AV labor rate guide
What AV techs, installers and programmers cost per hour. Rates companies actually paid on this site, wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and a calculator to turn a wage into a bill rate.
Rates paid on AVCleared
Hourly rates from on-demand jobs companies booked and approved here in the last 12 months. These are what the company paid the tech’s business, before our fee.
Not enough jobs yet to publish rates. A role appears here once at least 5 different businesses and 10 approved jobs back it, so no one business’s rate can be picked out. Until then, use the wage benchmarks below.
Wage benchmarks
National hourly wages paid to employees, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2023. A wage is what the worker is paid, not what a client is billed. Use the calculator below to get from one to the other.
| Occupation | 10th pct | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct | 90th pct | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio and video techniciansSOC 27-4011 | $16.25 | $19.93 | $24.83 | $33.64 | $45.98 | 66,700 |
| Audiovisual equipment installers and repairersSOC 49-2097 | $15.99 | $19.20 | $23.26 | $29.97 | $37.87 | 24,720 |
| Telecommunications equipment installers and repairersSOC 49-2022 | $18.44 | $23.01 | $29.46 | $37.61 | $44.10 | 159,670 |
| Security and fire alarm systems installersSOC 49-2098 | $17.69 | $21.91 | $27.13 | $31.52 | $38.29 | 83,540 |
| ElectriciansSOC 47-2111 | $18.49 | $23.13 | $29.61 | $38.59 | $50.09 | 712,580 |
Audio and video technicians: mean hourly wage in selected states
- Washington: $37.99
- District of Columbia: $35.37
- California: $34.76
- New Jersey: $34.76
- New York: $32.43
- Florida: $25.95
- Texas: $24.79
- Illinois: $23.39
Audiovisual equipment installers and repairers: mean hourly wage in selected states
- New York: $32.69
- California: $31.58
- New Hampshire: $31.13
- New Jersey: $31.06
- Colorado: $27.11
- Texas: $22.59
- Florida: $20.94
Wage to bill rate
A business billing a tech’s time has to cover payroll taxes, insurance, vehicles, tools and time that can’t be billed, and still make a profit. Start from the median AV technician wage ($24.83) or type your own numbers.
What the tech is paid per hour.
Payroll taxes, workers' comp, benefits, paid time off.
Vehicles, tools, insurance, office, unbillable time.
What the business keeps.
Bill rate to charge: $47.47 per hour
Bill rate = wage × (1 + burden) ÷ (1 − overhead) ÷ (1 − margin). The starting numbers are examples, not statistics.
How we calculate
- Site rates use approved on-demand jobs only. Hourly jobs use the posted hourly rate. Fixed-price jobs are divided by the hours worked, or the hours booked when hours weren’t recorded.
- A role, or a role in a state, is shown only when at least 5 different companies and 5 different tech businesses were involved, across at least 10 jobs.
- Rates under $5 or over $1,000 an hour are left out as entry errors. Figures refresh every few hours.
- BLS figures are national employee wages for the occupations listed, published by the BLS. They aren’t from this site.
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