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Contractor & construction

Contractor Hourly Rate Calculator

Set an hourly rate that covers burdened wages, overhead and profit rather than matching whatever the competition charges.

Your numbers

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%
Taxes, workers' comp, insurance, benefits, paid time off.
$
From the overhead calculator.
%
%
Travel, quoting, restocking, admin.

Result

Hourly rate to charge $111.26
True cost per billable hour $94.57
Burdened wage $39.60
Day rate (8 hours) $890.08
A 30/hr worker costs $94.57 per billable hour once burden, unbillable time and overhead are carried. Charge $111.26 to hold a 15% margin.

Non-billable time is the figure that surprises people. Paying someone for 40 hours and invoicing 28 means every billable hour has to carry the other twelve.

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Questions

About this calculator

Why is my rate so much higher than the wage?

Because the wage is roughly a third of the true cost. Burden, unbillable hours, overhead and profit make up the rest. A $30 wage commonly needs a rate near $100.

Should apprentices bill at the same rate?

No. Run the calculation per pay grade. The burdened wage and the billable share both differ substantially between an apprentice and a licensed tradesperson.

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Estimating is the easy part

The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.