For garage owners · Costing

Garage Labour Rate Calculator

Find the right hourly rate for your workshop. Cover your costs, hit your profit target, and stay competitive in your market.

Rent or lease

Staff salaries (all-in)

Utilities (power, water, internet)

Other costs (tools, software, marketing)

Number of technicians

Productive hours per day

Target profit margin 25%

0%50%

Recommended hourly rate

$77.41/hr

Break-even: $61.93/hr · 25% margin built in

Total monthly fixed costs$21,800

Productive hours / month (2 techs × 8 hrs × 22 days)352 hrs

Target monthly revenue (labour only)$27,250

This covers labour rate only. Parts margin, accessories, and walk-in services typically add another 30–50% to total revenue.

Make sure you don’t under-price

A technician at 8 hrs/day rarely bills 8. Realistic productive hours are 5–6.5 — the rest is admin, downtime, parts wait, customer chat.

If you don’t pay yourself, your “profit” isn’t profit. Always include your own draw under salaries.

Survey 5 competitors’ rates. Land 5–10% above the average — then deliver visibly faster turnaround and digital invoices to justify it.

Autodots logs technician time per job — compare actual vs estimated hours and refine your rate.

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