Handyman Hourly Rate Calculator

Works out the hourly labor rate a solo handyman needs to charge to cover overhead, unpaid hours and a target take-home pay.

Your estimate

Hourly rate to charge...

Break-even hourly rate...

Billable hours per year...

Annual revenue at that rate...

Estimates only. Assumptions are listed below, and you can change every input.

Most handymen set their hourly rate by looking at what the guy across town charges, then shaving a few dollars off to win work. The trouble is that a rate built that way ignores the hours you cannot bill: driving, quoting, buying materials, chasing invoices and fixing the occasional callback. When those hours are left out, a rate that looks healthy on paper can leave you short by thousands of dollars at the end of the year.

This calculator starts from the other direction. You enter the take-home pay you want, the overhead your business actually costs, how many weeks and hours you work, and the share of those hours you can realistically bill. It divides the total money you need by the billable hours you really have, then adds the profit cushion you choose. The result is a rate that covers your real costs, not a guess. Every number is yours to change, so the answer is only as honest as the inputs.

How to use this tool

Enter the annual pay you want and your real yearly overhead, using last year's expenses if you have them.
Set your working weeks, weekly hours and the share of hours you can actually bill to a customer.
Read the rate to charge, then adjust the profit margin or billable share to see how sensitive your price is.

What the math assumes

Billable hours per year equals working weeks times hours per week times the billable share you enter; the default billable share of 65% is only a starting point, not an industry benchmark.
The break-even rate is your target pay plus overhead divided by billable hours, so it covers costs with no profit left over.
The profit margin is applied as a share of the final rate (rate equals break-even rate divided by one minus the margin), and the margin is capped at 99%.
Materials and subcontractors are treated as pass-through costs billed separately and are not part of this rate.
Personal income tax and self-employment tax are not deducted; the target pay you enter is what you want before those taxes.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the calculated rate higher than what I see other handymen charging?

Many published rates ignore unpaid hours and overhead, or belong to people who are underpaying themselves. If your rate looks high, check whether your billable share is realistic and whether your overhead is padded, but do not assume the lower number is right.

Should I put materials markup into this hourly rate?

No. This calculator assumes materials are billed separately at cost plus whatever markup you choose. Keeping labor and materials apart makes your quotes clearer and easier to defend.

What billable percentage should I use if I have never tracked it?

Look at last month: add up the hours customers paid for and divide by the total hours you worked, including driving and quoting. Most solo operators are surprised by how low the number is, which is exactly why it matters.

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