For tradespeople checking figures
The Rate Sorted methodology
How every figure is worked out. Sourced.
31 towns, 17 trades, 2026/27 tax bands, and one formula behind all of it.
Everything on this page is computed by the same engine the calculator runs.
Rate figures reviewed October 2026. Tax figures reviewed July 2026.
Every rate on this site is modelled, not surveyed.
A national median day rate per trade, taken from five UK directories.
Adjusted town by town using official earnings and house price data.
Then run through real 2026/27 Income Tax and National Insurance bands, never a flat percentage.
Quotable
What is the formula for a town rate?
One line. It is the same for every trade and every town.
town rate = round( geography engine × national base rate / 249 )The geography engine is a trade neutral number per town.
It is a local wage index plus the square root of the local house price index, halved.
That is then normalised so an average town returns the national rate unchanged.
It runs from 199 to 310 across the 31 modelled towns.
| Bristol, decorator | South West · 2026 |
|---|---|
| National median day rate, decorator | £200 |
| Bristol geography engine | 256 |
| Normaliser, the average town | 249 |
| Modelled Bristol day rate | £206 |
A modelled range of £155 to £268 sits around that, because a town has a market, not a price.
Nothing is capped and nothing is nudged.
Change a base rate or a town's engine value and every page on this site moves at the next build.
Which sources are the figures built on?
Two families: the market data behind the rates, and the statute behind the tax.
Behind the rates
- Five UK trade directoriesCheckatrade, HaMuch, MyBuilder, CostEstimator and MyJobQuote.Their published day rates form each trade's national median.Some trades are rarely published, and those trade pages say how far to trust the figure.Where a directory publishes a range rather than one figure, the middle of that range is used.Named rather than linked: two of them compete with this site for the same searches.
- the Office for National StatisticsAnnual Survey of Hours and Earnings supplies the regional data the geography engine is built from.
- HM Land RegistryUK House Price Index supplies the regional data the geography engine is built from.
Behind the tax
- According to gov.ukIncome Tax rates and Personal Allowances
- According to gov.ukSelf employed National Insurance rates
- According to gov.ukRegister for VAT: when to register
- According to gov.ukMaking Tax Digital for Income Tax
- According to the Scottish GovernmentIncome Tax in Scotland
The tax year modelled is 2026/27, running 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.
The figures were last checked against those sources in July 2026.
The next check is triggered by the UK Autumn Budget in late November, and the Scottish Budget in mid January.
How does the calculator get from a wage to a day rate?
Take home, plus costs, plus tax, divided by the days you can bill.
Backwards, in four steps. The order matters.
- Start with what you want to keepTake home, after tax.The default for a decorator is £35,500, derived from that trade's own base rate rather than picked.That is a year at the going rate, through the tax engine, lifted by 1.3.It aims above what you are currently left with.
- Work back to the profit that leaves itThrough the real bands, not a flat percentage.Income Tax above £12,570 at 20 percent.Class 4 National Insurance adds 6 percent to the same pound.For this decorator that profit is £43,556.
- Add the cost of existing as a businessVan, insurance, tools and admin.£7,684 a year on the defaults, before a tin of paint is opened.That makes £51,240 that has to be invoiced.
- Divide by the days anyone actually pays for46 weeks at 5 days is 230 working days, less 30 spent quoting, chasing and doing paperwork.That leaves 200, and £51,240 over 200 days is £256 a day.
Quotable
What this model deliberately does not do
The limits, stated plainly, including what it will not pretend to know.
It does not survey anybody. Nobody was asked what they charge.
It does not model VAT on your prices, because your own registration status decides that.
It does not model materials, because those are a job cost and not a day rate cost.
It does not model limited companies. The engine is a sole trader engine.
And it never invents a figure. Anything we cannot compute from a published source is left out.
Quotable
What does the model actually produce?
The figures the model outputs, and where each one is used.
For a decorator, 31 town rates from one national median of £200.
They run from £160 in Sunderland to £249 in London.
That spread is the geography engine doing its job. Nothing else.
Common questions about the method
Where do the day rates come from?
The national figure is the median of five UK trade directories.
Where a directory publishes a range, the middle of that range is used.
For a decorator that median is £200 a day.
The town figure adjusts it using ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 and UK House Price Index, April 2026.
Why is the median used instead of the average?
Because directory data is not evenly spread and the average follows the outliers.
One directory quoting high moves an average and barely touches a median.
Across five sources the middle value is the fairer summary.
Is the tax a flat percentage?
No. It is the real bands, run properly.
Income Tax above the £12,570 personal allowance, tapered above £100,000.
Class 4 National Insurance at both its rates, with the band change where it actually falls.
Scotland has its own six band table and the engine carries it separately.
When were the figures last checked?
Rate model figures were last reviewed October 2026.
Tax figures were last reviewed July 2026.
The next check is triggered by the UK Autumn Budget in late November, and the Scottish Budget in mid January.
Both dates are printed on every page that uses the figures, not just here.
What is deliberately not modelled?
VAT on your prices, because your own registration status decides whether you charge it.
Materials, because they are a job cost and not a day rate cost.
Limited company structures, because the engine models a sole trader.
Anything we cannot compute from a published source is left out rather than guessed.
Take this worked example away
The figures on this page as a one page PDF, built in your browser.
Reviewed on .
These figures use the same sums as the free calculator. The two always agree.