All Calculators/Labor Cost Calculator

Labor Cost Calculator

Calculate true labor cost per worker including taxes, insurance, and burden.

Project duration (days)

Hours per day

Burden Rates

Social Security (%)

Medicare (%)

Federal Unemployment (%)

State Unemployment (%)

Workers Comp (per $100)

Liability Insurance (per $1,000)

Downtime (%)

Crew

Role

Hourly wage ($)

% of project

Taxable

One of the most common estimation mistakes is underestimating labor costs. This construction labor cost calculator will help you determine how much labor will cost to complete a project. It supports fully customizable burden rates (employer-paid taxes and insurance), multiple trades or worker types, and a downtime percentage.With Houzz Pro’s Time and Expense Tracking tool, you can accurately track and enter time and expenses as they happen, giving you real-time data on costs and profitability. With the app, your field crews can use multiple stopwatches to track tasks and invoice them later.Streamline your project estimating and proposal development process with our construction estimating software.

How to estimate labor costs for construction workers

The formula for calculating construction labor costs is:

Labor cost = (Hourly wage + Hourly burden) x Total hours

Let’s break this down further:

Hourly wage is the amount you pay your workers in cash (ex. $35 per hour).
Hourly burden is the taxes and benefits that you provide and pay for on each employee’s behalf. These costs include payroll taxes, unemployment, and workers' compensation insurance.
Total hours for a project include all workers of the same class, and are calculated with this formula:
Crew size x Hours per day x Number of days

Here are the steps to calculating labor costs with our labor cost calculator:

Itemize all tasks or trades (framing, electrical, plumbing, etc.)
Determine how long each task will take (hours per day and number of days)
Enter your burden rates for the following:
State unemployment percentage
Workers' compensation insurance rate (per $100 in wages)
Liability insurance rate (per $1,000 in wages)
Adjust productivity by estimating the percentage of time workers spend on administrative tasks or traveling
For each role or trade, enter the hourly wage, the percentage of the project schedule they will be working, and whether their wages are taxable (non-taxable wages include subcontractor costs)
Add more roles as needed to complete your crew
The calculator provides a breakdown of the costs for construction labor, including:
Base wages for each role or trade
Tax and insurance calculations for each role or trade
Total base wages for the crew
Total taxes and insurance for the crew
Total labor cost

Here’s an example to show how the labor cost calculator works:

Project duration: 10 days
Hours per day: 8
Social security rate: 6.2%
Medicare rate: 1.45%
Federal unemployment rate: 0.6%
State unemployment rate: 2.7%
Workers' compensation rate: $5.00 per $100
Liability insurance rate: $8.00 per $1,000
Downtime percentage: 10%
Crew information:
Carpenter. $35.00 per hour, 80% of project, taxable
Finish Carpenter: $40.00 per hour, 20% of project, taxable

Here are the results from the calculator:

Carpenter
Base wages: $2,240
Taxes/insurance: $375.20
Finish Carpenter
Base wages: $640
Taxes/insurance: $107.20
Total base wages: $2,880
Total taxes/insurance: $482.40
Total labor costs: $3,698.40

This calculator can help you verify your labor line items before completing a bid or determine whether you should hire a subcontractor or perform the work in-house.

How much should you charge for construction labor?

Now that you know how much your labor will cost, you can use that information to determine how much to charge.A markup percentage is added to your costs to cover overhead expenses and profit.Profit margin is the percentage of the selling price that is profit.Use Houzz’s Markup Calculator or Profit Margin Calculator to determine what to charge for labor based on your profitability goals.

Labor Cost Calculator

How to estimate labor costs for construction workers

How much should you charge for construction labor?

Other Calculators