Tradies are doing it tough
TOOWOOMBA tradies are earning significantly less than their big city counterparts with our region having one of the lowest call-out rates in the state.
Plumbers, painters, carpenters and electricians in our region are charging, on average, $48.63 an hour.
This is 28 per cent lower than the Brisbane hourly average of $67.11, Serviceseeking.com.au data shows.
Cairns, Sunshine Coast and Gympie pay the most for the services of qualified tradespeople while Townsville, central Queensland, Gold Coast and Mackay and Whitsundays have the state’s lowest tradie prices.
Serviceseeking.com.au CEO Jeremy Levitt said tradie prices varied across the regions for reasons including demand and the type of industry in each area.
“Higher rates are often associated with higher travel costs,” Mr Levitt said.
“The further a tradie needs to travel for a job, the more expensive their charge-out rate.
“Charge-out rates also increase in areas of higher demand and if there is a tradie shortage, tradies will increase their charge-out rates because they can.”
All self-employed tradies set their own rates, taking into account their business costs including insurance, tools, vehicles, tax, superannuation and their labour.
Tradie rates can also be influenced by local supply and demand as well as the region’s socio-economic profile – for example the richer the population, the more tradespeople can charge.
“Some regions are cheaper historically,” Mr Levitt said.
“Tradies will have a perception of the affluence of a particular area and charge more if they believe their customer has a larger capacity to pay.”