Wage Calculator: What You’re Actually Earning as an Australian Tradie

You know your hourly rate. You know what lands in your bank account each week. But do you actually know what you’re earning?

If you’re a tradie — whether you’re on the tools as an employee, running your own ABN, or somewhere in between — the gap between what you think you make and what you actually take home can be brutal. A wage calculator that accounts for the real costs of working in the trades is the difference between guessing and knowing.

This isn’t about plugging numbers into a generic tax calculator. This is about understanding your true wage — after super, insurance, vehicle costs, tools, and all the unpaid hours you spend quoting, invoicing, and chasing payments.

Why Most Wage Calculators Don’t Work for Tradies

Here’s the problem with most online wage calculators: they’re built for office workers on a fixed salary. Plug in $80,000, get a neat breakdown of tax and super, done.

But tradies don’t work like that. You might be:

• Earning a day rate as a subcontractor with no leave entitlements
• Juggling PAYG employment with weekend cash jobs
• Paying for your own ute, fuel, tools, insurance, and licensing
• Working 50-hour weeks but only billing 35 of them
• Dealing with seasonal slowdowns that tank your annual average

A standard annual salary calculator doesn’t touch any of this. You need something that speaks tradie — and that’s exactly what we built.

How to Calculate Your Real Hourly Rate

Before you can figure out your annual wage, you need to know your real hourly rate. Not the one on your invoice — the one that accounts for every hour you actually work.

Here’s the formula:

Real Hourly Rate = (Total Annual Income − Business Expenses) ÷ Total Hours Worked

Let’s say you’re a subbie electrician charging $65/hour. Sounds decent, right? But factor in:

• Super (11.5%): You’re paying your own — that’s $7.48 off every hour
• Income protection & public liability: Roughly $3,000-$5,000/year
• Vehicle costs: Ute repayments, fuel, rego, servicing — easily $12,000-$18,000/year
• Tools and equipment: $2,000-$5,000/year depending on your trade
• No paid leave: Every sick day, holiday, and long weekend costs you directly
• Unpaid admin: Quoting, invoicing, bookkeeping — 5-10 hours/week you’re not billing

That $65/hour can quickly become $38-$42/hour in real terms. Still not bad — but a long way from what you thought.

Our Subby to Salary Calculator does this maths for you. Plug in your rate, your expenses, and your actual hours — it spits out what you’d need to earn as a PAYG employee to match your subby income.

Salary to Hourly Rate: Converting Between Pay Structures

If you’re weighing up a salaried position against staying on the tools as a contractor, you need an apples-to-apples comparison. The salary to hourly rate calculator Australia tradies actually need has to factor in:

• Superannuation: An employer paying $85,000 + super is really paying $96,175. As a subbie, you’re covering that yourself.
• Leave loading: Most EBAs include 17.5% leave loading on four weeks of annual leave. That’s another $1,400-$2,000 you don’t get as a subcontractor.
• RDOs and public holidays: Depending on your award, you could be getting 26+ paid days off. As a subbie, those days earn you exactly zero.
• Workers comp: Covered by your employer if you’re PAYG. Another $2,000-$6,000/year you’re footing yourself as a contractor.

The short version? A $90,000 salary is worth roughly $110,000-$120,000 in equivalent subcontractor income once you add up all the entitlements. If your contractor wage calculator doesn’t account for this, you’re flying blind.

ABN vs PAYG: What the Numbers Actually Say

Every tradie has the “should I go out on my own?” conversation at some point. The money looks better on paper — higher hourly rate, more control, tax deductions.

But the numbers tell a more nuanced story:

ABN (Subcontractor):

• Higher gross rate ($55-$85/hour depending on trade and location)
• Tax deductions on vehicle, tools, phone, home office
• Flexibility to work multiple sites and negotiate rates
• Responsible for all your own super, insurance, and leave savings
• BAS lodgement, bookkeeping, and ABN registration costs

PAYG (Employee):

• Lower gross rate ($32-$55/hour) but with entitlements stacked on top
• Employer pays super, workers comp, and payroll tax
• Paid leave, sick days, and public holidays
• Simpler tax — your employer handles PAYG withholding
• Less admin, more time on the tools

Use the Advanced Tradie Calculator to run both scenarios side by side. It’ll show you the real after-tax, after-expenses figure for each — no guesswork.

What Good Tradies Actually Earn in 2026

Let’s put some real numbers on the table. Based on current market rates across Australia:

• Electricians: $75,000-$110,000 (employed) / $90,000-$140,000 (subcontractor equivalent)
• Plumbers: $72,000-$105,000 (employed) / $85,000-$130,000 (subcontractor equivalent)
• Carpenters: $68,000-$95,000 (employed) / $80,000-$120,000 (subcontractor equivalent)
• Concreters: $65,000-$90,000 (employed) / $75,000-$115,000 (subcontractor equivalent)
• Painters: $60,000-$85,000 (employed) / $70,000-$110,000 (subcontractor equivalent)

These ranges assume full-time hours in metro areas. Regional rates vary, and if you’re running your own crew, the ceiling is significantly higher — but so is the risk.

The key takeaway? The gap between employed and subcontractor earnings narrows dramatically once you account for entitlements and expenses. Sometimes PAYG wins. Sometimes the ABN wins. The only way to know is to run your actual numbers through a proper contractor wage calculator.

Stop Guessing — Run Your Numbers

Here’s the thing about wages in the trades: everyone has an opinion, but very few blokes actually sit down and do the maths. They hear a mate’s charging $75/hour and assume they’re killing it — without asking about the $900/month in insurance, the ute repayments, or the three weeks they took off over Christmas with no pay.

Whether you’re trying to figure out if a job offer is worth taking, deciding whether to go subbie, or just want to know where you actually stand — stop guessing.

Jump on the Boss Tradie Wage Calculator and run your real numbers. It takes two minutes, it’s free, and it’ll show you exactly what your time is worth — no fluff, no surprises.

Your time is your most valuable asset. Make sure you’re getting paid what it’s worth.