What should you charge per hour? Build the rate from your own numbers
Charge at least
$114/hr
- Total working hours/year
- 2,160 hrs
- Billable hours (60%)
- 1,296 hrs
- Break-even per billable hour
- $102.62/hr
- HVAC market reference range
- $95–$190/hr
Your required rate sits inside the typical hvac billed-rate range — chargeable in most metros. Remember this covers YOUR hours; employee labor needs its own burdened-rate math.
How this calculator works — the formula
billable hours = hours/week × weeks/year × billable%
rate = (salary + overhead) ÷ billable hours ÷ (1 − profit%)
Worked example: $85,000 salary + $48,000 overhead over 45 hrs × 48 wks × 60% billable = 1,296 billable hours → $102.62/hr break-even → at a 10% profit target, charge $114/hr. The market reference ranges in the tool are editorial reference points for typical billed rates by trade — your metro and specialty move them.
Questions contractors actually ask
How many billable hours does an owner-operator really have?
Typically 50–65% of working time. Quoting, supply runs, driving, callbacks, and bookkeeping consume the rest. Overestimating billable share is the most common reason a computed rate comes out too low.
What do the trades charge per hour in 2026?
Typical billed service rates run roughly: HVAC $95–$190, plumbing $90–$180, electrical $85–$165, painting $55–$95, lawn care $45–$80 per person-hour, roofing $65–$120. Metro, specialty, and demand move these significantly — treat them as sanity checks on your own math, not prices to copy.
Should I price hourly or flat-rate?
Compute your hourly number either way — it's the input. Then quote customers flat-rate where you can: flat pricing rewards your speed, avoids clock-watching disputes, and is how the software-equipped shops you compete with all quote. Our per-trade job pricing calculators do the flat-rate math.
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