Labor cost calculator

Get the true hourly cost of a crew once burden is added, then the labor cost of a job and what you should charge to hit your margin.

Free, no signup, nothing to download. Results update as you type.

True hourly cost$35.84/hr
Labor cost for the job$4,300.80
Price to hit margin$5,376.00Labor only, before materials and overhead
Gross profit at that price$1,075.20
How this is calculated

Burdened rate = wage x (1 + burden). Job cost = burdened rate x crew x hours. Price = cost / (1 - margin). Note that price uses MARGIN, not markup: dividing by (1 - margin) is what actually leaves you the margin you asked for.

Frequently asked
What is payroll burden?

Everything you pay on top of the wage: payroll taxes, workers compensation, liability insurance, benefits, and paid time off. It commonly lands between 20 and 40 percent, and leaving it out is the single most common reason a job that looked profitable was not.

Is markup the same as margin?

No, and confusing them is how estimators lose money. A 20 percent markup on $1,000 of cost gives $1,200 and a margin of 16.7 percent. To actually make 20 percent margin you divide by 0.8 and charge $1,250. This calculator uses margin.

Does this include overhead?

No. This is direct labor. Office rent, trucks, software and unbilled staff are overhead and belong in a separate rate, otherwise you are quoting jobs that cover their own labor but not the business around them.

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