Construction labor calculator
- Labor price to the customer
- $6,048
- Crew hours on the job
- 160
- Labor cost to you
- $5,040
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs entered, by the method stated below it. BurdenRateLedger publishes no wage, no tax rate, no benefit cost and no industry labor percentage: the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own payroll's figures.
The figures above start from a worked example ($6,048). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Construction labor calculator worked example (CSV)
This is a construction labor calculator that prices a crew's hours on a job from the loaded rate. People on the crew times hours each is the crew hours; crew hours at the loaded cost per hour, the crew's average from the labor burden calculator, is the labor cost to you; and your markup on that cost is the labor price on the bid. The loaded rate and the markup are yours; the tool publishes neither. Free, on the page, no account; the paid plan keeps every job's crew, hours, cost and price against the record.
Crew hours first, so the job can be scheduled
Four people at 40 hours each is 160 crew hours, and that figure is the schedule as well as the cost: how many days the crew is on site and when the next job can start. The tool shows it on its own before any dollar figure, because a job that is right on money and wrong on days is still wrong.
Labor cost at the loaded rate, not the wage
Crew hours at the loaded cost per hour is what the labor costs the business. Use the crew's average loaded rate from the labor burden calculator on this site, wage plus taxes and benefits, and not the wage: 160 hours at a $25 wage is $4,000 and at a $31.50 loaded rate is $5,040, and the $1,040 between them is the margin that vanishes when a crew is priced at the wage.
Markup on the loaded cost is the labor price
Your markup carries overhead and profit, and it goes on the loaded cost so the burden is covered before the markup starts covering anything else. $5,040 at 20% is a $6,048 labor price, a $1,008 margin on the labor. The paid plan keeps the job with its crew, its hours, its cost and its price, and reads the tracked hours against it as the work goes on.
BurdenRateLedger Pro
Keeping what you make
The tools are free forever. Pro turns them into the ledger: every employee's loaded rate kept and dated, every job's crew hours and labor price filed against it, your name and logo on the sheet, no watermark, and an export when the accountant or the bonding agent asks.
- Save worked loaded rates and job prices against the employee and the job
- Compare a job at two crews or two markups
- Share under your own name
- Job-priced and rate-review reminders emailed to your team
- Connect your own Stripe account and get paid online
- Connect your QuickBooks Online or Xero
$49per month, whole crew
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Construction labor calculator: common questions
Is this a free construction labor calculator? Yes. Enter the people on the crew, the hours each, the loaded cost per hour and your markup, and it works out the crew hours, the labor cost and the labor price on the page with no account and no card. Print it as it stands. BurdenRateLedger Pro adds your business name and keeps every job's crew, hours, cost and price against the record.
How do I estimate labor cost for a construction job? Estimate the crew and the hours each from the scope, load the hourly rate with taxes, insurance and benefits from your own payroll, multiply, and mark the result up to carry overhead and profit. This tool does the multiplying and the markup; the labor burden calculator on this site does the loading. Neither publishes a rate, because the rates are yours.
What if the crew has different rates? Enter the crew's average loaded rate here, weighted by who works the most hours, or run the tool once per rate and add the results. The paid plan carries a loaded rate per employee and prices the job from each person's own hours at their own rate, which is the answer when a journeyman and two apprentices are on the same job.