{
  "slug": "pick-rate-labor-cost",
  "title": "Pick Rate Labor Cost Calculator",
  "heading": "Pick Rate & Labor Cost Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/pick-rate-labor-cost",
  "summary": "Cost per line, per unit, and per order from your pick rate and wage.",
  "description": "Pick labor is usually the single largest cost line in a warehouse P&L, often 40-60% of total operating cost, yet many operations still price and staff off gut feel rather than a measured rate. This calculator converts a picker's lines-per-hour rate and fully burdened wage into a cost per line, cost per unit, and cost per order, then projects daily throughput and labor spend for a given headcount. Fully burdened wage should include payroll taxes, workers' comp, and benefits, typically adding 25-35% on top of base hourly pay, because quoting or budgeting off base wage alone understates true cost by a meaningful margin. Use this to price a 3PL fulfillment contract, evaluate whether a pick technology investment pays back, or simply know your real cost to serve per order.",
  "formula": "Cost per line = Burdened hourly wage ÷ Lines per hour; Cost per order = Cost per line × avg lines per order.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=pick-rate-labor-cost",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "wage",
      "label": "Base hourly wage",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 19,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "burden",
      "label": "Payroll burden",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 30,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 80
    },
    {
      "id": "linesPerHour",
      "label": "Lines picked per hour",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 90,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "linesPerOrder",
      "label": "Average lines per order",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 2.4,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0.1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "pickers",
      "label": "Number of pickers",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 12,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "shiftHours",
      "label": "Shift length",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 8,
      "unit": "hours",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 16
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "costPerOrder",
      "label": "Labor cost per order",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "costPerLine",
      "label": "Labor cost per line",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "dailyOrders",
      "label": "Orders shippable per day",
      "format": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "dailyLaborCost",
      "label": "Total daily pick labor cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "burdenedWage",
      "label": "Fully burdened hourly wage",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Base hourly wage: 19 $",
      "Payroll burden: 30 %",
      "Lines picked per hour: 90",
      "Average lines per order: 2.4",
      "Number of pickers: 12",
      "Shift length: 8 hours"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Labor cost per order: $0.66",
      "Labor cost per line: $0.274",
      "Orders shippable per day: 3,600",
      "Total daily pick labor cost: $2,371",
      "Fully burdened hourly wage: $24.70"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter base hourly wage ($).",
      "Enter payroll burden (%).",
      "Enter lines picked per hour.",
      "Enter average lines per order.",
      "Enter number of pickers.",
      "Enter shift length (hours).",
      "Read your labor cost per order on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "wage": 11.4,
        "burden": 18,
        "linesPerHour": 55,
        "linesPerOrder": 1.44,
        "pickers": 7,
        "shiftHours": 4.8
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "wage": 19,
        "burden": 30,
        "linesPerHour": 90,
        "linesPerOrder": 2.4,
        "pickers": 12,
        "shiftHours": 8
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "wage": 30.400000000000002,
        "burden": 48,
        "linesPerHour": 145,
        "linesPerOrder": 3.84,
        "pickers": 19,
        "shiftHours": 12.8
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What's a typical lines-per-hour benchmark?",
      "a": "Manual single-order picking in a case/each environment usually runs 60-100 lines per hour. Batch or wave picking with a cart can push 120-180 lines per hour, and pick-to-light or voice-directed systems in dense fast-mover zones can exceed 200. The right benchmark depends heavily on travel distance, SKU velocity slotting, and unit size, so compare against your own history before chasing an industry number."
    },
    {
      "q": "Why include payroll burden instead of just base wage?",
      "a": "Base wage is what shows up on a pay stub, but the employer also pays FICA, unemployment insurance, workers' comp, and often health benefits and PTO accrual. That typically adds 25-35% on top of base pay in a warehouse setting. Pricing a fulfillment contract off base wage alone routinely underquotes true cost by 20% or more."
    },
    {
      "q": "How does this feed into a 3PL fulfillment quote?",
      "a": "Labor cost per order is usually the biggest single input into a per-order pick-and-pack fee. Add packaging materials, a share of facility overhead, and a target margin on top of the labor cost per order calculated here to build a defensible per-order rate rather than copying a competitor's published price."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does batch picking change this math?",
      "a": "Yes, materially. Batching multiple orders per pick tour raises effective lines per hour because travel time is shared across more lines, which directly lowers cost per line. Run this calculator with your batched lines-per-hour rate versus single-order rate to see the labor savings that justify a batch-picking or zone-picking redesign."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/dock-door-throughput",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/3pl-pricing-quote",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/wave-picking-efficiency"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Pick Rate Labor Cost Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/pick-rate-labor-cost)"
}