Un costo variable o coste variable es aquel que se modifica de acuerdo a variaciones del volumen de producción (o nivel de actividad), se trata tanto de bienes como de servicios. Es decir, si el nivel de actividad decrece, estos costos decrecen, mientras que si el nivel de actividad aumenta, también lo hace esta clase de costos. /2 donde: \n* L es la cantidad de Trabajo \n* Q es la cantidad de capital \n* w es el salario \n* r es interés del capital Salvo en casos de cambios estructurales, en las unidades económicas, los costos variables tienden a tener un comportamiento lineal, lo que les confiere la característica de poseer un valor promedio por unidad que tiende a ser constante. Todos aquellos costos que no son considerados variables, son fijos. Esta distinción es esencial para ser usada en las herramientas de decisiones basadas en costos. En la teoría microeconómica los costes variables suelen considerarse no lineales, existiendo un primer tramo de rendimientos crecientes seguido de un tramo de rendimientos decrecientes. En un Supermercado, los cajeros son un costo variable, ya que los gerentes pueden ajustar fácilmente las horas que trabajan para adecuarlas al número de compradores que acudan al local.

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Variable costs are costs that change in proportion to the good or service that a business produces. Variable costs are also the sum of marginal costs over all units produced. They can also be considered normal costs. Fixed costs and variable costs make up the two components of total cost. Direct costs, however, are costs that can easily be associated with a particular cost object. However, not all variable costs are direct costs. For example, variable manufacturing overhead costs are variable costs that are indirect costs, not direct costs. Variable costs are sometimes called unit-level costs as they vary with the number of units produced. Direct labor and overhead are often called conversion cost, while direct material and direct labor are often referred to as prime cost. In marketing, it is necessary to know how costs divide between variable and fixed. This distinction is crucial in forecasting the earnings generated by various changes in unit sales and thus the financial impact of proposed marketing campaigns. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 60 percent responded that they found the "variable and fixed costs" metric very useful. The level of variable cost is influenced by many factors, such as fixed cost, duration of project, uncertainty and discount rate. An analytical formula of variable cost as a function of these factors has been derived. It can be used to assess how different factors impact variable cost and total return in an investment.

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