Day rate calculator: Contractor Day Rate Benchmark
The median published figure in the Contractor Day Rate Benchmark is 29.60 USD across 2 sources' own pages (range 29.59 to 29.61 USD), read 11 September 2026.
2 of the 6 named sources read in full publish a figure; 4 publish none, read 11 September 2026.
By occupation
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| occupationElectricians (SOC 47-2111) | 29.61USD | 29.61 to 29.61USD | 1 |
| occupationPlumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters (SOC 47-2152) | 29.59USD | 29.59 to 29.59USD | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| US BLS OEWS: electricians | 29.61USD | Electricians (SOC 47-2111) | 2026-09-11 |
| US BLS OEWS: plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters | 29.59USD | Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters (SOC 47-2152) | 2026-09-11 |
The sentence each figure was read from (2)
- US BLS OEWS: electricians, read 2026-09-11:
Hourly Wage $ 18.49 $ 23.13 $ 29.61 $ 38.59 $ 50.09
- US BLS OEWS: plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters, read 2026-09-11:
Hourly Wage $ 18.60 $ 22.99 $ 29.59 $ 38.56 $ 49.59
Read in full, publishes no figure
4 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- ONS ASHE Table 14: earnings and hours worked, all employees, read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- ONS ASHE Table 14: earnings and hours worked, occupation by four-digit SOC, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- ONS ASHE Table 15: earnings and hours worked, region by occupation by four-digit SOC, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- ONS: Employee earnings in the UK, 2025 release, read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
2 of the 6 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 4 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 2 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in USD (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 22 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): the ONS ASHE distribution - median and quartile hourly pay per four-digit occupation, and the same crossed with region - converted to a day rate on a stated hours assumption, one row per trade per region per vintage.
The derivation is the two things ASHE does not give and no trade site publishes honestly: the EMPLOYEE-to-CONTRACTOR bridge (the day rate a self-employed tradesperson must charge to match an employed median once employer National Insurance, holiday, pension and utilisation are added back, computed from the rate table above), and the regional spread as a ratio to the national median, so 'electrician day rate' answers with a number, a region and a distribution rather than one figure.
Series on every ASHE release, with the revision carried.
22 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (8)
- US BLS OEWS: electricians(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US BLS OEWS: plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- ONS: earnings and working hours(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- ONS ASHE Table 14: earnings and hours worked, all employees(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- ONS ASHE Table 14: earnings and hours worked, occupation by four-digit SOC(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- ONS ASHE Table 15: earnings and hours worked, region by occupation by four-digit SOC(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- ONS: Employee earnings in the UK, 2025 release(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- the ONS ASHE table universe(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
Cite or embed this figure
The median published figure in the Contractor Day Rate Benchmark is 29.60 USD across 2 sources' own pages (range 29.59 to 29.61 USD), read 11 September 2026.
2 of the 6 named sources read in full publish a figure; 4 publish none, read 11 September 2026.
Contractor Day Rate Benchmark, occupation Electricians (SOC 47-2111): median 29.61 USD across 1 source, read 11 September 2026.
Contractor Day Rate Benchmark, occupation Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters (SOC 47-2152): median 29.59 USD across 1 source, read 11 September 2026.
Cite as: "Take-Home Compass Contractor Day Rate Benchmark", updated 2026-10-05, https://takehomecompass.com/datasets/contractor-day-rate-benchmark/.
Download the CSV (2 rows, computed 2026-10-05)