FREE CALCULATOR
Labor Burden Calculator for Commercial Contractors
Calculate your true hourly labor cost. Know your real burden rate before you quote.
Labor Cost Inputs
Results
Enter your labor cost inputs above.
Commercial Contractor Example
Journeyman electrician, full burden, 10% non-billable time
Key insight: Quoting at $38/hr loses money. Your real cost is $58.74/hr. With 25% markup, you need to charge $73.43/hr.
Why This Matters
Hourly wage is not your true labor cost.
Every burden layer—payroll tax, workers' compensation, benefits, PTO, training, admin time—adds to what you actually pay. Non-billable hours spread those costs across fewer billable hours, pushing your true cost even higher. Measure crew productivity to see how non-billable time affects your real effective rate.
Contractors who quote from base wage consistently underprice. They think they're profitable while silently eroding margin. When you know your true burdened cost, you quote with confidence. Set your minimum sell price floor based on real labor costs, not assumptions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is labor burden?
Labor burden is the total cost of employing a worker beyond their base hourly wage. It includes payroll taxes, workers' compensation, benefits, paid time off, training costs, and administrative overhead. For commercial contractors, labor burden typically adds 25% to 60% or more to the base wage rate.
How do I calculate labor burden rate?
Add all employment costs (taxes, insurance, benefits, PTO, training, admin) to the base wage, then divide by the base wage and multiply by 100 to get the percentage. Account for non-billable time by dividing your gross burdened cost by your billable utilization rate. This calculator handles both calculations automatically.
What is included in fully burdened labor cost?
Fully burdened labor cost includes: base hourly wage, employer payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA), workers' compensation insurance, health insurance and other benefits, retirement contributions, paid time off and holidays, training and certification costs, and non-billable time allocation. Each layer increases what you actually pay per productive hour.
Why is labor burden important for contractors?
Contractors who quote from base wage instead of true burdened cost consistently underprice their work. You may win bids and see revenue while silently losing money on every hour worked. Knowing your true labor burden protects your margin, ensures accurate estimates, and prevents you from committing to work at a loss.
FROM ONE CALCULATION TO COMPANY-WIDE QUOTE CONTROL
This calculator fixes one labor-cost assumption.
Quoteloc ensures your team quotes from the right labor-cost basis every time. Stop underpricing. Enforce true cost across every estimate.
WITHOUT QUOTELOC
Each estimator guesses at true burden
WITH QUOTELOC
Standardize true labor cost, protect every quote