Labor rate calculator: what to charge per hour
Your hourly rate has to pay the tech, the hours nobody pays for, the truck, the office and still leave a profit. Put in your numbers and get the billable rate that does all of that. Nothing you type leaves this page.
The tech
Billable share: drive time, supply runs, callbacks and slow days are paid but not billed. Most shops land between 50% and 75%.
The business
Your labor rate
How the math works
- Loaded pay = hourly pay × (1 + taxes, insurance and benefits %).
- Billable hours a month = paid hours × 52 ÷ 12 × billable share × techs.
- Labor cost per billable hour = loaded pay ÷ billable share. You pay for every hour but only bill some.
- Overhead per billable hour = monthly overhead ÷ billable hours a month.
- Rate to charge = (labor + overhead per billable hour) ÷ (1 - target margin). Parts are priced separately.
Questions
Why is my rate so much higher than what I pay the tech?
Because the customer only pays for the hours on the job. The drive, the supply house and the slow afternoon are on you, and so is the office, the trucks and the software.
What if I pay techs by commission?
Use the price per job calculator instead. It handles commission, parts markup and card fees on a single job.
How do I raise my billable share?
Tighter routes, fewer return trips and the right tech on the right job. DispatchMind shows each tech's day on a map and dispatch board, and reports show billable time per tech.
See your real numbers on every job
DispatchMind works out profit per job and tech pay from your own jobs. Try it 14 days free, no card.