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Dog Walk True Hourly Rate Calculator

Shows what a dog walker really earns per hour once unpaid drive time, admin minutes and vehicle costs are counted, and what price per walk it would take to hit a target hourly rate.

Your numbers

Results update as you type.

Your estimate

Vehicle cost per visit...
Net earnings per visit...
True hourly rate...
Price per visit needed for your target rate...

Estimates only. Assumptions are listed below, and you can change every input.

A $25 walk that lasts 30 minutes looks like $50 an hour. It is not. By the time you have driven to the house, dealt with the key, written the update and driven toward the next client, that visit may have taken 50 minutes of your day and put miles on your car. Many walkers underprice for years because they only ever look at the walk, not at everything wrapped around it.

This calculator takes your price per visit, subtracts an estimate of vehicle cost for the miles you drive, and divides what is left by the total time the visit really costs you. It then works backwards: given the hourly rate you want to earn, what would you need to charge per walk? Every constant is an input you can change, including the cost per mile, so the answer reflects your car, your area and your schedule.

How to use this tool

  1. Enter your price per visit and the walk length you sell.
  2. Estimate the unpaid minutes each visit really costs (drive, keys, notes, update) and the miles you drive to get there, then set a cost per mile you trust.
  3. Compare your true hourly rate with the hourly rate you want, and use the break-even price to decide whether to raise prices, shorten drives or both.

What the math assumes

  • The true hourly rate divides net earnings by the walk length plus your unpaid minutes, so driving and admin time count as working time.
  • Vehicle cost is miles per visit multiplied by your cost per mile. The default of $0.70 per mile is a placeholder, not a benchmark; replace it with your own figure or the current standard mileage rate.
  • Taxes, insurance, licensing, software and marketing are not deducted. Your take-home rate is lower than the number shown.
  • The break-even price is the price that makes your net earnings equal your target hourly rate over the full time each visit costs you.
  • Every visit is treated as identical. If some clients are far away and others are next door, run the calculator once per cluster.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the calculator count drive time as working time?

Because you cannot sell that time to anyone else. If a visit occupies 45 minutes of your day, the money you earn from it has to cover all 45 minutes, not just the 30 on the leash.

What should I use for cost per mile?

The most honest figure is your own: fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance and depreciation divided by the miles you drive in a year. If you do not have that, the current standard mileage rate published for business use is a reasonable stand-in.

My true hourly rate is far below my target. Should I just raise prices?

Raising prices is one lever. The other is cutting unpaid minutes by grouping clients by neighborhood and planning routes so that drives are short. Try lowering the unpaid minutes and miles in the calculator to see how much of the gap a better route closes.

Does this work for a business that employs walkers?

Partly. It tells you the revenue a visit generates per hour of walker time, which is useful for setting pay and prices, but it does not include payroll taxes, insurance or management time. Add those separately.

Link to this toolhttps://puproutr.com/tools/true-hourly-rate/

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More free tools from PupRoutr

  • Dog Walker Daily Visit Capacity Calculator: Estimates how many dog walking visits a solo walker can realistically fit into one day once drive time, leash-up buffers and breaks are counted, for walkers and small pet care businesses planning their schedules.
  • Dog Walking Route Mileage Cost Calculator: Estimates the monthly miles, vehicle cost and hours a dog walker spends driving between visits, and what a tighter route would save, for solo walkers and small teams.

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