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How Much To Charge Per Hour as a Handyman

Where you set your hourly rate could mean the difference between success and failure in your early days as a handyman. If you set them too low, some people will think you do second-rate work. If you set them too high, some people won't hire you because you're too expensive. What's worse, once you've named a price, changing it up or down looks bad, and could also cost you some customers.

You can figure out how much to charge per hour two ways: You can start from what you need and figure out how you can reasonably ask that price, or you can set what you think is a fair price and rearrange your life and needs to be supported by that figure. Hopefully, the two methods will bring to approximately the same hourly rate.

Let's start with the first method: What do you need to live? If your monthly expenses come to $3,000, plus 25% for taxes, you'll need to make $3,750 a month to support yourself. That works out to $937.50 a week. If you work 20 hours a week (that's billable labor time, not time spent buying materials, time spent specing jobs, or time spent collecting payments or driving to jobs or doing your books or anything else), you'll need to charge an hourly rate of exactly $46.87 to cover your bills. That doesn't include anything for retirement or short term savings - and as a small business person, you'll definitely want a few months living expenses tucked away for piece of mind.

The $46.87 should be rounded up to $50 an hour. Don't be uncomfortable with it - handymen in the United States charge anything from $15 an hour to $150 an hour depending on the type of clientele they work for, where they work, and the kind of services they deliver. Some handymen who charge lower hourly rates will charge for the time it takes to go buy materials, and many other handymen charge extra gas mileage fees ($10-15 a trip) if they have to drive more than 20 minutes to get to a job.

Any of these options is open to you - just be sure you feel comfortable with whatever you decide. You'll need to have confidence when you explain your rates and how you charge to clients. Negotiating payment is no time to get wishy-washy or vague.

If you choose to pick your hourly rate by what you think you can get and work backward to see how it will meet your expenses, first look at what other handymen in your area are charging. Don't get distracted by what handymen elsewhere in the country are charging - rural Iowa is not New York City, and the hourly rates in one place do not apply to the hourly rates in another.

If you get resistance when you ask other handymens' rates, have a friend (perhaps someone posing as a prospective customer) make a few calls for your to find out. Get at least four different handymen's hourly rates before you make any decisions, and carefully weigh what services they do, their experience, their connections in the business community, and how they charge (by the job, for getting materials, for driving time, etc).

You can also compare car mechanics rates. Handymen tend to earn about half per hour of what auto mechanics charge, so make a few calls and see what hourly rate that gets you.

Armed with these estimates, you'll need to nudge your hourly rate up or down based on your own experience, your relationships with business owners and prospective customers (are you new in town, or 4th generation and the newphew of a judge?), and how good you plan to be to your customers, and what kind of customers you want to serve. In some parts of the country, simply being able to return phonecalls within 24 hours will put you head and shoulders above your competition. Service matters, and the right clientele will pay for good service.

Finally, don't vary your hourly rate. If you want to give discounts for family members, members of your church, seniors, or anyone else, then offer a 20% discount. Keep that hourly rate where it is - no waffling.

More articles about starting a handyman business:

How to Start a Handyman Business

Are You Cut Out to Be a Handyman?

Tools for a Handyman Business

Payment Options for Handymen

How To Advertise a Handyman Business

Customer Service Tips for Handymen

Choosing a Name for a Handyman Business

Record Keeping Basics for Handymen

Being a Handyman Versus Having a Handyman Business or a Franchise

Getting a Website for Your Handyman Business

Getting Paid Upfront: Deposit Policies for Handymen

How Much To Charge Per Hour

Should You Charge by the Hour, or by the Job?

Insurance for Handymen

The Handyman Guide: How to Fix and Build 1000s of Things Around the House