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Free Electrical Labor Cost Calculator

Electrical Labor Cost Calculator

Calculate the true cost of electrical labor with our free labor cost calculator. Add wages, payroll taxes, workers' compensation, benefits, billable hours, and overhead to estimate your labor cost per billable hour. Built by Arrivy for trade and service businesses, Arrivy helps teams connect labor costs with pricing, scheduling, job execution, and overall operational performance.

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Calculate Your Electrical Labor Cost With Arrivy

Enter the wage, payroll taxes, workers' compensation, benefits, billable hours, and overhead. Your labor cost updates in real time as you go. Review the results and adjust the inputs as needed.

Labor

Start with the wage, then the burden you pay on top of it.

Hourly wage

Labor burden (taxes, comp, benefits)

Billable time

The share of paid hours you can actually bill — the rest still has to be recovered in the rate.

Billable utilization65%

Overhead & profit

Overhead per billable hour (annual overhead ÷ billable hours)

Target net margin20%

Billable rate to charge

$0/hr

Loaded cost / hr

Breakeven rate

× the wage

0×

Wage to billable rate, per hour

Wage

Loaded cost / hr

Breakeven rate

Billable rate

Manage labor in Arrivy

Estimates use your inputs — adjust to match your real costs. Benchmarks are starting points, not advice.

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The Number Behind Every Labor Cost Decision

Your hourly wage is only one part of your labor cost. Payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, benefits, billable hours, and overhead all contribute to the total cost of electrical labor. Understanding your true labor cost helps you estimate work more accurately, set pricing with confidence, and make better operational decisions.

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Knowing your labor cost is only one part of the equation. Arrivy helps trade and service businesses connect labor planning with pricing, scheduling, job execution, and overall operational performance.

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How to Calculate Your Electrical Labor Cost

Use the calculator above or follow these six steps to calculate your own labor cost. Your true electrical labor cost includes more than the technician's wage, so account for employment costs, billable hours, and overhead.

1. Start with the base wage. Enter the technician's hourly wage or equivalent labor rate before additional employment costs.
2. Add payroll taxes and workers' compensation. Include employer-paid payroll taxes and workers' compensation costs associated with the technician.
3. Include benefits and other labor costs. Add applicable benefits and other employment-related costs that contribute to the total cost of employing the technician.
4. Account for billable hours. Estimate the number of hours available for billable work. Not every paid hour is billable, so this helps determine the labor cost per billable hour.
5. Add overhead. Include the electrical business's share of operating costs such as vehicles, insurance, software, equipment, facilities, and other business expenses.
6. Review your labor cost. Use the calculated cost per employee and per billable hour as a reference when estimating electrical work, setting prices, and evaluating job profitability.

Common Elements of an Electrical Labor Cost Calculation

An electrical labor cost calculation typically includes:

Base Wage

The electrician's hourly wage or equivalent labor rate before additional employment costs.

Payroll taxes

Employer-paid payroll taxes associated with the electrician's wages.

Workers' compensation

Workers' compensation costs based on the applicable rate for the employee or trade.

Benefits

Employment benefits such as health insurance, retirement contributions, paid leave, or other applicable benefits.

Other labor costs

Additional employment-related costs such as uniforms, tools, training, or other job-related expenses.

Billable hours

The number of hours available for billable work, used to calculate the labor cost per billable hour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Your business pays employees for all working hours, but not every hour is billable to a customer. Calculating labor cost based on billable hours gives you a clearer picture of the cost that needs to be recovered through your electrical services.

A labor cost calculation typically includes the electrician's wage, employer-paid payroll taxes, workers' compensation, benefits, and other employment-related costs. Including these costs provides a more complete estimate of your total labor cost.

A labor cost calculator estimates what it costs your business to employ a worker. A service pricing calculator uses those costs, along with other business expenses and desired profit margins, to help determine what to charge for a job.

Yes. The calculator can be used across different trades and service businesses. Simply enter the labor costs and other values that apply to your business and employees.

An electrical labor cost calculator estimates what it costs your business to employ a technician and perform billable work. A service pricing calculator uses labor costs along with other job expenses and your desired profit margin to help determine what to charge for the job.

Use the wage to calculate the employee's base cost, then account for employment costs and billable hours to determine your labor cost per billable hour. This gives you a more useful figure for estimating and pricing electrical work than the wage alone.

Yes. You can use the calculator for different employees or roles by entering the labor costs and billable-hour assumptions that apply to each person.

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