Why Handyman Rates Run Lower in Raleigh Than Nearby Metros

A Raleigh handyman’s billed labor rate works out to roughly $48 to $72 per hour, centering near $60, derived from the 2025 median wage of $23.98 per hour times a burden multiplier of 2 to 3. The gap against other metros is not at the median. It is at the top: Raleigh’s 75th percentile wage runs 2.9% below the national figure, so experienced work bills cheaper here.

Key points

• The Raleigh median handyman wage is $23.98 per hour, which is $0.14 (0.6%) above the national median of $23.84, so the common claim that Raleigh is a cheap median market is wrong.
• Raleigh’s 75th percentile wage is $29.24 against $30.10 nationally, a $0.86 (2.9%) discount, and the Raleigh mean of $25.24 sits $0.62 (2.4%) below the national mean of $25.86.
• Raleigh’s 25th percentile wage of $21.05 is $1.41 (7.2%) above the national $19.64, meaning the local wage range is compressed from both ends.
• Applying a 2.5 burden multiplier to the local median gives a billed labor rate of $59.95 per hour, so a four hour job costs about $240 in labor before any materials.
• Lumber PPI rose 10.1% and hand and edge tools rose 6.2% in the twelve months to July 2026, which moves a material-heavy job total more than the wage does.

This site does not call contractors, collect quotes, or inspect properties. Every figure below either comes from the federal data listed in the sources or is arithmetic performed on that data in front of you. Where an assumption is used, it is labeled.

What do Raleigh handymen actually earn?

The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for Raleigh covers 6,330 General Maintenance and Repair Workers in the metro for survey year 2025. Here is the raw wage data with nothing added.

Wage point	Raleigh, NC	NC statewide	United States	Raleigh vs US ($)	Raleigh vs US (%)
25th percentile	$21.05	$18.74	$19.64	+$1.41	+7.2%
Median (50th)	$23.98	$23.03	$23.84	+$0.14	+0.6%
Mean	$25.24	$24.26	$25.86	-$0.62	-2.4%
75th percentile	$29.24	$28.63	$30.10	-$0.86	-2.9%
Employment	6,330	43,440	1,529,700

Read the shape, not just the middle. Raleigh’s inter-quartile spread is $29.24 minus $21.05, or $8.19. The national spread is $30.10 minus $19.64, or $10.46. Raleigh’s wage range is 21.7% narrower than the national one. The bottom is lifted and the top is capped.

That compression is the whole story. If your job needs a body with a drill, Raleigh is slightly more expensive than the national picture. If your job needs somebody who has done it two hundred times, Raleigh is cheaper. Most homeowners comparing quotes across metros are comparing the second kind of work, which is why the “Raleigh is cheaper” impression holds even though the median says otherwise.

Raleigh also sits above its own state. The metro median of $23.98 is $0.95 above the NC statewide median of $23.03, a 4.1% premium.

Why is the wage not the price you pay?

The numbers above are what the worker is paid. Nothing else. What lands on your invoice is that wage multiplied by a burden and overhead factor covering payroll taxes, workers’ compensation premiums, general liability insurance, the truck, fuel, tools, unbillable drive and office time, warranty reserve, and profit.

The multiplier used on this page is 2.0 to 3.0, with 2.5 as the middle case. That is an assumption, not a measured figure. It is the range commonly worked with for small residential contractors. It is not published by BLS and this site has not surveyed anyone to confirm it. If you know a specific firm’s overhead structure, substitute your own number and redo the multiplication; the arithmetic is one step.

Wage point	Wage	x2.0 billed	x2.5 billed	x3.0 billed
Raleigh 25th	$21.05	$42.10	$52.63	$63.15
Raleigh median	$23.98	$47.96	$59.95	$71.94
Raleigh mean	$25.24	$50.48	$63.10	$75.72
Raleigh 75th	$29.24	$58.48	$73.10	$87.72
US median	$23.84	$47.68	$59.60	$71.52
US 75th	$30.10	$60.20	$75.25	$90.30
Raleigh trade supervisor	$37.35	$74.70	$93.38	$112.05

The supervisor row matters when a quote looks high. First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers in Raleigh earn a median $37.35 per hour. If the person doing your job is a licensed supervisor rather than a general maintenance worker, $93 per hour at a 2.5 multiplier is internally consistent, not padding. Ask who is coming.

What does a job actually cost, hour by hour?

This is the table to find your own row in. Labor only, Raleigh median wage of $23.98, single worker, no materials, no trip charge. Formula for every row: hours x 1 worker x $23.98 x multiplier.

