Services indexed
5
Hourly range, avg
$66–$110/hr
San Diego median
$88/hr
Most affordable: Painter · Premium: General Contractor
San Diego indexes 5 services across 2 categories, with hourly rates spanning $41/hr (Painter) to $199/hr (General Contractor). The city median of $88/hr runs 3% above the national average across all indexed cities. Construction is the largest service block here (3 of 5 services).
Source: BLS OEWS May 2024 wage data adjusted for San Diego cost of living. Read the methodology.
San Diego handyman rates $41-$69/hr (avg $55). Neighborhood breakdown, CSLB $500 rule, coastal corrosion work, and PCS-season demand impact.
Read articleSan Diego plumber rates run $54-$90/hr (avg $72). Coastal vs. inland breakdown, CSLB C-36 licensing, slab leaks, and salt-air corrosion pricing.
Read articleSan Diego flooring rates $74-$124/hr (avg $99). Slab-on-grade LVP and tile pricing, CSLB C-15 licensing, Saltillo and coastal humidity.
Read articleSan Diego GC rates run $119-$199/hr (avg $159). Neighborhood breakdown, CSLB licensing, Coastal Commission rules, ADU and Title 24 cost impact.
Read articleSan Diego painter rates $41-$68/hr (avg $55). La Jolla salt-air repaints, Spanish revival in Mission Hills, CSLB C-33 license, coastal HOA rules.
Read articleAcross the 5 home and professional services we index in San Diego, the median consumer rate is $88/hr. Hourly rates span $66/hr at the affordable end to $110/hr at the premium end, depending on service type and contractor.
General Contractor carries the highest typical rate in San Diego at $119.48–$199.13/hr. Premium professional and licensed services consistently command the highest rates across our index.
Painter sits at the lower end of the San Diego index at $41.03–$68.38/hr. Routine maintenance and cleaning categories typically cluster at the bottom of any city's price spread.
San Diego is 3% 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.
Construction has the most indexed services in San Diego (3 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