Pressure Washing Hourly Rate Calculator

Pressure washing gets priced per square foot, per driveway or per house, so most operators never work out what their hour costs. The overhead is real: the rig itself, a pump that needs rebuilding, surface cleaners and hoses, a water tank, chemicals, fuel for the truck and the machine, insurance, and more marketing than most trades because the work is seasonal and the customer forgets you between years.

Billable share is around 55% once you count driving, setup, tear-down and quoting. Customers compare your quote to the one-time guy with a box-store machine; your rate has to be defended by the finish, the chemicals and the insurance, not by matching him.

Worked example: $23,500 of overhead, a $60,000 salary target with 20% burden, 48 weeks at 50 hours with 55% billable. That is 1,320 billable hours, a true cost of $72.35 an hour, and with a 15% margin you need $85.12 - round up to $90. Convert that to per-square-foot pricing by timing your real jobs.

Overhead	$23,500
Salary target + 20% burden	$72,000
Billable hours (48 wk x 50 h x 55%)	1,320
True hourly cost	$72.35
With 15% margin	$85.12
Shop rate (rounded up to $5)	$90

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 replacement (pump, surface cleaner, hoses, tank)

Software, accounting, bank fees

Licenses, permits, continuing ed

Website, ads, yard signs, 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 pressure washers ask

How do I turn an hourly rate into per-square-foot pricing?

Time three or four typical jobs including setup, divide the rate by the square feet you clean per hour, add chemical cost per square foot, then round to a number you can quote from the truck.

Should chemicals and water be in the rate?

No - treat them like materials and add them to each job with a markup. The hourly rate covers your time and the rig.

Is there a pressure washing quote calculator?

It is on the list. Use this calculator, leave your email and tell us your trade; the most-requested trade gets built next.

Next step

The pressure washing 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, Mobile Detailing. Or use the generic rate finder.