Free Construction Rate Calculator - What to Charge Per Hour (2026)

A construction rate calculator helps contractors determine what to charge per hour based on their actual costs. It takes your base wage, labor burden (payroll taxes, workers comp, insurance), monthly overhead, and desired profit margin, then divides by your billable hours to produce a rate that actually covers your costs and leaves profit. Without this calculation, most contractors price from their gut and end up working for less than they realize.

Most contractors need to charge $55-$150 per hour depending on trade, region, and overhead. General contractors and licensed trades (electrical, plumbing, HVAC) typically charge $75-$130/hr. Carpenters and roofers usually bill $55-$100/hr. Painters run $45-$85/hr. The right rate depends on your specific costs. A contractor paying $30/hr wages with $3,500/mo overhead and a 20% profit target needs to bill roughly $78/hr to stay profitable.

Your wage is just one part of the picture. On top of that $30/hr wage, you are paying FICA (7.65%), workers comp (5-20%), health insurance, vehicle costs, tools, insurance, marketing, and more. Those costs easily double or triple the base wage. Then you can only bill 60-75% of your total hours because the rest goes to estimates, travel, admin, and callbacks. When you divide all your costs by fewer billable hours and add profit, the rate jumps to 2-3x your base wage. That multiplier is normal and necessary.

Use your actual billable hours, not total hours worked. Solo contractors typically bill 25-30 hours per week out of 40-50 total hours. The rest goes to estimating, sales, travel, ordering materials, bookkeeping, and callbacks. A crew leader who does less admin might bill 30-35 hours. A GC managing multiple crews might only bill 15-20 hours personally. Overestimating billable hours is the single biggest reason contractors underprice their work.

Include every monthly business expense that is not tied to a specific job: vehicle payment and fuel ($800-$1,500/mo), general liability insurance ($200-$600/mo), tools and equipment ($200-$500/mo), phone and software ($200-$400/mo), marketing ($200-$1,000/mo), license and bond fees, office or shop rent, and continuing education. Most one-truck operations carry $2,500-$5,000/mo in overhead. If you leave any of these out, your rate will be too low and the shortfall comes straight from profit.

Healthy contractor profit margins fall in the 10-25% range for residential work. Specialty trades with high demand can push 20-30%. GCs managing multiple subs often target 10-15% net. Below 10%, you have no buffer for slow months, warranty callbacks, or mistakes. The profit margin in this calculator is net profit, the money left over after every cost is covered. This is different from markup. A 20% profit margin requires a 25% markup on costs.

The burdened labor rate calculator tells you the true cost of an employee per hour (wages + payroll taxes + benefits). This construction rate calculator goes further: it adds your overhead costs and profit margin on top to determine what you need to charge a client. Think of burdened rate as your cost, and construction rate as your price. You need both numbers, but the billing rate is what goes on the estimate.

Most residential contractors price per project, not per hour, but they use their hourly rate to build the estimate. Estimate the hours each task will take, multiply by your billable rate, add materials, and that is your project price. Hourly billing works for service calls and T&M work but creates uncertainty for clients on larger jobs. Knowing your hourly rate is the foundation for any pricing method, even if the client never sees it broken out that way.