How Much Should Contractors Charge Per Hour?

Rates vary heavily by region and licensing requirements, but general handyman work commonly runs $40-$80/hour, licensed trades like electrical and plumbing often run $75-$150/hour, and specialty or design-build work can exceed that depending on market and complexity. Urban markets and areas with a higher cost of living push these ranges up meaningfully compared to rural markets.

New contractors often anchor on whatever the cheapest competitor charges, assuming that's the market rate. Frequently, that competitor is underpricing because they haven't accounted for overhead, insurance, or their own burden rate — and they either won't survive long-term or they're cutting corners somewhere to make the number work. Pricing to match them usually means inheriting their problem.

The rate matters less than whether it's built from your real overhead and target profit using the method in our Hourly Rate Calculator Guide. Two contractors charging the same $95/hour can have very different actual profitability if one built that number from real numbers and the other picked it because it 'sounded about right.'