ship in 7–10 business days from approved mockup. Rush production in 3–5 business days is available on most decoration methods; embroidered hats are the tightest constraint. We hold no minimums on any decoration type — order one piece or one thousand — though pricing scales aggressively over 50, 100, and 250-piece tiers. Free digital mockups before production starts. We don't begin a run until you sign off on what it'll look like.
Two ways to order: design it yourself online in our designer tool (any quantity, any decoration method), or request a custom quote and we'll send back pricing within one business day. Talk to a real person — email info@eagleridgeapparel.com or send us a message, and most inquiries get a response within two hours during the business day.
