Construction labor costs are the line a small contractor most often prices from a wage and most often loses money on, because the wage is not the cost. How to calculate labor cost in construction, done properly, starts one step earlier: the loaded rate per person, the wage plus the employer's payroll taxes, benefits, insurance and the other costs that ride on every hour worked. Then the crew's hours on the job at that rate, then the markup you choose, then the labor price on the bid. The construction labor calculator on this site does that arithmetic from your own figures, free and with no account, and publishes no rate.
Start from the loaded rate, not the wage
A crew member paid an hourly wage costs the business more than the wage every hour: the employer's share of payroll taxes, workers' compensation and liability insurance, health and retirement contributions, and the tools, truck and training that ride on the hour. The labor burden calculator on this site works the loaded rate from your own payroll; construction labor costs priced from the wage alone are priced below cost.
Crew hours on the job at the loaded rate
Count the people and the hours the job needs, at each person's loaded rate, and the labor cost is the sum. On the construction labor calculator's worked example, four people at 40 hours each are 160 crew hours, $5,040 of labor cost at a $31.50 loaded rate, and a $6,048 labor price once the employer's own markup is added. The calculator prices it on the page and shows the cost and the price side by side.
The markup is yours, and it is on the labor cost
How to calculate labor cost in construction ends with the markup: the share added to the loaded cost that covers the business's overhead and profit. The calculator takes the percentage you choose and shows the labor price it produces; it publishes no rate, because your overhead is not another contractor's.
Track it against the price
Once the job is running, the crew's actual hours at the loaded rate are read against the labor price on the bid, while there is still time to act. Pro keeps every job's crew hours, cost and price against the record. BurdenRateLedger Pro is $49 per month for the whole crew, with no per-seat and no per-job fee, and every calculator on this site computes free with no account.
Questions people ask about construction labor costs
How do I calculate labor cost in construction?
Loaded rate per person times crew hours on the job gives the cost; your markup on that cost gives the labor price. The construction labor calculator on this site does it from your figures, free.
What is included in construction labor costs?
The wage plus the employer's payroll taxes, insurance, benefits and the other costs that ride on the hour, for every hour the crew works on the job.
Does the site publish labor rates for construction?
No. Every figure is worked from your own payroll and your own markup; the site publishes no wage, rate or benchmark.