How much does masonry cost per hour?
Masonry cost per hour is the base wage plus labor burden, and then the crew mix, so it runs well above the published brickmason median wage. Burden covers payroll taxes, workers compensation, general liability and fringe benefits, and a mason needs a tender and often a helper, which lifts the blended crew rate further.
Masonry Cost Per Hour: The Four Numbers Behind the Rate
A masonry cost per hour is not one number. It is four: the base wage on the payroll, the burden percentage applied on top, the overtime share that lifts the average, and the crew factor that turns one mason's hour into a crew's hour. An estimator who quotes a single rate without showing those four is guessing at the margin.
The wage table below shows the BLS OEWS national median for brickmasons and blockmasons alongside construction laborers, which is where most tenders and helpers sit. Those medians are base wages before fringe, payroll taxes and insurance. Treat them as a starting point for a project-specific rate, not as a bid figure.
Use the calculator below to walk from a stated base wage and burden percentage to a loaded rate, then blend in the share of hours worked at overtime and the crew size and hours you expect. It returns the loaded rate, the overtime-blended rate, labor hours and total crew labor cost. Every output traces back to an input you typed, which is the same discipline a bid-ready quantity takeoff applies to material.
Loaded labor rate calculator
- Loaded rate
- $31/hr
- Blended with overtime
- $32/hr
- Labor hours
- 320
- Crew labor cost
- $10,279
Burden covers payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, insurance and benefits; it varies by state, trade and company. Overtime is priced at time and a half.
Base wage vs. billed rate vs. loaded rate
The base wage is what the brickmason sees on the stub. The loaded rate adds the masonry labor burden — payroll taxes, workers compensation, general liability, fringe and paid time off — and is what the hour actually costs the company. The billed rate adds overhead recovery and margin on top of the loaded rate, and it is the only one of the three that belongs in a sell price.
Mixing the three is the most common error we see in a returned estimate sheet. A crew billed at a base wage with no burden line will look profitable until the insurance audit arrives. Write all three on the same row of the estimate so a reviewer can see the step from one to the next.
What burden covers in masonry crews
Burden for a masonry crew carries payroll taxes, workers compensation at the masonry classification, general liability, fringe and any paid leave. Workers compensation is the heavy line, because wall work carries fall, struck-by and silica exposure. A helper's burden percentage is often higher than a journeyman's even at a lower wage, since the rate class and hours differ.
Burden is expressed as a percentage of base wage and applied to straight-time hours. Overtime hours carry the same burden on the half-time premium in most payroll setups, which is why the overtime share is a separate input rather than a footnote. For a fuller treatment of burden across trades, see our labor cost estimating services.
What Goes Into a Masonry Crew's Hourly Cost
Ask how much do masons charge per hour and the honest answer starts with the crew, not the person. A production hour on a wall needs a blockmason laying units, a tender cutting and stocking, mortar mixed and delivered, scaffold in place and small tools on hand. Strip any of those out and the mason's own hour drops, which is why a bare block layer hourly rate understates the job.
Rates move by region, union status and market conditions, and we do not publish a national average for that reason. The wage table below gives you the BLS medians as a reference point; the prevailing wage determination for a public job, where one applies, replaces them entirely. Confirm which applies before you price a single hour, and work through a full construction estimate example to see how the crew rate lands on a wall line item.
Journeymen, tenders and apprentices
A typical crew mixes a journeyman blockmason, a tender or construction laborer, and an apprentice where the ratio allows. The tender stocks units, mixes mortar and keeps the mason laying; the apprentice builds leads and handles cuts under supervision. Payroll burden applies to each person at their own rate and classification, so the crew rate is a weighted average, not the top wage.
Crew mix drives productivity as much as wage. One tender supporting two masons on a long straight run is a different hour than one tender supporting one mason on a scaffold-heavy elevation. Record the mix on the estimate so the trade estimates can be checked against the schedule later.
Small tools, scaffolding and consumables
Small tools, blades, mixer wear, mortar boards, line and levels are usually carried as a percentage add to labor rather than itemized per hour. Scaffolding is the larger item: erection, rental and dismantling hours belong in the crew's day even though nobody is laying units during them. On a tall wall, scaffold hours can rival laying hours.
