Restaurant Labor Cost Calculator

Work out labor cost as a percent of sales for a week, a month or a single shift. It runs in your browser and nothing is sent or saved.

Net sales for the period ($)
Hourly staff hours scheduled
Average hourly wage ($/hr, before tips)

Payroll taxes & benefits (% added on top of hourly wages)
Salaried / management pay for the period ($)
Your target labor cost (% of sales)

Labor cost: 34.4% of sales

Total labor $6,876 (hourly incl. burden $5,376 + salaried $1,500) on $20,000 in sales.

At your 30% target, the labor budget is $6,000: you're $876 over. That budget covers about 251 hourly hours at this wage and burden.

How it's calculated

Labor cost % = (hourly hours × average wage × (1 + burden %) + salaried pay) ÷ net sales × 100. "Burden" is what you pay on top of wages: employer payroll taxes, workers' comp, benefits. Use your own payroll figures; it varies by state and by business.

Tips paid by guests aren't part of your wage cost, so leave them out. If you pay a tip credit wage, use that cash wage as the average.

Read the guide: How to calculate and control restaurant labor cost, or compare scheduling and labor tools.