Labor Burden Calculator
Loaded labor rate from base wage plus payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits.
Trade-dependent
10 paid days = ~4%
2080 - non-billable
- Loaded labor rate
- $47.20/hr
- Burden multiplier
- 1.69x
- Annual total cost
- $80,246.40
- Burden per hour
- $19.20/hr
Base wage × this = loaded rate
Base wage is not what an hour of labor costs
Paying an employee $25 per hour costs the business closer to $38 per hour by the time payroll taxes, workers comp, health insurance, PTO, and non-billable time are counted. That gap is labor burden, and every contractor bidding based on straight wage is undercounting labor cost by 30 to 60 percent.
The three components: cash costs the employee never sees (employer FICA, unemployment, workers comp), benefits (health insurance, retirement, uniforms, tools), and time you pay for that does not bill (drive time, shop time, training, PTO).
Payroll taxes and workers comp
Payroll taxes: employer FICA is 7.65 percent, FUTA is around 0.6 percent (after credit), SUTA in Texas ranges from 0.31 to 6.31 percent depending on your experience rating. Combined, most contractors run 8 to 10 percent of wage in payroll taxes.
Workers comp rates vary wildly by trade. Office work is under 1 percent. Painting is 4 to 6 percent. Roofing can hit 20 to 40 percent. Framing runs 8 to 15 percent. Get the actual rate from your carrier; assumptions here are dangerous.
Health insurance, PTO, and non-billable time
Health insurance: if you provide it, add the monthly employer share divided by 173 hours per month to the burden. A $400 per month employer contribution is $2.31 per hour.
PTO: 10 paid days per year is 80 hours out of 2,080, which is about 4 percent of wage. Two weeks vacation plus 5 holidays runs closer to 6 percent.
Non-billable time is the sleeper cost. A 40 hour week with 32 billable hours means 20 percent of the annual salary is spread over the billable 80 percent. This shows up in the calculator as billable hours per year: 1,700 billable of 2,080 total pushes the loaded rate up by about 20 percent.
Common Texas trade burden multipliers
Painting, drywall, flooring: 1.35 to 1.45x on the base wage.
Plumbing, electrical, HVAC: 1.40 to 1.55x depending on workers comp classification.
Framing, concrete, general remodel: 1.50 to 1.65x.
Roofing: 1.65 to 1.85x. Roofing workers comp alone can add 25 percent to the wage.
A shop with an $25 per hour framer likely has a loaded rate around $40 per hour. That is the number to plug into the job cost calculator, not $25.
For contractors ready to price accurately
Underloading labor is the reason many small contractors work themselves broke. Peak Local Leads builds and ranks local trade sites for one contractor per Texas market. Try the calls free for a week.
Frequently asked.
- What is labor burden?
- The cost of employment above the base wage: payroll taxes, workers comp, health insurance, PTO, and non-billable time. Typically 30 to 60 percent on top of base wage.
- How much is workers comp for a contractor?
- Depends on trade classification. Painting is 4 to 6 percent of wage. Framing is 8 to 15 percent. Roofing can be 20 to 40 percent. Ask your carrier for your actual class rate.
- What is a typical labor burden multiplier?
- 1.35x to 1.65x for most residential trades. Roofing runs higher (1.7 to 1.9x). Office and estimator time is lower (1.2 to 1.3x).
- Should I include PTO in labor burden?
- Yes. Every paid hour that does not produce billable work has to be recovered in the loaded rate. 10 paid days per year is roughly 4 percent of base wage.
Make the phone the busiest tool on the truck.
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