What Tradespeople Charge in 2026: Hourly Rates by Trade
From an $18/hour helper to a $72/hour licensed electrician, hourly rates vary widely by trade and skill level. Here's what tradespeople bill in 2026, how it breaks down by trade, and what homeowners actually pay once overhead and profit are added in.
Published 2026-07-24 · Free to cite with a link to this page.
Key findings
- Licensed trades bill the most — electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs run $45–$72/hour, the top of the trades.
- General laborers start around $18–$38/hour — roughly a 4× spread from the bottom to the top of the trades.
- What you pay is higher than the labor rate. A handyman's billable labor might be $38–$55/hour, but homeowners pay $50–$110/hour once overhead and profit are included.
- Home services price by the visit as often as the hour — house cleaning runs $120–$280 a visit, lawn mowing $30–$85 for a small yard.
Billable labor rates by trade (2026)
The hourly labor rate a contractor builds into an estimate, before materials, overhead, and markup. Ranked by typical rate; the bar shows the top of each trade's range.
| Trade | Tier | Hourly labor rate | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | Licensed | $45–$72 | |
| Plumber | Licensed | $45–$72 | |
| HVAC technician | Licensed | $45–$72 | |
| Tile setter | Skilled | $45–$67 | |
| Flooring installer | Skilled | $38–$67 | |
| Roofer | Skilled | $38–$67 | |
| Finish carpenter | Skilled | $38–$55 | |
| Framing carpenter | Skilled | $25–$67 | |
| Painter | Skilled | $25–$67 | |
| Drywall installer | Skilled | $25–$67 | |
| Handyman | Semi-skilled | $38–$55 | |
| Laborer / helper | General labor | $18–$38 |
What homeowners pay for common home services
The all-in rate you actually pay to hire (labor + overhead + profit), for the trades we build estimate tools for. Click any trade to build a real quote.
| Service | Typical hourly | Typical job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handyman | $50–$110/hr | Small jobs $65–$230 | Build estimate → |
| House cleaning | $25–$75/hr per cleaner | Standard visit $120–$280 | Build estimate → |
| Lawn care & mowing | $40–$80/hr per crew | Per visit $30–$85 (small yard) | Build estimate → |
| Landscaping | $40–$80/hr | Project-based; varies by scope | Build estimate → |
| Painting | $25–$67/hr | Interior $2–$6 / sq ft | Build estimate → |
Setting your own rates?
A profitable rate isn't just your hourly wage — it's labor plus materials, overhead (insurance, vehicle, tools, downtime), and a profit margin on top. QuoteAnyJob's free tools do the math and turn it into a clean estimate or invoice in minutes:
Methodology & sources
Billable labor rates are drawn from published 2025–2026 residential construction labor-rate data on a single consistent basis, so trades compare fairly. Consumer "what you pay" rates for home services come from 2026 national pricing guides and reflect the all-in rate homeowners are quoted (labor plus overhead and profit), which is why they run higher than the raw labor rate. All figures are national averages; your local market, licensing requirements, and job complexity move real prices.
Sources
- CountBricks — U.S. residential construction labor rates (2026)
- HomeGuide — handyman prices, house cleaning prices, lawn care prices
Reuse: this data is free to cite or republish with attribution and a link to this page (https://quoteanyjob.com/hourly-rates-by-trade/).