Free home care hourly rate calculator
Work out the true cost of every hour of care you deliver, and the rate you need to charge to stay sustainable. Uses verified 2026/27 wage and tax figures.
- ✓ Free
- ✓ No sign-up
- ✓ Takes 2 minutes
- ✓ Nothing saved or sent
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Step 1 of 3: Carer pay
What do you pay your carers per hour?
Pick a common rate or enter your own. Use your standard daytime rate, before any weekend or bank holiday enhancements.
The legal minimum for carers aged 21 and over is £12.71 from April 2026 (£10.85 for ages 18 to 20).
Helpful check: if you pay different rates for different roles, run the calculator once for each rate and compare the results.
Your answers stay on this page – nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
A note on this calculator
This tool is a guide to help you understand your costs. It uses verified 2026/27 statutory figures and the Homecare Association’s published methodology, but it is not financial advice and it does not know your exact circumstances. Check the results against your own accounts before setting prices, and take professional advice for big decisions.
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How to use this calculator
- Enter your carer pay rate. Start from the National Living Wage or your own rate. The calculator adds every statutory on-cost for you.
- Describe your visits. Visit length, travel time and mileage change the cost of an hour of care more than most people expect.
- Add your running costs and margin. Use the sector benchmarks as a starting point, then replace them with your own figures for a sharper answer.
- Print your breakdown. Take it to fee negotiations with commissioners, or use it to set private rates with confidence.
Worked examples for 2026/27
Town service, 30-minute visits
Pays the National Living Wage (£12.71). Carers travel 8 minutes and 2.7 miles between visits, reimbursed at 45p per mile.
£34.33
minimum charge per contact hour
Rural service, 1-hour visits
Pays the Real Living Wage (£13.45). Longer journeys of 10 minutes and 4 miles between visits, but a full hour of care each time.
£33.01
minimum charge per contact hour
London service, 45-minute visits
Pays the London Living Wage (£14.80). Short distances of 1.5 miles, but 12 minutes of travel through traffic between visits.
£36.74
minimum charge per contact hour
Hourly rate calculator: your questions answered
What costs does the calculator include?
It builds up the full cost of one hour of care: carer pay for contact time, travel time pay, training, sick and notice pay, holiday pay at 12.07%, employer National Insurance at 15% above the £5,000 threshold, the 3% minimum pension contribution, mileage reimbursement, your business running costs, and a margin for sustainability.
Where do the figures come from?
Wage and tax figures are the official 2026/27 rates from gov.uk and the Living Wage Foundation. The cost structure follows the Homecare Association’s Minimum Price for Homecare methodology, including sector averages for travel time, mileage and running costs.
What is the £34.42 benchmark?
The Homecare Association calculates a Minimum Price for Homecare each year: the lowest hourly rate at which a provider can pay the National Living Wage, cover all legal on-costs and run a compliant business. For England in 2026/27 that figure is £34.42 per hour. Your result is compared against it so you can see where you stand.
Is this calculator really free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no email capture and no catch. Your answers stay on this page – nothing is saved or sent anywhere. We make PASS, the care management platform, and free tools like this are our way of being useful to the sector.
Should I charge exactly the rate it gives me?
Treat it as your floor, not your price. The result excludes enhancements for evenings, weekends and bank holidays, complex care premiums, and your local market position. Charging below your calculated floor means losing money on every hour of care you deliver.
What are the calculator’s limits?
Four things to know. Pension is modelled at 3% of all pay to match the Homecare Association’s method – your real bill may be lower because pension is only due on qualifying earnings and some staff opt out. Small providers can also claim the Employment Allowance (up to £10,500 off employer National Insurance), which the model leaves out. Sick pay uses the published 2025/26 rate, so the April 2026 SSP reforms make the result slightly conservative. And the £34.42 benchmark is for England – Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Homecare Association figures.
Can I use this in fee negotiations with my council?
Yes. Print the breakdown and bring it to the table. Councils and NHS commissioners recognise the Homecare Association methodology this calculator follows, which makes your case easier to evidence. Pair it with the Association’s own published Minimum Price for your region.
Stop guessing. Start knowing.
PASS gives you live visibility of visits, travel and invoicing, so the numbers in this calculator stay true week after week. Take a free tour and see it with your own service in mind.
👉 Get started with PASSTrusted by 1,250+ home care providers nationwide.
