Free tool · Part 107 pilots

Drone Pilot Hourly Rate Calculator

Most pilots pick an hourly rate from a forum post and discover six months later that it doesn't cover insurance, let alone a paycheck. This calculator backs into a real number from your costs, your target take-home, and — the lever everyone gets wrong — how many hours you actually bill per week.

Enter your real annual costs and how many hours you can actually bill in a week. We back into the hourly rate that keeps you in business — not a guess from a forum thread.

Annual costs

Drone + payload value ($)

Useful life (years)

Insurance ($/yr)

Software & subs ($/yr)

Training & Part 107 ($/yr)

Miles driven/yr

$/mile (IRS default 0.70)

Other overhead ($/yr)

Target & billable hours

Target take-home ($/yr)

SE tax rate (0.153)

Billable hours/week

Be honest. 8–12 is typical.

Weeks worked/year

Floor

$13/hr

break-even

Sustainable

$134/hr

covers profit + tax

Premium

$167/hr

+25% for risk

Annual cost: $6,450

Required revenue: $64,100

SE tax buffer: $7,650

Billable hrs/yr: 480

Sustainable is the number to anchor pricing on. Floor is where you're losing the business; premium gives you room to say no to thin offers.

Read the methodology

The article behind every assumption in this calculator:

Drone Pilot Hourly Rate: Insurance, Gear, Overhead

Got your rate? Price a real job.

The Rotor Rate bid calculator takes your hourly rate and runs it against drive time, mileage, payload, airspace, and platform fees to return a defensible quote — with real take-home profit.

Open the bid calculator