Contractor Finance Glossary
What is Blended Bill Rate?
Definition reviewed . Source observations retain their stated periods.
Also called: average bill rate
Blended bill rate is the single average hourly rate you charge customers across all technicians and skill levels, calculated as total labor revenue divided by total billed labor hours.
Most shops bill different rates for apprentices, journeymen, and masters, but manage against one blended average. That average is useful for quick capacity and revenue math.
The risk is hiding the mix. A blended rate can hold steady while margin erodes because senior techs are doing work that should have gone to cheaper labor, or because discounting crept into one crew. Watch the blended rate for direction, then break it out by skill level to see what is actually happening underneath.
How it is calculated
Blended bill rate = labor revenue divided by billed labor hours, on a consistent scope. For a fictional $40 cost per paid hour at 70% billed hours divided by paid hours, comparable cost is $57.14 per billed hour before additional costs. The Level Index $79/hour median (n=1,770 contractors, overall 2022-2026 research) uses inconsistent rate-card fields that can contain customer rates, loaded cost or base wages; it is not a clean market billing-price target or direct comparator to this formula.
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