Hourly Burden Rate Calculator — True Cost Per Employee Hour

How It Works

1. Enter Base Wage or Salary

   Enter the employee's hourly wage or annual salary. If salary, the calculator converts to hourly based on standard 2,080 hours per year. This is the gross pay before any employer burden costs.

2. Enter Employer Tax Rates

   Input your employer FICA rate (7.65% standard), FUTA rate, and state unemployment (SUTA) rate. These are mandatory employer-paid taxes on every dollar of wages. The calculator pre-fills federal rates and lets you adjust the state rate for your location.

3. Enter Workers' Compensation Rate

   Enter your workers' comp rate as a percentage of payroll or a dollar amount per $100 of payroll. Rates vary dramatically by trade: office work is around $0.50 per $100, electrical is $3-6, roofing is $15-25. Your rate is on your annual workers' comp policy declaration page.

4. Enter Benefits and Insurance

   Input the monthly cost of health insurance (employer portion), retirement match percentage, and annual cost of any other benefits (dental, vision, life insurance, disability). These are real costs that show up on your P&L but are often ignored in job costing.

5. Enter Paid Time Off and Billable Hours

   Specify vacation days, sick days, holidays, and training days per year. The calculator subtracts these from total paid hours to determine productive billable hours. The burden rate per billable hour is the number you use for job pricing.

Built For

• Electrical contractors calculating the true hourly cost of journeymen and apprentices for accurate job estimates
• Plumbing shop owners determining whether their billing rates cover the fully loaded cost of each technician
• HVAC companies pricing service calls based on real employee costs rather than base wage estimates
• General contractors comparing the cost of hiring employees vs using subcontractors for specific trade work
• Small business owners preparing budgets that account for the full cost of adding another employee
• Construction managers verifying that job labor estimates reflect actual burden rates for cost control

Features & Capabilities

Comprehensive Burden Components

Includes all major employer cost categories: FICA (Social Security + Medicare), FUTA, SUTA, workers' compensation, health/dental/vision insurance, retirement match, PTO, training, uniforms, tools, vehicle allowance, and allocated overhead. Nothing is left out.

Billable vs Paid Hour Distinction

Calculates both the cost per paid hour and the cost per billable hour. The billable rate accounts for PTO, training, drive time, and other non-billable hours. This is the critical number for job pricing that most contractors miss.

Burden Multiplier

Shows the burden multiplier, which is the ratio of total cost to base wage. A multiplier of 1.5x means an employee costs 50% more than their wage. Typical trades businesses see multipliers of 1.4x to 1.8x. If your multiplier surprises you, your job pricing has been wrong.

Annual Cost Summary

Breaks down the total annual employer cost into categories: wages, taxes, insurance, benefits, PTO cost, and overhead allocation. See exactly where every dollar goes and which categories are driving the burden rate.

Comparison Mode

Enter multiple employees or positions to compare burden rates side by side. Useful for comparing the cost of hiring a journeyman vs an apprentice, or an in-house technician vs a subcontractor.

PDF Export

Export the burden rate calculation as a branded PDF for business planning, loan applications, or discussions with accountants and partners.

Frequently Asked Questions