Estimate only — not a licensed bid, appraisal, or tax advice. Numbers stay in your browser.

Bid worksheet

Labor burden calculator: what that crew hour really costs

The wage on the offer letter is not what you pay to put someone on a job. Taxes, workers’ comp, benefits, and PTO load the hour. Enter base wage and burden to see the true hourly cost.

Line-item workbenchLive calc

Bid stack

Base wage
$28.00/hr
Labor burden
$8.40/hr
Loaded labor rate
$36.40/hr

Burden 30.0% of base wage

Common questions

Employer costs beyond base wages, including payroll taxes, insurance, benefits, and often PTO.
Usually those sit in overhead. Avoid counting them twice.
No. It is a planning estimate based on the rates you enter.
You priced wage, not loaded cost; markup never had a chance.

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