Consumables such as mortar color, reinforcement and flashing are material, not labor, and belong in Division 04 line items. Keep the labor burden and the material markup on separate rows so a reviewer can audit each without untangling the other. Our masonry estimates separate the two by default.
Worked Example: Pricing an Hour of Masonry Work
The example below is illustrative. The wage is a stated assumption, not a survey figure, and the burden, overtime and crew inputs are chosen to make the arithmetic easy to follow. Substitute your own payroll numbers before you use any output in a bid.
We assume a crew of three: two bricklayers at a $30.00 base wage and one tender at $22.00, with a 38% burden on straight time and 10% of hours worked at overtime. The table shows each step from base wage to a loaded crew hour, and the calculator below reproduces the same chain for any inputs you enter.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Straight-time base payroll | $30.00 × 2 bricklayers + $22.00 × 1 tender | $82.00 per crew hour |
| Burden at 38% | $82.00 × 0.38 | $31.16 |
| Loaded straight-time rate | $82.00 + $31.16 | $113.16 per crew hour |
| Overtime premium at 10% of hours | $82.00 × 0.10 × 0.5 | $4.10 |
| Blended loaded rate | $113.16 + $4.10 | $117.26 per crew hour |
| Billed rate at 15% add | $117.26 × 1.15 | $134.85 per crew hour |
| Labor cost per brick at 300 bricks/hour | $117.26 ÷ 300 | $0.39 loaded |
| Billed cost per brick | $134.85 ÷ 300 | $0.45 |
Loaded labor rate calculator
- Loaded rate
- $31/hr
- Blended with overtime
- $32/hr
- Labor hours
- 320
- Crew labor cost
- $10,279
Burden covers payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, insurance and benefits; it varies by state, trade and company. Overtime is priced at time and a half.
Assumptions and crew composition
Two bricklayers at $30.00 and one tender at $22.00 give a straight-time base payroll of $82.00 per crew hour. That is the bricklayer hourly rate and the tender rate added across the crew, before anything else. The 38% burden is an assumption covering payroll taxes, workers compensation, general liability and fringe.
Overtime is set at 10% of hours, paid at time and a half, so the premium is half the base wage on those hours. The cement mason trade is not in this crew; if your scope includes mortar beds placed by cement masons, add them as a separate line at their own wage and classification.
Arithmetic from wage to billed hour
Burden on the straight-time payroll is $82.00 × 0.38 = $31.16, so the loaded straight-time crew rate is $113.16 per hour. The overtime premium is $82.00 × 0.10 × 0.5 = $4.10 per crew hour, giving a blended loaded rate of $117.26. At a 15% overhead and margin add, the billed crew hour is $117.26 × 1.15 = $134.85.
Divide by output to reach a unit cost. If the crew lays 300 bricks in that hour, the masonry labor cost per brick is $117.26 ÷ 300 = $0.39 loaded, or $134.85 ÷ 300 = $0.45 billed. Enter the same inputs in the calculator below and check the loaded rate against this sheet before you carry the number into a commercial construction estimate.
From Hours to Units: Converting Masonry Cost Per Hour Into a Bid
An hourly rate is not a bid. To price a wall you need the masonry crew hourly cost divided by output per crew-hour, then multiplied by the measured quantity. The division step is where most of the risk sits, because a small change in productivity swings the unit price far more than a wage change does.
Take a crew of two journeyman brickmasons and one construction laborer. Illustrative loaded rates: $62.00 per hour for each mason and $41.00 per hour for the laborer, both including fringe benefits, payroll taxes, insurance and a burden percentage applied to base wage. Crew cost is (2 × $62.00) + (1 × $41.00) = $165.00 per crew-hour. Split three ways, that is $55.00 per person-hour, which is the figure you divide by output.
