How the calculator works
It uses the same method as our guide on how much to charge for mobile mechanic work:
- 1Add up your year. Your pay target plus insurance, tools, your service vehicle (business miles times the IRS mileage rate), phone and software, marketing, and shop supplies.
- 2Divide by billable hours. Weeks you work times the hours a week customers pay for. That is your break-even rate.
- 3Add a cushion. Slow weeks, comebacks, and profit live here. The result is rounded up to the next $5.
- 4Price the drive separately. Round-trip miles times the mileage rate, plus drive time at a share of your labor rate, rounded up to the next $5.
- 5Quote it. Labor hours times your rate, parts at cost plus your markup, and the trip fee.
What to enter
- Your yearly pay: what you want to earn before income tax and self-employment tax.
- Insurance: use real quotes from a licensed agent for general liability, your vehicle, and your tools.
- Tools and equipment: what you spend a year replacing worn and broken tools and adding specialty ones.
- Business miles: miles you drive for work in a year. The calculator prices them at the current IRS rate.
- Billable hours: track one normal week and count only the hours a customer paid for.
- Trip fee inputs: your typical round trip, and how much of your rate the drive time should earn.
Is your rate too low?
Employed automotive service technicians and mechanics earned a median of $24.34 an hour in May 2025 (BLS). That is a wage, not a labor rate. As your own boss you carry every cost a shop would, so your rate has to be far higher than a technician's hourly pay. If you are booked solid and still short of your yearly budget, raise it.
Starting out? Our guide on how to start a mobile mechanic business covers licenses, insurance, taxes, and tools in order.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a mobile mechanic charge per hour?
Enough to cover your yearly pay target and every business cost over the hours customers actually pay for, plus a cushion. With this calculator's example numbers, $80,000 a year over 1,200 billable hours is $66.67 an hour to break even, and $80 an hour with a 20 percent cushion.
What is a fair trip fee for a mobile mechanic?
Charge what the drive costs you: the round-trip miles times a per-mile vehicle cost, plus the drive time at part of your labor rate. For 30 round-trip miles at the IRS rate of 76 cents and one hour of driving billed at half of an $80 rate, that is $22.80 plus $40, or about $65.
How many billable hours does a mobile mechanic have?
Fewer than the hours you work. Driving, parts runs, quoting, and texting customers all take time no one pays for. The example assumes 25 billable hours a week for 48 weeks; track a normal week of your own and use that number instead.
What do employed auto mechanics earn?
Employed automotive service technicians and mechanics earned a median of $24.34 an hour, or $50,620 a year, in May 2025, according to the BLS. A shop's labor rate is higher than its technicians' wages because it also pays for the building, equipment, insurance, and profit, and your rate has to cover those costs yourself.
Should my pay target include taxes?
Enter your pay before taxes, the way the example does, and plan to set money aside from every job. Self-employed mechanics pay income tax plus self-employment tax of 15.3 percent, which is 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare, according to the IRS.
Does the hourly rate include parts?
No. Price parts separately at your cost plus a markup that pays for the parts run, returns, and sourcing time. The sample quote shows a 30 percent markup as an example; the markup is your business decision.
Sources
- 1.Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- 2.Standard mileage rates (IRS)
- 3.Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) (IRS)
- 4.Pricing and fees (Stripe)
This calculator is a planning tool, not tax or legal advice. Check what shops in your area charge and talk with a tax professional before you settle on your prices.