Manufacturing Labor Burden Calculator
Union benefits, shift premiums, and plant-floor workers comp put manufacturing burden near 36%. A $22 operator costs almost $30 an hour.
Pre-filled with manufacturing estimates: workers comp 3.0%, benefits 12.0%, 12 PTO days, overhead 5.0%. Edit any field below.
Social Security + Medicare (7.65%)
Federal unemployment (effective 0.6%)
Health, retirement, etc.
$40.67/hr
Fully burdened rate
35.5%
Burden added
$84,583
Annual cost
Burden breakdown
A $40.67/hr fully burdened rate is real money per placement. Skillora's AI screens every candidate so you only pay for the right ones.
Estimates only, using editable 2025 US defaults. Tax and insurance rates vary by employer, classification, and locality. Verify with a licensed accountant before relying on these figures.
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A machine operator on $22 an hour costs a plant almost $30 an hour at the defaults on this page, and a union plant with a defined-benefit pension costs more. Manufacturing burden sits between office work and construction: benefits are richer than most service industries, workers comp depends on what the machine does, and shift premiums raise the base every percentage is applied to. This manufacturing labor burden calculator starts from plant-floor defaults.
Why labor burden is different in manufacturing
Benefits drive manufacturing burden more than taxes do. BLS ECEC data consistently show goods-producing industries paying a larger benefits share than service industries, and union plants push that higher through pension contributions and low-deductible health plans. The 12% default for health and retirement fits a non-union plant with a 401(k) match. A plant under a collective bargaining agreement should enter the per-hour contributions from the contract as a percentage of base wages.
Workers comp is set by operation. Light assembly and electronics classes carry rates in the low single digits. Metal stamping, forging, sawmills, and foundries carry rates several times higher. NCCI assigns the class by the product and process, so two plants under one roof can carry different rates. The 3% default is a midpoint estimate; the declaration page on your policy has the real number.
Shift differentials and overtime matter because burden is a percentage of wages. A second-shift premium of $1.50 and steady overtime can lift the average hourly rate 10% above the posted base. Enter the blended rate the role actually earns, then the burden percentages produce the true cost per hour worked.
Worked example with manufacturing defaults
Take a machine operator at $22.00 an hour. Add employer FICA at 7.65%, FUTA at 0.6%, state unemployment at the 2.7% US default, workers comp at 3.0%, benefits at 12.0%, and 9.6% for overhead plus 12 PTO days. Total burden is 35.5%, so the fully burdened rate is $29.82 an hour, or $62,028 a year on 2,080 hours against $45,760 of base wages.
| Role (pay estimate) | Pay rate | Burden | Fully burdened | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machine operator | $22.00/hr | 35.5% | $29.82/hr | $62,028 |
| CNC machinist | $27.00/hr | 35.5% | $36.60/hr | $76,125 |
| Assembler | $19.00/hr | 35.5% | $25.75/hr | $53,569 |
Pay rates are rounded estimates near national medians, and the SUI line uses the US default. Open a state page from the labor burden by state list to swap in a local SUI estimate, then enter your own class rate for workers comp.
What drives the range
Union versus non-union
Union contracts specify hourly contributions to health, pension, and training funds. Convert them to a percentage of the base wage before entering them as benefits. A $6 an hour contribution on a $24 base is 25%, not 12%.
Process class code
Workers comp follows the manufacturing process. A plant that moves from assembly to stamping moves to a higher class. Check the class codes on your policy and weight the rate by payroll in each.
Overtime and shift premium
Use the blended hourly rate including premiums. Applying burden to the base rate alone understates cost on any shift that runs overtime.
Turnover and training
Plant-floor turnover means repeated safety training and onboarding. That cost, plus PPE and uniforms, sits inside the 5% overhead default. High-turnover plants should raise it.
Manufacturing burden defaults
| Input | Default | Typical spread (estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Workers comp (% of payroll) | 3.0% | 1.5% to 6.0% by class code |
| Benefits (% of wages) | 12.0% | Health and retirement only |
| Paid time off | 12 days | 4.6% of a 2,080-hour year |
| Overhead (% of wages) | 5.0% | Entered as 9.6% with PTO |
| Typical total burden | 35.5% | 25% to 40% |
Sources: benefits share from the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release; workers comp variation from NCCI class codes and state rating bureaus; pay estimates near BLS OEWS medians. PTO, overhead, and the burden range are estimates, not published figures.
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC): benefits share of total compensation by industry
- NCCI class codes and state workers compensation rating bureaus: rate variation by classification
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS): median hourly wages by occupation
- PTO, overhead, and burden range defaults are Skillora estimates from staffing practice, not published figures
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