What Does a $21 an Hour Employee Actually Cost?
True cost per billable hour
$33.90
At 9% workers comp, 3% unemployment, 2% liability, $2 an hour of benefits and 6.5 billable hours in an 8 hour day.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Base hourly wage you pay21 $
- Workers comp rate9 %
- State and federal unemployment3 %
- General liability, as a payroll percent2 %
- Benefits, per hour2 $
- Productive hours out of every 86.5 hrs
True cost per billable hour$33.90
| Base wage | $21.00 /hr |
|---|---|
| FICA at 7.65% | $1.61 /hr |
| Workers comp at 9% | $1.89 /hr |
| Unemployment at 3% | $0.63 /hr |
| Liability at 2% | $0.42 /hr |
| Benefits | $2.00 /hr |
| Burdened cost, every paid hour | $27.55 /hr |
| Only 6.5 of 8 hours are billable | $33.90 /hrthis is what a billable hour actually costs you |
| Burden over base wage | 61.4% |
Billable hours in an 8 hour day compared
The billable share of the day is a multiplier on everything above it, so the whole cost moves with it.
| Billable hours in an 8 hour day | True cost per billable hour | Burden over base wage |
|---|---|---|
| 6 of 8 | $36.73 | 74.9% |
| 6.5 of 8 | $33.90 | 61.4% |
| 7 of 8 | $31.48 | 49.9% |
| 8 of 8 | $27.55 | 31.2% |
What else matters here
Twenty one dollars an hour costs $27.55 a paid hour and $33.90 a billable hour, 61.4 percent over the wage.
That $33.90 is a cost, not a rate. Turning it into a rate takes one more step: the billable cost has to carry overhead and profit like every other job cost. At 15 percent overhead and 10 percent profit, a $33.90 cost prices at $45.20 an hour.
Charge $40 and the labor is covered, but $5.20 of the overhead and profit on every hour is gone. Charge $35 and only $1.10 an hour is left for overhead and profit. The two calculators are meant to be used in sequence: this one says what the hour costs, the overhead and profit one says what it has to sell for.
What this calculator assumes
- FICA is fixed at 7.65 percent, the employer half of Social Security and Medicare.
- Workers comp rates are set per trade and per state and swing enormously. Roofing can run over 25 percent where office work is under 1. Use your own rate off your policy.
- The productive hours field is the one everybody skips and it is the one that decides whether the job makes money. Drive time, loading, fuel stops and cleanup are paid and unbilled.
Questions people ask
What does a $21 an hour employee really cost?
$27.55 per paid hour with burden, and $33.90 per billable hour at 6.5 productive hours in an 8 hour day.
What should I bill a $21 an hour employee out at?
$45.20 an hour at 15 percent overhead and 10 percent profit. The $33.90 billable cost is a cost, and it has to carry overhead and profit like any other job cost before it becomes a rate.
What counts as a productive hour?
Only the hours you can put on an invoice. Drive time, loading the truck, fuel stops and cleanup are all paid and none of them are billable.
The labor burden calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.
Other common sizes
15 more sizes are answered on the labor burden calculator page