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Labor Rate & Break-Even Calculator for Mobile Mechanics and Small Shops

Free, no signup. Runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere. Updated 2026-10-17.

Replace the example inputs with your own numbers. The starting values reproduce the worked example in our pricing formula guide. They're examples, not statistics, except where a source is cited below.

1. Annual costs

2. Billable hours

3. Parts profit (optional)

4. Break-even at your posted rate

5. Price a job

The math, with your numbers

Next: work out a fair trip fee with the trip & travel-fee calculator (opens with your rate filled in).

How to read the results

Break-even rate covers your pay and every cost at your planned billable hours, with nothing left over. Target rate adds the profit you set aside for reinvestment, slow months and replacing tools. Price at or above the target; the break-even rate is the floor you never quote below.

  1. Billable share is the biggest lever. Driving between jobs, parts runs, estimates that don't convert and comebacks are hours you work but can't bill. The 51% default is an example chosen to match our worked example (about 1,100 billable hours), not a statistic. Log one month and use your real share.
  2. Parts profit lowers the labor rate you need, but only if the markup actually sticks. If customers often supply their own parts, leave section 3 at zero.
  3. Adding a technician? Put their wages plus payroll taxes and workers' comp in "technician wages", and set "people billing labor" to 2. See W-2 vs 1099 for your first tech and workers' comp.
  4. Compare with the market. In the OEC/PartsTech 2026 survey of about 700 U.S. general repair shops, the most common average labor rate was $100-$119/hour, and nearly half of shops reported $100-$139 (PartsTech/OEC). Tekmetric's Shop Index (10,000+ North American shops) shows a national average effective labor rate of $134.92 (Tekmetric). If your target is well below those, you likely have room to charge more for coming to the customer. If it's well above, check billable share and vehicle cost first. More in auto repair labor rates in 2026.
  5. Sanity-check per job against national ranges in our brake, battery/alternator/starter, oil change, A/C and diagnostic fee guides.

Where the defaults come from

Next steps

Sources