For garage owners · Costing

Garage Hourly Rate Calculator

Work out the labour rate your shop must charge to break even — then add a target margin. Costs first, price second.

Number of bays

Working hours per bay per day

Working days per month

Bay utilisation 70% — how full your bays actually are

20%95%

Rent / lease

Total staff wages (technicians + admin)

Utilities (power, water, internet)

Other overheads (tools, marketing, software)

Target profit margin 25%

0%60%

Hourly rate to charge

$53.57/hr

To cover costs and earn 25% profit margin

Break-even rate (zero profit)$40.18/hr

Total monthly costs$23,400

Billable hours per month582 hrs

Target monthly revenue$31,200

If your local market won’t pay this rate, you have two real levers: cut fixed costs (rent/staff) or raise utilisation (more bookings per bay-day).

Reality check on your numbers

Even busy garages average 65–75% bay utilisation. If you assume 95%, your math will lie to you and you’ll under-price.

Owner-operators often forget to pay themselves. Include your own salary in wages — your time is the most expensive resource in the shop.

A 5–10% marketing line in overheads is the difference between “empty bay” and “90% utilisation”. Cut it last, not first.

Autodots sends real customer bookings to verified garages. No subscription on the customer side.