Commercial trade rates in Detroit.
Estimated commercial rates for all 8 trades tracked in Detroit, 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)$114/hr median · $74–$144 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)$108/hr median · $72–$136 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)$84/hr median · $58–$117 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)$64/hr median · $51–$87 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 · $39–$56 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 · $45–$67 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)$84/hr median · $59–$114 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)$87/hr median · $63–$119 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 Detroit
- Labour market: Michigan has a strong historical building-trades union presence tied to its manufacturing and auto-industry labor tradition, a common factor in the wage levels seen here relative to other Midwest metros outside Chicago.
- Climate and seasonality: Cold winters and freeze-thaw cycling drive plumbing, roofing, and HVAC emergency work; a large stock of older industrial and commercial buildings adds electrical work.
- Code and licensing: Michigan licenses most trades at the state level (LARA); the City of Detroit applies its own permitting and inspection on top of the state code.
Frequently asked questions
- What do commercial trade rates cost in Detroit?
- Across the 8 trades tracked here, the median commercial hourly rate in Detroit runs around $80/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 Detroit 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 Detroit. 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 Detroit specifically?
- Michigan has a strong historical building-trades union presence tied to its manufacturing and auto-industry labor tradition, a common factor in the wage levels seen here relative to other Midwest metros outside Chicago.
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 Detroit 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/detroit.json.
Evalystar (2025). Commercial facility trade rate benchmarks, Detroit. Retrieved from https://evalystar.com/rates/us/detroit. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.