Quick Answer
How much should a plumbing company charge per hour?
The math behind a plumbing hourly rate: loaded labor cost, billable hour percentage, overhead recovery and target margin, plus when to switch to flat rate.
The short answer
- Never copy a competitor's rate; you cannot see their overhead or billable hour percentage.
- Fully loaded plumber cost usually runs $60 to $90 an hour once taxes, van and insurance are included.
- Most residential plumbing companies need $120 to $200 an hour billed to hit target margin.
- Billable hour percentage is the number that quietly breaks most rate calculations.
Build the rate in four steps
Use your own numbers in this order.
- 1. Loaded labor cost: wage plus payroll taxes, benefits, van, fuel, insurance and tools
- 2. Billable hours: paid hours minus drive, supply house, shop and callbacks
- 3. Overhead per billable hour: annual overhead ÷ annual billable hours
- 4. Apply the margin divisor: total ÷ (1 − target gross margin)
The billable hour trap
A plumber paid 40 hours often bills 26 to 30. Pricing against 40 gives away roughly a quarter of your labor before the first invoice goes out.
When to move to flat rate
Once you have timed your common tasks, flat rate usually beats hourly for residential work. The rate math stays; the customer just sees one clear number.
Illustration: building one plumber's rate
- Wage
- $34.00 / hour
- Payroll taxes, benefits, insurance
- +$9.00
- Van, fuel and tools per paid hour
- +$7.00
- Loaded cost per paid hour
- $50.00
- Cost per billable hour at 68% billable
- $73.53
- Plus overhead $34, at 45% target margin
- ≈ $195 / hour billed
What this tells you: Example numbers. The jump from $50 to $195 is not greed; it is the billable-hour and overhead math most rates skip.
What you see inside LedgerDude
This is the page you get each month once your books are closed — the numbers behind every answer on this site.
In one sentence
Work from loaded plumber cost of roughly $60 to $90 an hour, add overhead recovery and target margin, and most residential shops land between $120 and $200 an hour billed.
Related answers
Straight answers to the other questions plumbing owners ask us.
What is a good profit margin for a plumbing business?
Plumbing service work should run 50 to 60 percent gross margin, remodel and repipe work 30 to 40 percent, with 10 to 15 percent net profit for the company.
What is a good profit margin for a contractor?
Most trade contractors should run 25 to 45 percent gross margin depending on how material-heavy the work is, and 8 to 12 percent net profit.
What is labor burden rate and how do you calculate it?
Labor burden is everything an employee costs beyond wages — taxes, insurance, benefits, vehicle and tools — and it usually adds 25 to 60 percent on top of the hourly wage.
How do contractors manage cash flow?
Forecast cash weekly for thirteen weeks, invoice the day work is complete, collect deposits on material-heavy jobs, and keep a cash floor equal to six to eight weeks of outflow.
Run a different trade?
Questions people ask
Should apprentices bill at a lower rate?
Usually yes for time-and-material work, priced from their own loaded cost. Under flat rate the task price stays the same regardless of who performs it.
How often should I raise my rate?
Review twice a year and whenever wages or material costs move. Rates that lag a cost increase by a year are expensive.
What if my market will not bear $195?
Then the answer is lower overhead or higher billable hours, not a rate that loses money. Selling more work at a losing rate accelerates the problem.
What does this cost?
One flat monthly price. No hourly bills, no surprises. Founding plans start at $149 a month, and your rate stays locked.
Keep reading
What is a good profit margin for a plumbing business?
Plumbing service work should run 50 to 60 percent gross margin, remodel and repipe work 30 to 40 percent, with 10 to 15 percent net profit for the company.
What is labor burden rate and how do you calculate it?
Labor burden is everything an employee costs beyond wages — taxes, insurance, benefits, vehicle and tools — and it usually adds 25 to 60 percent on top of the hourly wage.
How much should an HVAC company charge per hour?
Work backward from the true cost of an hour in the truck — usually $65 to $95 fully loaded — then add your target margin, which puts most residential rates between $125 and $200 an hour.
Contractor CFO services
What we do for plumbing owners every month.
Home services hub
How we set the books up for your trade.
All answers
Every question we have written a straight answer to.
Pricing
Flat monthly plans based on your revenue.
Want your books handled for you?
We read your receipts, match your bank activity, and close your books every month. You get one short list of questions and a dashboard that always tells the truth.