Man-hour productivity for brick and block
For a running-bond wall in modular brick, an illustrative assumption is 30 brick per mason-hour including mortar mixing, line setting and cleanup. At $55.00 per person-hour, mason labor cost per brick is $55.00 ÷ 30 = $1.83. Add material at, say, $0.95 per brick and the installed unit price is $2.78 per brick. Drop output to 24 brick per hour and labor becomes $2.29 per brick, a 25 percent jump from productivity alone.
Block work moves the same way. An illustrative 8-inch concrete masonry unit wall at 12 block per mason-hour gives $55.00 ÷ 12 = $4.58 per block in labor. If the wall needs reinforcing and grouting at every course, add the steel and grout labor hours separately rather than burying them in the block count; the takeoff drives those quantities, which is why a proper quantity takeoff separates block, mortar, grout and reinforcement lines.
Hours per square foot of wall
Owners often compare a mason hourly rate vs square foot price and expect them to track. They do not. Convert to hours per square foot first: 30 brick per hour on a wall of 6.75 brick per square foot equals 6.75 ÷ 30 = 0.225 mason-hours per square foot, or $55.00 × 0.225 = $12.38 per square foot in labor.
That conversion is the bridge between the two pricing methods, and it belongs in a construction estimate example so the arithmetic is visible line by line. Price the same wall twice, once from hours and once from a square foot unit price, and reconcile the difference before the bid goes out.
What Drives Masonry Cost Per Hour Up or Down
Two bids for the same 4,000-square-foot veneer wall can differ by 30 percent without either contractor being wrong. The gap usually comes from the items below, each of which changes either the loaded rate or the hours consumed. The wage table below shows where base wages sit nationally; the spread between the 25th and 75th percentile is the first clue to why regional bids diverge.
Region and union status set the floor. A prevailing wage job carries published base and fringe rates that a private commercial job does not, and the difference lands directly in the mason labor cost per square foot. Wall height and scaffold needs come next: work above roughly 8 feet adds scaffold erection, plank moves and slower production per journeyman, and a two-story wall priced at grade-level productivity will lose money. On a 4,000-square-foot wall, dropping from 40 to 30 square feet per journeyman-hour adds 33 hours to the crew day count before any rate change.
Unit type and size change the count per square foot, and the types of masonry construction you are pricing set the baseline: a modular brick at roughly 6.9 units per square foot of single-wythe wall carries more pieces to lay than an 8x8x16 concrete masonry unit at 1.125 blocks per square foot. Bond patterns, arches, corbels and soldier courses add hours that no square foot average captures. Access and site logistics matter more than most bidders admit: a wall reachable by forklift and mixer prices differently from one wheelbarrowed across a finished lot. Weather, overtime and crew mix finish the list, since a crew heavy on apprentices and laborers lowers the blended rate but also lowers output.
| Trade | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brickmasons and blockmasons | |||
| Cement masons and concrete finishers | |||
| Construction laborers |
| Occupation | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction laborers | $18.57 | $22.66 | $28.72 |
| Carpenters | $23.32 | $29.12 | $36.94 |
| Electricians | $23.76 | $30.38 | $40.36 |
| Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters | $24.13 | $30.67 | $40.92 |
| Cement masons and concrete finishers | $22.60 | $27.41 | $32.15 |
| First-line supervisors, construction trades | $30.48 | $38.42 | $48.78 |
| Cost estimators | $29.40 | $37.86 | $48.97 |
Base wages before payroll taxes, insurance and benefits. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national, all industries.
How to Check a Masonry Hourly Rate Before You Sign
Ask for the crew composition behind the number: how many journeyman brickmasons, how many apprentices, how many construction laborers, and what each is paid per hour. A single blended figure hides the mix, and the mix is what tells you whether the loaded labor rate masonry subcontractors quote will hold on a wall that needs steady production. On a typical crew the mason tender stocks units, mixes mortar and moves scaffold, so a bid that carries masons without tenders is either assuming overtime or undercounting hours.
Request the burden breakdown in writing. Base wage, fringe benefits, payroll taxes, workers compensation and general liability should each appear as a line, with the burden percentage shown. Workers compensation for masonry varies by state and by payroll class, so a rate quoted from another state's schedule is not comparable. Ask whether the fringe is cash in the paycheck or a fund contribution, because the two carry different tax treatment and change the loaded rate.
