Electrical Pricing Guide for Solo Contractors: What to Charge and How to Know

Pricing is the thing nobody wants to talk about. You either charge too little and end up working hard for nothing, or you worry about charging too much and losing the job. Most solo electricians land somewhere in the middle and still aren't sure if they're doing it right.

This is a straightforward breakdown of how to think about your rates.

Hourly vs. flat rate

Most guys start with hourly because it feels safer. You're covered no matter how long the job takes. The problem is customers hate it. They don't know what they're signing up for, so they're watching the clock the whole time you're there.

Flat rate is better for the customer and better for your business once you get good at estimating. You quote a price, they say yes, you do the job. No clock watching. No explaining why it took longer than expected.

The cleanest setup is a combination. Flat rate for standard jobs you've done a hundred times. Hourly for anything that could go sideways.

What to charge

Rates vary by market, but here's a realistic range for a solo electrician in most parts of the country:

These are floors, not ceilings. If your market supports more, charge more. Charging less than $100 on a service call makes customers think something is wrong.

The number most guys get wrong

Your hourly rate is not what you make per hour. After truck, tools, insurance, slow weeks, unpaid estimates, and time you spend on invoicing and admin, your real take-home is a lot less than your rate suggests.

A simple rule: whatever you need to clear per year, divide by 1,000 billable hours. That's your floor. Everything below that number is losing money.

Most solo guys who think they're doing fine are actually underbilling by $10 to $20 an hour when you run the real math.

If you want to see your own number, the OhmFlow Profit Calculator walks you through it in about 2 minutes.

Raising your rates

The best time to raise your rates is when you're busy. If your schedule is full and you're turning down work, you're underpriced. Raise your rate on new customers first. Existing customers can stay where they are until renewal or until the price difference becomes worth the conversation.

You don't need to announce it. You just start quoting higher and see what happens. Most of the time, nothing happens. Customers pay it.

The admin cost nobody counts

Every hour you spend on invoicing, chasing payments, and doing paperwork is an hour you're not billing. If invoicing takes you two hours a week, that's 100 hours a year. At $100 an hour, that's $10,000 in lost billing time.

Getting your paperwork fast is a real part of your rate strategy. Less time on admin means more time billing.

If you're weighing tools like Jobber or Housecall Pro to help with that, see how the real costs compare once you factor in QuickBooks sync and time per invoice.