Labor Burden Calculator

A $25 wage never costs you $25. Payroll taxes, insurance and unbilled time add up. Enter your numbers to see the real cost per billable hour and the rate you need to charge. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is stored or sent.

Hourly wage ($)

Burden: payroll taxes, workers' comp, benefits (% of wage)

Billable share of paid hours (%)

Target margin on labor (%)

How it works

Loaded wage = wage × (1 + burden%). Cost per billable hour = loaded wage ÷ billable share, because drive time, quoting and idle hours are paid but not billed. Billing rate = cost per billable hour ÷ (1 − target margin). Example: $25 × 1.20 = $30.00; ÷ 0.70 = $42.86 per billable hour; ÷ 0.60 = $71.43 per hour to charge. Your real burden depends on your state and insurer, so check actual invoices.

Estimates for planning only. This is not accounting, tax or legal advice.