What is included in a loaded bill rate?

A loaded bill rate includes the base wage, employer payroll taxes for the state, benefits as a percentage of wages, allocated overhead, and any direct per-hour costs like supplies, travel, and equipment. The rate is then marked up to achieve your target profit margin.

How do state payroll taxes affect my bill rate?

Each state has different unemployment insurance rates, workers' compensation rates, and disability insurance requirements. The tool applies the tax rates for the state you select to compute the true employer cost per hour, which feeds into the final bill rate.

Should I include overhead as a percentage or a dollar amount per hour?

Overhead here is a percentage of direct labor cost. If you track overhead as a fixed cost per labor hour, convert it to a percentage by dividing your overhead per hour by your loaded wage cost, then multiply by 100 before entering it.

What bill rate should I start from for a new cleaner?

Start from true loaded cost (wage + burden + benefits + OH + direct/hr), then apply your target margin. On a $16 base wage in a light-burden state with 35% margin, many operators land in the mid-$30s/hr — confirm locally before you lock contracts.

Why does my “competitive” rate lose money every payroll?

Because the quote covered wage, not burden, supplies, travel, equipment, or overhead. If bill rate is set to look cheap, payroll week reveals the gap.

Bill Rate Calculator

A low bill rate looks competitive — until payroll week.

Inputs

Labor

Base wage ($/hr)

Target margin (%)

State

Benefits (%)

Overhead (%)

Supplies ($/hr)

Travel ($/hr)

Equipment ($/hr)

7-day account — blend OT into loaded wage

Assumes ~1/7 of hours at 1.5× OT (~+7% effective wage).

Calculate the hourly bill rate needed to cover direct labor, payroll burden, overhead allocation, and direct costs while hitting your target profit margin. Enter base wage, state, margin goal, and optionally benefits, overhead, and per-hour costs for supplies, travel, and equipment.

Instruction

Enter base wage and target margin, then pick your state for illustrative payroll burden.
Set benefits %, overhead %, and per-hour supplies, travel, and equipment.
Read the loaded wage and required bill rate.
If the rate feels high, cut OH or wage assumptions — do not silently shrink margin.

Worked example

A Texas contractor pays $16/hr base wage, targets 35% margin, carries ~7.5% benefits, 12% overhead, and $1.00/hr combined supplies/travel/equipment.

The tool returns about $34.97/hr bill rate — loaded wage lands near $19.40/hr after TX burden, then OH and margin stack on top.

Questions operators ask

What is included in a loaded bill rate?: A loaded bill rate includes the base wage, employer payroll taxes for the state, benefits as a percentage of wages, allocated overhead, and any direct per-hour costs like supplies, travel, and equipment. The rate is then marked up to achieve your target profit margin.
How do state payroll taxes affect my bill rate?: Each state has different unemployment insurance rates, workers' compensation rates, and disability insurance requirements. The tool applies the tax rates for the state you select to compute the true employer cost per hour, which feeds into the final bill rate.
Should I include overhead as a percentage or a dollar amount per hour?: Overhead here is a percentage of direct labor cost. If you track overhead as a fixed cost per labor hour, convert it to a percentage by dividing your overhead per hour by your loaded wage cost, then multiply by 100 before entering it.
What bill rate should I start from for a new cleaner?: Start from true loaded cost (wage + burden + benefits + OH + direct/hr), then apply your target margin. On a $16 base wage in a light-burden state with 35% margin, many operators land in the mid-$30s/hr — confirm locally before you lock contracts.
Why does my “competitive” rate lose money every payroll?: Because the quote covered wage, not burden, supplies, travel, equipment, or overhead. If bill rate is set to look cheap, payroll week reveals the gap.