Pricing & Margin
The hourly wage is the smallest piece.
Your true labor burden rate is what a productive crew hour actually costs after taxes, insurance, PTO, and downtime.
The full stack
A $22/hr climber, fully burdened.
- 01
Base wage: $22.00
The number on the offer letter. Where most owners stop. Where the real number starts.
- 02
Payroll taxes (7.65%): $1.68
Social Security and Medicare. Federal and state unemployment on top, depending on state.
- 03
Workers comp (15-25% in tree care): $4.40
Tree work is one of the highest-rated occupations in the country. Roofing, electrical, HVAC follow close behind.
- 04
Health, PTO, gear: $3.98
Health contribution $2.50, PTO at 4% = $0.88, boots, training, climbing gear $0.60.
- 05
Productive-hour factor: × 1.43
Rain days, drive time, equipment failure, lunch. Productive hours are about 70% of paid hours.
The math
$22 wage. $45.80 real cost.
Subtotal after taxes, insurance, and benefits: $32.06. Apply the 70% productive factor (divide by 0.7, or multiply by 1.43) and the productive-hour cost lands at $45.80.
An owner quoting jobs against the $22 number is losing roughly 50% margin on every labor line. Every job.
The takeaway
Burden rate isn’t optional. It’s the actual cost.
Run the burden math on every position once a year. Use the burdened, productive-hour number in your estimates. Update it when wages, comp rates, or benefits change. Every line on every quote becomes more honest the moment you do this.
If your labor line uses the wage and not the burden, your gross margin is a fiction.
The bottom line
Quote the real cost of an hour, not the wage.
Calculate your burden rate this week. Then look at your last 10 quotes with new eyes.