Salon, spa & fitness
Personal Trainer Hourly Rate Calculator
Works a trainer's effective hourly earnings, after everything that is not a session.
Result
The billable share is the number most people get wrong. Quoting, driving, chasing parts and fixing warranty callbacks are all paid and none of them are billed, which is why the honest figure is rarely above two thirds.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Total earnings divided by all hours worked, including programme writing, client communication, travel, administration and continuing education, rather than divided by session hours. The effective rate is substantially below the session rate and it is the figure that tells a trainer whether the business works.
What moves the number
- Session hours against total hours worked.
- Programme writing and client communication time.
- Travel and administration.
- Facility fees or revenue splits.
Where this one goes wrong
The unpaid work around sessions is considerable, and a trainer who writes individual programmes, answers messages between sessions and manages their own bookings may spend as much time off the floor as on it, which halves the effective rate. Measure it for a fortnight before concluding anything about the business. Group training and small group formats are the usual structural answer, since they multiply revenue per delivered hour without multiplying the preparation.
Before you quote
- Divide by all hours worked, not session hours.
- Track the off-floor time for a fortnight.
- Consider group formats to raise revenue per delivered hour.
Questions
About this calculator
What is a trainer's real hourly rate?
Earnings divided by all hours worked, including programme writing, messages, travel, administration and continuing education. That figure is substantially below the session rate, frequently by around half, and it is the one that tells you whether the business works.
How can the effective rate be raised?
Group and small group formats, since they multiply revenue per delivered hour without multiplying the preparation. Standardising programme templates and batching client communication are the other levers, and both reduce off-floor hours directly.
Should off-floor work be charged for?
It has to be recovered somewhere, either in the session rate or as a separate programming fee. What causes trouble is treating it as free, since it consumes real hours and a trainer absorbing all of it is working well below their nominal rate.
The formula
rate = (income + overhead) / (working hours x billable share)
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How to use this calculator
- Income you need per year ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $85,000.
- Annual overhead ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $168,000.
- Working weeks per year. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 48.
- Paid hours per week. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 40.
- Share of hours you can bill (%). Travel, quoting, admin and warranty calls are paid but not billed.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to rate you need to charge, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Income you need per year | $85,000 |
| Annual overhead | $168,000 |
| Working weeks per year | 48 |
| Paid hours per week | 40 |
| Share of hours you can bill | 62% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Rate you need to charge main result | $212.53 |
| Billable hours per year | 1,190 |
| Total to recover | $253,000 |
| If every hour were billable | $131.77 |
To take home $85,000 after $168,000 of overhead you need $212.53 per billable hour. Charging $131.77, the figure you get by ignoring unbillable time, leaves you short every week.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only income you need per year, this is what happens to rate you need to charge. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Income you need per year ($) | Rate you need to charge |
|---|---|
| $42,500 | $176.83 |
| $63,750 | $194.68 |
| $85,000 example above | $212.53 |
| $127,500 | $248.24 |
| $170,000 | $283.94 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Income you need per year ($)
- A money amount, starting at $85,000.
- Annual overhead ($)
- A money amount, starting at $168,000.
- Working weeks per year
- A number, between 0 and 52, starting at 48.
- Paid hours per week
- A number, between 0 and 100, starting at 40.
- Share of hours you can bill (%)
- Travel, quoting, admin and warranty calls are paid but not billed.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Rate you need to charge | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Billable hours per year | A number. |
| Total to recover | A money figure. |
| If every hour were billable | A money figure. |
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.