Hourly Rate Calculator

The most common hourly rate mistake is calculating based on how many hours you want to work instead of how many hours you realistically bill. A 40-hour work week rarely produces 40 billable hours. Estimates, travel, material runs, invoicing, and follow-up all eat time that no client pays for.

If you want to bring home $80,000 per year and you actually bill 25 hours per week for 48 weeks, that is 1,200 billable hours. Before adding a single dollar of overhead, you need to charge $66.67 per hour just to hit your income goal. Add $15,000 in annual overhead and 15.3 percent self-employment tax, and the number climbs to over $100 per hour.

Most trades in the Treasure Valley market are billing between $65 and $125 per hour depending on specialty. Plumbers and electricians often bill at the higher end. General handyman work typically sits between $65 and $95. If your rate calculation comes in at the top of that range, you need to either reduce overhead, increase billable hours, or adjust your income expectations for your market.

The suggested rate on this calculator adds a 30 percent profit margin on top of your break-even rate. That margin is not extra spending money — it is the reserve that covers slow weeks, a job that runs long, equipment that breaks, or a callback that takes half a day. Contractors who charge exactly their break-even rate find that any unexpected cost turns a neutral month into a loss.

Think of the profit cushion as the difference between surviving and building a business. Over time, that margin funds better equipment, hired help, or simply stability during the slower months of the year.