Mobile Detailing Hourly Rate Calculator

Mobile detailing is sold as a menu - interior, exterior, ceramic - so the hour underneath the menu is easy to lose. The overhead for a one-van operation is the van, a generator and water setup, polishers and an extractor, pads and chemicals that get used up, insurance, and a bigger marketing line than most trades because the business runs on repeat customers and reviews.

Billable share can be good, around 60%, because jobs are long and you drive to one location and stay. Customers compare your menu to the drive-through wash and to the dealership; your price sits well above the first and near the second, and the hour behind it needs to say so.

Worked example: $24,000 of overhead, a $60,000 salary target with 20% burden, 48 weeks at 50 hours with 60% billable. That is 1,440 billable hours and a true cost of $66.67 an hour; with 15% margin you need $78.43, rounded up to $80. Price every menu item as hours at that rate plus consumables.

Overhead	$24,000
Salary target + 20% burden	$72,000
Billable hours (48 wk x 50 h x 60%)	1,440
True hourly cost	$66.67
With 15% margin	$78.43
Shop rate (rounded up to $5)	$80

Your trade

1. Overhead - what it costs to exist for a year, before any job

Yearly amounts. Rough is fine; you can tune it later in the spreadsheet.

Truck or van payment

Fuel, maintenance, tires

Insurance (liability + vehicle)

Phone, internet

Equipment and consumables (polishers, pads, chemicals, extractor)

Software, accounting, bank fees

Licenses, permits, continuing ed

Website, social ads, uniforms

Office, admin, everything else

2. You - what you should be paid

Salary you want to pay yourself (per year)

Burden on that salary (self-employment tax, health, retirement) %

3. Time - hours you can actually bill

Weeks worked per year

Hours worked per week (all of them)

Share of those hours you can bill %

Profit margin you want on top %

Questions detailers ask

How do I price a full detail from the hourly rate?

Time the job honestly - a full interior and exterior on a dirty SUV is often four to six hours - multiply by the rate, add consumables, round up. If the number looks high, the hours are the problem to solve, not the rate.

Should I count chemicals in overhead or per job?

Per job when you can (extractor solution, ceramic coating); the rest as overhead. Either way it has to be somewhere, or you are paying for it out of your salary.

Is there a detailing pricing menu builder?

It is on the build list. Run the calculator, leave your email and tell us your trade; the trade with the most requests goes first.

Next step

The mobile detailing price book is on the build list. Run the calculator, leave your email above and tell us your trade - the trade with the most requests gets built first.

Other trades: Electrician, HVAC, Plumber, Handyman, Landscaper, Pressure Washing. Or use the generic rate finder.