Pocket InvoiceA wage figure is not a customer service rate. A business rate must account for paid time that cannot be billed, employment costs, vehicles, equipment, administration and other overhead. Revenue is also not the same as the owner's take-home pay.
Verified US wage references
The following BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook figures are US national median annual wages for May 2025, in US dollars. They are occupation-level wage statistics, not advertised job offers or independent contractor prices.
| Occupation | Median annual wage | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| Electricians | $63,190 | BLS electrician profile |
| Heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers | $61,010 | BLS HVAC profile |
| Welders, cutters, solderers and brazers | $53,750 | BLS welding profile |
The median is the midpoint of the wage distribution, not an average and not a guaranteed starting salary. The welding category includes more than one occupation. Read the category and year before comparing it with a specialist vacancy.
Compare the role as well as the salary
Look at location, experience, working hours, overtime arrangements, benefits, training and the work performed. Apprentice pay and qualified technician pay need separate comparisons. A national number cannot establish the appropriate wage in a particular town.
To compare an annual offer with an hourly offer, use the actual paid-hour assumptions and clarify which allowances or benefits are included. A simple annual amount divided by 2,080 is only a conversion under a 40-hour, 52-week assumption, not a statement of someone's schedule or a service rate.
Calculate the employer's labor cost
Add wages to the employment costs that apply to the business, such as employer contributions, paid leave, benefits and training. Account for paid time spent travelling, preparing, writing estimates or performing administration according to your cost method.
Use actual payroll and local obligations. Applying a universal percentage uplift to every worker can conceal meaningful differences in hours, benefits and employment arrangements.
Use billable hours to test the business rate
Consider a hypothetical service business with $72,000 of annual labor cost and $24,000 of overhead assigned to that service. The amount to recover is $96,000. If 1,200 hours can be charged to customers, the cost per billable hour is $80.
| Calculation | Example |
|---|---|
| Annual cost to recover | $72,000 + $24,000 = $96,000 |
| Cost per billable hour | $96,000 ÷ 1,200 = $80 |
| Rate at 20% margin on these allocated costs | $80 ÷ (1 − 0.20) = $100 |
| If billable hours fall to 1,000 | $96 cost per hour; $120 at the same margin |
Parts, job-specific rentals and any separately applicable tax are outside this simplified example. Do not count the same overhead in both the hourly rate and a separate job-cost line.
Explain the charge on the customer document
For hourly work, show the agreed rate and recorded billable time. For a fixed-price service, describe the scope and approved amount instead of implying the customer is buying an employee's wage. Keep diagnostic visits, materials and extra work clear.
Sources and scope
Figures are from the three linked US BLS profiles, checked October 4, 2026. The labor-cost calculation is illustrative. US wage statistics do not establish pay in another country or a legal minimum wage.