Job hours	Typical scope	Labor at x2.0	Labor at x2.5	Labor at x3.0
1	Ceiling fan swap, single door adjust	$47.96	$59.95	$71.94
2	Toilet reseat, two blinds, TV mount	$95.92	$119.90	$143.88
3	Grab bars, caulk a bath, minor drywall patch	$143.88	$179.85	$215.82
4	Interior door hang, gutter clean, shelving run	$191.84	$239.80	$287.64
6	Deck board replacement, fence section	$287.76	$359.70	$431.64
8	Full-day punch list, exterior trim repair	$383.68	$479.60	$575.52
12	Small bath fixture package over two days	$575.52	$719.40	$863.28
16	Multi-room drywall and paint prep	$767.36	$959.20	$1,150.56
24	Deck rebuild section, siding repair run	$1,151.04	$1,438.80	$1,726.56
40	Week-long renovation punch, full house prep	$1,918.40	$2,398.00	$2,876.00

Worked example for the four hour row at 2.5, every step visible:

• Crew size: 1 worker
• Hours on site: 4
• Labor hours: 1 x 4 = 4
• Wage: $23.98 per hour (Raleigh median, BLS OEWS 2025)
• Burden and overhead multiplier: 2.5 (assumption)
• Labor: 4 x $23.98 x 2.5 = $239.80
• Material allowance: your number, not ours. A $120 allowance gives $359.80
• Disposal, permit, trip charge: not included, see below

Two workers double the labor hours. Two people for eight hours is 16 labor hours, which is the $959.20 cell at 2.5. If the second person is the supervisor at $37.35, redo it as (8 x $23.98 x 2.5) + (8 x $37.35 x 2.5) = $479.60 + $747.00 = $1,226.60.

How much does the crew mix change the answer?

Two axes here: who is on the job, and what multiplier their firm runs. Every cell is an eight hour day.

Crew	Labor hrs	x2.0	x2.5	x3.0
1 worker at 25th ($21.05)	8	$336.80	$421.00	$505.20
1 worker at median ($23.98)	8	$383.68	$479.60	$575.52
1 worker at 75th ($29.24)	8	$467.84	$584.80	$701.76
1 supervisor ($37.35)	8	$597.60	$747.00	$896.40
2 workers at median	16	$767.36	$959.20	$1,150.56
1 median + 1 at 25th	16	$720.48	$900.60	$1,080.72
1 supervisor + 1 at median	16	$981.28	$1,226.60	$1,471.92
3 workers at median	24	$1,151.04	$1,438.80	$1,726.56

Notice which axis moves the number more. Going from a 25th percentile worker to a supervisor at a fixed 2.5 multiplier takes an eight hour day from $421.00 to $747.00, a 77% jump. Going from a 2.0 to a 3.0 multiplier on a median worker takes it from $383.68 to $575.52, a 50% jump. Who shows up matters more than how the firm books its overhead. A quote that will not name the crew is hiding the bigger variable.

What has materials inflation done to the total?

Wages here are a 2025 survey figure and this page has no earlier Raleigh wage to compare against, so labor is held flat in this table and only materials move. Doing otherwise would mean inventing a number.

The Producer Price Index for hand and edge tools (series WPU1042) read 334.192 in July 2026 against 314.591 twelve months earlier, up 6.2%. Lumber (series WPU081) read 291.019 against 264.248, up 10.1%. These are index points, not dollars. They tell you direction and rate, never a price.

Material allowance a year ago	Tool-heavy today (+6.2%)	Lumber-heavy today (+10.1%)
$50	$53.10	$55.05
$100	$106.20	$110.10
$200	$212.40	$220.20
$400	$424.80	$440.40
$800	$849.60	$880.80

Now the total, on a four hour job with labor fixed at $239.80:

Materials a year ago	Total then	Total now (lumber)	Change
$100	$339.80	$349.90	+3.0%
$300	$539.80	$570.10	+5.6%
$600	$839.80	$900.40	+7.2%
$1,000	$1,239.80	$1,340.80	+8.1%

The more your job is wood, the more of that 10.1% you eat. A ceiling fan swap barely notices. A deck repair notices most of it.

What burden multiplier does your quote actually imply?

Run the arithmetic backwards. Take the hourly rate on the page and divide by the Raleigh wage to see what the firm is assuming.

