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Handyman hourly rate calculator

Work out what to charge from your own numbers: the pay you want, what the business costs to run, and the hours you can really bill. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

What you want to take home
$

After taxes and business costs. What you live on.

%

A rough share for income and self-employment tax. Ask your accountant.

What the business costs
$

Per month

$

Per month: payment, gas, upkeep

$

Per month, not job materials

$

Per month

Hours you can bill

52 minus vacation, holidays, sick days

Paid time at customers, not driving or quoting

How the math works

  1. Gross up your take-home pay for taxes. If you want $70,000 and set aside 25%, you need to earn $93,333 before tax.
  2. Add a year of business costs. Insurance, the truck, tools, your phone and software. $1,050 a month is $12,600 a year.
  3. Divide by the hours you can actually bill. 48 weeks at 30 billable hours is 1,440 hours.
  4. The result is your floor. $105,933 ÷ 1,440 hours = $73.56 an hour. Charge less and you're paying to work.

Materials aren't in this number. Bill them on top, at cost plus whatever markup you use for picking them up.

Why billable hours matter most

A 45-hour week isn't 45 billable hours. Driving between jobs, the hardware store, writing quotes, chasing payments and answering texts all take time nobody pays for by the hour. Track a few weeks honestly. If you bill 25 hours instead of 30, the same income needs a rate about 20% higher.

The fastest way to raise what you earn is often to bill more of the hours you already work: group jobs by neighborhood, quote the same day, and spend less time on paperwork.

Turning the rate into a price

Most customers want a price for the job, not a meter running. Estimate the hours, multiply by your rate, add materials, and round to a clean number. Put it on a quote with line items so the customer can see what they're paying for. Try the free handyman quote maker.

Spend your hours on paid work.

PlainJob turns quoting, scheduling and invoicing into a few taps from the driveway, so less of your week goes unpaid. Save your common jobs with your prices and drop them into any quote. $39 a month for up to 3 people.

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Questions

How much should a handyman charge per hour?

Enough to cover your business costs, the taxes you owe, and the take-home pay you want, spread over the hours you can actually bill. Use the calculator above with your own numbers; the answer differs a lot by area and by how many hours you really fill.

What are billable hours?

Hours you're doing paid work at a customer's place. Driving, buying materials, quoting, and paperwork are real work but usually not billed by the hour, so most solo pros bill 25 to 32 hours in a 45-hour week. Count yours honestly for a few weeks.

Should I charge a minimum for small jobs?

Most handymen do, often one hour or a set trip charge, because driving to a 15-minute job costs you the same as driving to a 2-hour one. The calculator shows your one-hour rate as a starting point for that minimum.

Hourly rate or flat price?

Customers usually prefer a flat price per job. Use your hourly rate to build it: estimate the hours, multiply, then add materials. The quote shows the job price; your hourly rate stays your private math.

Is the tax set-aside exact?

No. It's a rough share to put aside for income and self-employment taxes. Ask an accountant for the right number for you; this is not tax advice.