Confirm the overtime policy and the productivity assumption. Ask how many bricks per mason-hour or blocks per crew day the rate assumes, and on what wall type, thickness and mortar joint. A running bond in an 8-inch CMU backup wall and a veneer tie-in over frame produce very different block layer hourly output, and scaffolding moves reset the count on every lift. Compare rates only on the same basis: same crew mix, same burden items, same output, same wall section.
Tie the hourly figure back to a square foot of wall and to a count per unit. Divide the crew day cost by the square footage the crew lays in that day, then check the result against the mason labor cost per square foot you carried in the takeoff. If the two disagree by more than a few percent, one of the inputs is wrong: the productivity rate, the crew mix, or the burden percentage.
For a second set of eyes, our masonry estimating services build the hours and unit prices from your drawings, and our labor cost estimating services document the wage, burden and productivity inputs line by line. Send your plans to get a quote on the scope you are pricing.
To start, request a free quote and attach your drawings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does masonry work cost per hour?
There is no single national figure. A masonry cost per hour is built from four inputs: the base wage for each worker on the wall, the burden percentage your firm or the subcontractor applies, the crew mix, and the productivity rate for the wall type. Multiply loaded rates by crew hours and divide by output. Because wages, burden and output differ by trade, region and wall assembly, the only defensible number is one calculated from those inputs for your project.
Is a mason's hourly rate the same as what I'm billed?
No. The published wage is base pay only. What you are billed is a loaded rate: base wage plus fringe benefits, payroll taxes, workers compensation, general liability, and nonproductive time such as setup, scaffolding moves and cleanup. A burden percentage of roughly 35% to 65% is typical for masonry depending on state workers compensation rates and union status. Ask for the burden percentage in writing before comparing hourly figures.
Why do masonry bids differ so much for the same wall?
Four things move the number: crew mix, burden, productivity assumption and scope boundaries. One bid may assume a three-person crew with a tender handling mortar and units; another assumes the mason works alone. One may include scaffolding, lintels and flashing; another excludes them. Productivity assumptions for a running bond on an eight-inch block wall can differ by 30% between bidders. Normalize the bids by asking each for crew mix, hours, and a Division 04 scope list.
How many bricks can a mason lay in an hour?
Typical production for a journeyman brickmason on a standard wall runs in the range of 40 to 80 bricks per hour, with the higher end on long, unobstructed runs and the lower end on corners, openings and reinforced walls. Block work is usually tracked in blocks per day rather than per hour. These are typical ranges, not guarantees. The number that matters for a bid is the rate your crew actually achieves on comparable walls.
Should I pay masonry crews by the hour or by the square foot?
Both are used, and both rest on the same arithmetic. A square-foot price is simply hours per square foot multiplied by the loaded hourly rate, plus material. Hourly (time and materials) transfers productivity risk to you; unit price transfers it to the mason. For small or uncertain work, hourly with a not-to-exceed cap is common. For repetitive walls with clear drawings, unit price is easier to compare across bidders.
What is labor burden and why does it raise the hourly rate?
Labor burden is everything an employer pays on top of base wage: fringe benefits, payroll taxes, workers compensation insurance, general liability, and paid time off. It is expressed as a percentage of base wage and added to it to produce the loaded rate. Masonry burden runs higher than many trades because workers compensation classification rates for masonry are comparatively high. Burden is a real cost, not padding, and it belongs in every hourly comparison.
Can you use my estimate template?
Send the template with the drawings and we will confirm whether the estimate can be delivered in it. We normally deliver an Excel workbook and a PDF summary with marked-up drawing pages, so a client template is reviewed against that format before plan review begins. Any format question is settled before the estimate starts, not after.
How do you handle prevailing wage projects?
Prevailing wage work replaces the market base wage with the applicable wage determination for the county and classification, and fringes are usually stated separately as a hourly credit. That changes the loaded rate directly, so the crew mix and burden must be rebuilt rather than adjusted. Send the wage determination with the drawings so the rate on the estimate matches the one the project will be audited against.