Crew Cost Calculator
Reviewed by Gerald G., founder & reviewing editor of CalcAuthority — journeyman cabinet installer, former subcontractor, and former contracting business owner who operated with 18 employees. The framing is from the field; every number comes from the stated formula.
Every day your crew is on a job, a very specific amount of money leaves your business — whether the job is priced right or not. Most owners can quote their wage rates instantly but hesitate on the only number that matters at bid time: what does a crew-day cost? This calculator multiplies crew size by fully burdened labor cost to give you the cost per hour, per day, and for the whole job. Use your burdened rate from the Labor Burden Calculator — not raw wages — or the answer will flatter you.
How It Works
The math is deliberately simple — the discipline is in the inputs. Average burdened rate means the average of each crew member's true hourly cost including payroll taxes, insurance, benefits, and non-productive time. A three-man crew of a $43.78 lead and two $29.69 helpers averages $34.39 — so the crew costs $103.16 per hour, about $825 per 8-hour day, before a single board or gallon of paint.
The output is the labor line of your job cost. Put it next to materials and subs, add overhead recovery, and you have the cost floor a bid has to clear — which is exactly what the Break-Even Job Price Calculator does next.
Worked Examples
Example 1 — four-man crew, twelve days. Crew of 4, average burdened rate $40/hr, 8 hours/day, 12 days. Per hour: 4 × $40 = $160. Per day: $160 × 8 = $1,280. Job labor cost: $1,280 × 12 = $15,360. If the bid's labor allowance is $13,000, the job is $2,360 underwater on labor alone before it starts.
Example 2 — three-man crew, one week. Crew of 3, average burdened rate $35/hr, 10 hours/day, 5 days. Per hour: $105. Per day: $1,050. Job total: $5,250. Note the 10-hour day: if hours past 40/week trigger overtime premiums, the true figure is higher — see limitations.
What This Result Means
The result is your labor cost floor for the job — money that is spent the moment the days are worked. It is not a price. A bid must cover this number plus materials, subs, overhead share, and profit. The most useful habit is the cost-per-day number: once you know a crew-day costs $1,280, every schedule slip, weather day, and callback converts instantly into dollars.
Reading the Result
- Job labor cost under 30% of bid price: typical for material-heavy work; check that materials are priced as carefully as labor.
- 30–50% of bid price: the normal zone for labor-driven trades.
- Over 50% of bid price: possible for service and punch-list work, but margin now lives and dies on labor productivity — a 10% schedule overrun can erase the profit. Run the Bid Check Calculator.
Bands are editorial reading aids based on how labor share behaves across trade types, not a published survey. Your trade's normal labor share may sit differently — what matters is knowing yours and noticing when a bid deviates from it.
When to Use This Calculator
Use this calculator:
- At bid time — convert estimated days on site into a labor cost you can defend.
- Mid-job — when a job runs long, each extra day costs a knowable amount; three extra days in Example 1 is $3,840 straight out of the job's profit.
- When deciding crew size — compare a 4-man crew for 9 days against a 3-man crew for 12 and see which configuration costs less.
- Before saying yes to schedule pressure — overtime and added bodies both have prices; this tool shows them before you commit.
Limitations
- Assumes one average burdened rate; a crew with a big wage spread is better modeled per person and summed.
- Does not add overtime premium automatically — hours past 40/week usually cost 1.5× the wage portion.
- Days on job means paid crew days; if you pay for mobilization, demobilization, or return trips, count them.
- Labor only: no materials, equipment rental, subs, or overhead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use wages or burdened rates here?
Burdened rates, always. Raw wages understate crew cost by 25–60% once payroll taxes, workers' comp, insurance, benefits, and non-productive paid time are counted. Run each classification through the Labor Burden Calculator once, then use those numbers here. If you only have wages handy, the result is a floor of the floor — useful for a rough sanity check, dangerous for pricing.
How do I handle a working foreman or my own hours?
If you swing a hammer on the job, your hours are a real labor cost even though you do not send yourself a paycheck per hour. Assign yourself a burdened rate at least equal to what it would cost to hire your replacement, and include your hours in the crew. Owners who count their own labor as free are subsidizing every bid with unpaid work.
What about days when only part of the crew is on site?
Model the job in phases: run the calculator once per crew configuration (4 workers for 6 days of rough-in, 2 workers for 4 days of finish) and add the totals. Averaging crew size across the whole job blurs exactly the detail that makes the estimate accurate.