Pressure washing hourly rate calculator
Wage, overhead, chems and fuel, billable hours and margin in. Break-even and the number you need to net per hour out, checked against the 2026 band. This is the number you check a quote against, not the number you say to the customer.
Your numbers
The math
Loaded labor = wage × 1.25 (self-employment tax, insurance, a little time off)
Overhead per hour = monthly overhead ÷ billable wash hours
Break-even = loaded labor + overhead per hour + chems and fuel per hour
Target rate = break-even ÷ (1 − margin)
Example: $30 wage → $37.50 loaded. $1,800 overhead ÷ 90 wash hours = $20. Add $20 of chems and fuel. Break-even $77.50. ÷ 0.75 for 25% net = $103 a wash hour. Wash for less than $78 an hour and the truck is paying you, not the other way round; the gap between $78 and $103 is what survives a rained-out week and a pump rebuild. A $350 house wash that takes 3 hours on site nets about $117 an hour, inside the band. A $150 driveway that eats 2 hours with travel nets $55 and is the reason the month felt busy and came up short.
What to do with the number
Never quote it. Price by surface: driveway and flatwork per square foot, house wash per square foot of siding or flat by size, decks and fences per square foot with the strip and seal as add-ons. Then check every quote against this rate before you send it. Job price minus chems and fuel, divided by hours on site plus half the drive, has to land above your target. If it does not, either the price goes up, the travel gets a fee, or the job gets declined. The calculator does that check for every surface with the 2026 bands, free, no email. The Pricing Kit ($29) is the same method in a spreadsheet you own, with the rate card, add-on menu, quote template and objection scripts.
Three mistakes that keep the number too low
- Dividing overhead by 160 hours. You wash 80 to 110. Rain, driving and quoting are real hours your rate has to carry.
- Forgetting chems and fuel. $20 an hour of SH, surfactant and gas is $1,800 a month at 90 hours. Leave it out and a "good" $90 an hour is really $70.
- Matching the $99 driveway guy. His costs are not your costs, and at 2 hours with travel he is netting $30. Let him have it.