Services indexed
8
Hourly range, avg
$66–$111/hr
Boston median
$89/hr
Most affordable: Handyman · Premium: General Contractor
Boston indexes 8 services across 2 categories, with hourly rates spanning $43/hr (Handyman) to $194/hr (General Contractor). The city median of $89/hr runs 4% above the national average across all indexed cities. Home Repair & Maintenance is the largest service block here (4 of 8 services).
Source: BLS OEWS May 2024 wage data adjusted for Boston cost of living. Read the methodology.
Boston electrician rates $82-$137/hr (avg $109). Neighborhood breakdown, ISD permits, triple-decker knob-and-tube remediation, EV charger pricing.
Read articleBoston handyman rates run $43-$71/hr (avg $57). Neighborhood breakdown, HIC licensing rules, triple-decker turnover, and Sept 1 surge pricing.
Read articleBoston HVAC rates run $67-$111/hr (avg $89). Neighborhood breakdown, Mass Save rebates, triple-decker retrofits, oil-to-gas and heat pump pricing.
Read articleBoston plumber rates $64-$107/hr (avg $86). Neighborhood breakdown, ISD permits, triple-decker repipe pricing, frozen-pipe season impact.
Read articleBoston flooring rates $66-$109/hr (avg $87). Hardwood refinish $4-$10/sqft, LVP for triple-deckers, EPA RRP for pre-1978 stock, HIC registration.
Read articleBoston GC rates $116-$194/hr (avg $155). Neighborhood breakdown, ISD permits, CSL/HIC licensing, triple-decker and brownstone premiums.
Read articleBoston painter rates run $43-$72/hr (avg $58). Neighborhood breakdown, lead-paint RRP rules, and how pre-war triple-deckers change pricing.
Read articleBoston roofer rates $50-$84/hr (avg $67). Neighborhood breakdown, ISD permits, ice-dam realities, triple-decker + historic-district pricing.
Read articleAcross the 8 home and professional services we index in Boston, the median consumer rate is $89/hr. Hourly rates span $66/hr at the affordable end to $111/hr at the premium end, depending on service type and contractor.
General Contractor carries the highest typical rate in Boston at $116.18–$193.63/hr. Premium professional and licensed services consistently command the highest rates across our index.
Handyman sits at the lower end of the Boston index at $42.74–$71.23/hr. Routine maintenance and cleaning categories typically cluster at the bottom of any city's price spread.
Boston is 4% above the national average of $86/hr across our 49-city corpus. Local wage data and cost of living drive most of this difference — see the geographic precision note for the underlying data.
Home Repair & Maintenance has the most indexed services in Boston (4 guides), reflecting both local demand and the breadth of BLS wage data available for that segment.
Consumer-facing rates. We apply industry-standard 1.5–2.5× multipliers to BLS hourly wages to account for business overhead, insurance, licensing, employer costs, and profit margin. The full calculation is documented in the methodology.
Pricing reflects the BLS OEWS May 2024 release. The next refresh lands when May 2025 data is published in April 2026. Cadence is documented in the update schedule.
Data: BLS OEWS May 2024 · Methodology · Last refreshed January 2026