Commercial trade rates in Cleveland.
Estimated commercial rates for all 8 trades tracked in Cleveland, built from O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates wage data, for facility and property teams benchmarking vendor invoices.
Rates by trade
Plumbing (estimated)$83/hr median · $61–$120 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Electrical (estimated)$94/hr median · $61–$124 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
HVAC and Refrigeration (estimated)$83/hr median · $60–$113 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
General Maintenance (estimated)$69/hr median · $53–$93 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Janitorial and Cleaning (estimated)$48/hr median · $37–$62 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Landscaping and Grounds (estimated)$51/hr median · $44–$66 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Roofing (estimated)$74/hr median · $56–$107 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Carpentry (estimated)$80/hr median · $61–$114 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
What's different in Cleveland
- Labour market: Ohio has a moderate, historically industrial building-trades union presence; wage levels here run below Chicago and Detroit but above most Sun Belt metros in this set.
- Climate and seasonality: Lake-effect winters and freeze-thaw cycling drive plumbing and HVAC emergency work; a large stock of older industrial and commercial building stock adds electrical and roofing work.
- Code and licensing: Ohio licenses trades at the state level (Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board); the City of Cleveland applies its own permitting and inspection on top of the state code.
Frequently asked questions
- What do commercial trade rates cost in Cleveland?
- Across the 8 trades tracked here, the median commercial hourly rate in Cleveland runs around $73/hr, though it varies significantly by trade: see the table above for each one.
- Is this a real measured rate, or an estimate?
- Every rate on this page is currently an estimate: each trade's Cleveland wage, multiplied by a documented service multiplier that converts an employee wage into a billed commercial rate. It is not drawn from actual invoices or job records. The full model is on the methodology page.
- Why a range instead of a single number?
- A single average hides the real spread: in the underlying wage data for estimated trades, and between emergency/scheduled and contract/ad-hoc work for measured ones. We show low, median, and high so the range reflects that honestly.
- Is this a residential or commercial rate?
- Commercial. These figures track facility-side trade work for businesses, property managers, and multi-site operators in Cleveland. Commercial rates typically run above residential rates for the same trade, reflecting insurance, code compliance, and scheduling requirements that residential work doesn't carry.
- What's driving trade rates in Cleveland specifically?
- Ohio has a moderate, historically industrial building-trades union presence; wage levels here run below Chicago and Detroit but above most Sun Belt metros in this set.
Methodology
These figures are built from regional wage data multiplied by a documented service multiplier, or, where enough real job records exist, measured directly from vendor work logged in Evalystar. See the full model, sources, and what upgrades an estimate to a measured rate on the methodology page.
Nearby cities
Cite this data
These Cleveland benchmarks are published under CC BY 4.0: reuse them anywhere, including commercially, as long as you attribute Evalystar. The machine-readable version is at /api/rates/us/cleveland.json.
Evalystar (2025). Commercial facility trade rate benchmarks, Cleveland. Retrieved from https://evalystar.com/rates/us/cleveland. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.