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Business · Free tool

HVAC Labor Rate Calculator

Estimate the fully burdened hourly rate your HVAC company needs to recover costs and planned profit. Use it to organize an estimate—not as code, engineering, tax, legal, or manufacturer approval.

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How to use this tool

Enter the assumptions you can support from the job, your company records, and current supplier information. Review the result alongside actual costs, local requirements, equipment instructions, and professional judgment.

Disclaimer: SkilledCurrent calculator outputs are informational estimates only. They are not a substitute for applicable codes, engineering, tax, legal advice, manufacturer instructions, or qualified professional review.

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Before you rely on the result

Use the calculator as a working aid.

Use a loaded hourly labor cost plus hourly overhead recovery, then divide by one minus the planned profit percentage. This gives a working rate target—not a guaranteed selling price.

Applicability: For contractor operating assumptions. Enter company-supported wages, burden, annual overhead, productive billable hours, and a planned profit target.

Field example: At $32/hour wages, 28% burden, $85,000 annual overhead, 1,450 billable hours, and 15% planned profit: loaded labor is $40.96/hour, overhead recovery is $58.62/hour, and the calculated rate is about $117.15/hour.

Common input problems

  • Using paid hours instead of realistic billable capacity.
  • Leaving payroll taxes, benefits, or other burden out of the loaded labor input.
  • Treating a company rate target as the complete job price without materials, scope, and market review.

Review note: Business-calculation methodology reviewed September 7, 2026. This tool does not establish tax, wage, contract, or pricing requirements.

Calculator results are informational. They do not establish code compliance, engineering suitability, manufacturer approval, pricing adequacy, or site-specific safety requirements.