Quoted hourly rate	Implied multiple of median ($23.98)	Implied multiple of 75th ($29.24)	Reading
$45	1.88	1.54	Below the normal range. Check insurance and licensing.
$55	2.29	1.88	Inside the range, lean side.
$65	2.71	2.22	Inside the range.
$75	3.13	2.57	Top of range at median wage, normal for a senior worker.
$85	3.54	2.91	Only consistent if a senior worker or supervisor attends.
$95	3.96	3.25	Above range on both. Ask what it covers.
$125	5.21	4.27	Emergency, specialty, or a supervisor-rate job. Ask which.

A rate below the range is not a win. Someone has to pay for workers’ compensation and liability coverage, and if the price does not, the risk sits with you.

When is this estimate wrong?

Often. The calculation above prices one thing: a person’s time, marked up. It cannot see any of the following, and each can outweigh the entire labor figure.

• Permits and inspections. Electrical, plumbing and structural work generally requires a permit. The fee and the wait are outside this math entirely.
• Disposal. Old decking, drywall, a cast iron tub, or anything with asbestos or lead paint carries handling and dump costs that have nothing to do with hourly rate. Pre-1978 housing brings EPA lead-safe rules into play, and the rule is on epa.gov, not in any wage table.
• Code upgrades triggered by the repair. Open a wall, find ungrounded wiring, and the job stops being the job you priced.
• Access. Second-story exterior work, crawlspaces under 30 inches, and anything needing scaffolding or a lift add hours the scope description never mentions. Steep roof pitch does the same on roof-adjacent work.
• Season. Storm damage clusters demand into a few weeks. The wage data is an annual survey and cannot show that.
• Emergency call-out. After hours and same-day work carries a premium no percentile in the OEWS table captures.
• Minimum charges. Most firms bill a one or two hour minimum plus a trip charge. The one hour row in the table above is often not purchasable as one hour.
• Survey timing. The wage data is survey year 2025, published against 2026 prices. Wages have moved since and this page does not know by how much.
• What the data covers. General Maintenance and Repair Workers is a broad occupation including in-house building maintenance staff, not only independent residential handymen. The mix inside those 6,330 Raleigh workers is not visible.

Two things homeowners get wrong

Misconception one: Raleigh handymen are cheap. At the median they are not. $23.98 in Raleigh against $23.84 nationally is a 0.6% premium, and against the NC state median of $23.03 it is a 4.1% premium. Raleigh is the most expensive of those three at the middle. The discount only appears at the 75th percentile, where $29.24 is 2.9% under the national $30.10, and in the mean, 2.4% under. Anyone quoting a large Raleigh discount for basic work is not reading the wage data.

Misconception two: the hourly rate is the wage plus a bit. A $60 rate against a $23.98 wage is not a $36 profit. That $36.02 covers employer payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, liability insurance, vehicle and fuel, tool replacement into a hand tool market up 6.2% year over year, unbilled drive time between calls, quoting time on jobs never won, and warranty callbacks. Profit is what survives all of that. Treating the whole markup as margin leads to negotiating against the insurance line, which is the line you want funded.

How do you read a real quote against these numbers?

A quote you can check has these items separated on the page:

1. Labor, as hours times a rate, not a lump sum. Without the hour count you cannot use any table above.
2. Crew composition. One worker or two, and at what level. This is the single biggest variable, worth up to 77% on an eight hour day.
3. Materials, itemized with an allowance figure. Lumber has moved 10.1% in twelve months, so a stale allowance goes wrong fast.
4. Trip charge and minimum, stated as their own numbers.
5. Disposal, as its own line.
6. Permit fee, either quoted or explicitly excluded and assigned to you.

The one question that exposes a padded bid: “How many labor hours is this, and who is on site for them?” Divide the labor total by the hours, divide again by $23.98, and read the multiple off the reverse table. A firm that quotes competently answers in seconds. A firm that will not break out hours is asking you to accept a number you cannot check, and that is where the padding lives.

What to check before you sign

• The hour count and crew composition are written on the quote, not agreed verbally.
• The implied multiple against $23.98 lands between roughly 2 and 3, or the quote explains why it does not.
• The material allowance is dated and itemized, given lumber is up 10.1% year over year.
• Permit responsibility is stated in writing, yours or theirs.
• Disposal is priced or explicitly excluded.
• Proof of liability insurance and workers’ compensation. A rate under about $48 per hour implies a multiple below 2.0, and that coverage is usually what got dropped.
• Change order terms: what triggers one, and what hourly rate applies to it.
• Payment schedule tied to milestones, not a large deposit up front.

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