National Average Cost of Labour

ServiceSeeking.com.au has released the average hourly rate for various trade jobs, from a survey of 25,000 people. Consumers now know what they should be paying on average for a job around the house.

Looking at labour costs nationally, house painters charge the least at at $39.92 per hour and Victoria is the cheapest place to get a tradesman in, at an average price of $54.96 per hour.

Labour costs for major industries in Q4, FY14 (compared to the year prior) are all tabled below:

TRADE	2013 AVE HOURLY RATE	2014 AVE HOURLY RATE	% CHANGE
Painting	$41.48	$39.92	-3.70%
Electical Services	$69.84	$68.03	-2.60%
Carpentry	$50.61	$50.42	-0.40%
Gyprock and Plastering	$46.16	$46.33	0.40%
Building & Home Renovations	$57.91	$58.41	0.90%
Plumbing	$75.09	$76.73	2.20%
Landscaping	$58.20	$61.88	6.30%
Concreting	$61.43	$67.49	9.90%
STATE	2013 AVE HOURLY RATE	2014 AVE HOURLY RATE	% CHANGE
VIC	$54.44	$54.96	0.90%
SA	$53.39	$57.64	8%
NSW	$59.90	$58.23	-2.80%
QLD	$57.87	$61.20	5.80%
NT	$52.86	$62.00	17.30%
TAS	$46.98	$62.06	32.10%
WA	$60.63	$62.13	2.50%
ACT	$75.47	$64.69	-14.30%
NATIONAL AVERAGE	$57.89	$58.49	1%

 

Other interesting results found were: 

•    The ACT had the biggest drop in the average cost of labour, dropping by 14.3% over 12 months

•    NSW has the largest number of trade jobs and prices have dropped by as much as 11%

•    The cost of renovating in QLD has increased the most and is up by almost 6% from the same time last year