Calculate total labor costs for your construction project. Enter hourly rate, estimated hours, and crew size to determine your labor expense. Understanding your true labor cost is essential for profitable bidding.
Total Labor Cost
$5,400.00
Total Worker-Hours
120 hours
The formula is straightforward:
Total Labor Cost = Hourly Rate x Hours x Crew Size
For example, with a $45/hour burdened rate, 40 hours, and 3 workers:
Total Labor Cost = $45 x 40 x 3 = $5,400
Your burdened hourly rate is not just wages. It includes:
A worker earning $25/hour often costs $35-50/hour when fully burdened.
Use production rates to estimate hours:
Hours = Quantity / Production Rate
For example, if a worker installs 25 receptacles per hour:
Hours for 100 receptacles = 100 / 25 = 4 hours
Always adjust production rates for job conditions (height, complexity, occupied space).
Common questions about this calculation
Include base wage, payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA), workers comp insurance, health benefits, vacation/sick pay, retirement contributions, and training costs. Burden typically adds 30-50% to base wages. A $25/hour worker often costs $35-45/hour fully burdened.
Use production rates from industry data or your own job records. Divide the quantity of work by your production rate. For example, 500 SF of drywall at 40 SF/hour = 12.5 hours. Adjust for job conditions that affect productivity.
Yes, supervision is a labor cost. Include foreman and superintendent time allocated to the project. A common approach is to include 1 foreman hour for every 4-6 worker hours, depending on crew experience and job complexity.
Overtime is typically 1.5x base wage for hours over 40/week. Your burden rate may stay the same (taxes still apply), but base rate increases. If overtime is expected, calculate it separately at the higher rate.
Common factors that reduce productivity: working at heights, occupied buildings, weather exposure, travel between work areas, unfamiliar building layout, night or shift work, and coordination with other trades. Apply multipliers (1.1x - 1.5x) to base hours.
Tectonic AI automatically extracts quantities from your construction plans. Get the numbers you need to estimate accurately in minutes, not hours.
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