Service pricing calculator
Most route pricing is a number someone said out loud in 2019 and nobody has re-checked since. This builds the price from the bottom: the minutes, the chemicals, the overhead they carry, and the margin you want left over.
Price a stop from what it actually costs you. The wage default is the US median for general maintenance and repair workers — $23.84/hour, BLS, May 2025.
Price this stop at
$36.95per visit
| Line | Per stop | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Labour (37 min) | $14.7 | $63.66 |
| Chemicals | $6.5 | $28.15 |
| Overhead | $4.66 | $20.2 |
| Total cost | $25.87 | $112 |
| Profit at target margin | $11.09 | $48 |
| Billed | $36.95 | $160 |
A full day at this price bills
$517
Drive time is the job
A stop that takes twenty-five minutes on site and twelve minutes to reach is a thirty-seven minute job. Route businesses that price only the on-site time are donating roughly a third of their labour, every stop, all season. Put the drive in and the number changes shape immediately.
The wage default, and why it is there
The calculator starts at $23.84 an hour because that is the US median hourly wage for general maintenance and repair workers in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 — the closest published occupation to a route tech. It is a starting point, not your payroll. Type your real loaded cost in, including the employer side of tax and insurance, and the price moves accordingly.
Margin is not markup
A 30% margin means 30% of the price, not 30% added to cost. The calculator divides by (1 − margin) rather than multiplying, which is why the number is a little higher than the one most people expect — and why most people are under-charging.
What to do with the answer
Compare it against what the market near you charges — the cost guide walks the ranges owners see. If your honest price sits above the local going rate, the fix is usually density, not discounting: tighter routes cut drive time, and drive time is the biggest single line in this calculation.