Calculator
Employee Cost Calculator
See what a field employee really costs you — not just the wage. Enter base pay, payroll taxes, workers’ comp, benefits, and other costs to build your labor burden rate and the fully-burdened cost per hour, per billable hour, and per year. This is the burden % the Labor Rate Calculator asks you to type in — build it here first. Free, no signup.
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More costs
Total annual burden$20,192
$28.00/hr base wage34.7% labor burden
True cost / billable hour
$58.01
$78,432/yr fully loaded · $37.71 per paid hour
Labor burden is in the typical range
Labor burden rateAdded on top of base wages
34.7%Cost at a glance
Fully-burdened annual cost
$78,432Base wages plus every burden cost — your real payroll line
Cost per billable hour
$58.01Fully-burdened cost ÷ hours actually billed (65.0% of paid)
Cost per paid hour
$37.71Across 2,080 paid hours/yr
Labor burden rate
34.7%Home-service labor burden: 25–45% of base wages
Base annual wage
$58,240$28.00/hr × 2,080 hrs
Total annual burden
$20,192Taxes, workers’ comp, benefits, and other costs
Where your labor dollar goes
- Base wages: $58,240
- Payroll taxes: $5,533
- Workers' comp: $2,912
- Health insurance: $7,200
- Retirement match: $1,747
- Other costs: $2,800
$78,432/yr all-in. Base wages are only part of the cost — the rest is the burden most owners forget when they set prices.
Billable vs paid time
Billable hours / yr
1,35265.0% of 2,080 paid hours
Non-billable hours / yr
728Drive time, PTO, training, and shop time you still pay for
Billable-hour premium
$20.30Extra cost per billable hour from non-billable time
This is the burden % to plug into the Labor Rate Calculator — this tool builds the number that one asks you to type in.
Industry benchmarks
- Employer payroll taxes
- ~9–10% of wages
- Workers’ comp (trades)
- $2.6–6 / $100 payroll
- Typical labor burden
- 25–45% of wages
- Billable efficiency
- 55–70% of hours
Workers’ comp for the trades: ~$2.6–6 per $100 of payroll
What you'll get
Enter the wage and paid hours
Start with the base hourly wage and the hours you pay for in a year (2,080 for full-time). This is the number most owners stop at — the true cost is higher.
Add taxes, insurance, and benefits
Layer on employer payroll taxes (~9–10%), workers’ comp, health insurance, retirement match, and other costs like uniforms, phone, tools, and a truck allowance.
Get the true cost and burden rate
See the fully-burdened annual cost, your labor burden rate as a % of wages, and the cost per billable hour once non-billable time is accounted for — the number you must clear on every job.
How it works
- 1
Enter the wage and paid hours
Start with the base hourly wage and the hours you pay for in a year (2,080 for full-time). This is the number most owners stop at — the true cost is higher.
- 2
Add taxes, insurance, and benefits
Layer on employer payroll taxes (~9–10%), workers’ comp, health insurance, retirement match, and other costs like uniforms, phone, tools, and a truck allowance.
- 3
Get the true cost and burden rate
See the fully-burdened annual cost, your labor burden rate as a % of wages, and the cost per billable hour once non-billable time is accounted for — the number you must clear on every job.
How contractor contractors calculate the true cost of an employee
The wage on the offer letter is never what an employee actually costs. Once you add employer payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, health insurance, retirement, and the smaller line items — uniforms, phone, training, tools, and a truck — the real cost is typically 25–40% above base wages. That gap is your labor burden, and pricing off the raw wage quietly erases your margin on every job.
This calculator builds your labor burden from its parts: it totals every employer-paid cost, expresses it as a burden rate (burden ÷ base wages), and turns the fully-burdened cost into a rate per paid hour and per billable hour. Because contractors are only on a billable job for part of the day, the cost per billable hour — not per paid hour — is what your prices must cover. Feed that burden % straight into the Labor Rate and Job Pricing calculators so every quote clears your true cost.
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View licensing guidesEmployee Cost Calculator FAQs
How do I calculate the true cost of an employee?
Add every employer-paid cost on top of base wages — payroll taxes (FICA 7.65% plus FUTA/SUTA), workers’ comp, health insurance, retirement match, and extras like uniforms, phone, tools, and vehicle — then divide that total by base wages to get your labor burden rate. Add the burden back to wages for the fully-burdened cost. Example: a $50,000 wage with $16,553 of burden is a 33% burden rate and a $66,553 true cost.
What is a typical labor burden rate?
For most home-service trades, labor burden runs 25–40% of base wages. Workers’ comp is the biggest swing factor — it varies by trade class code, state, and claims history (roughly $2.60–$6 per $100 of payroll). Rich benefits, union scales, or prevailing-wage work can push burden past 45%.
Should I include PTO as a separate cost?
No — that double-counts. Paid time off is already inside the wages you pay for the year. Instead, account for it with billable efficiency: the share of paid hours a tech is actually on a billable job. Dividing the fully-burdened annual cost by billable hours (not all paid hours) gives the cost per billable hour you should price from.
Is this employee cost calculator free?
Yes. Every tool on CloseCrew is free for contractors — no account required. Use it with the Labor Rate, Job Pricing, and Break-Even calculators: this tool builds the labor burden % those tools ask you to enter.
