There might come a time when it is necessary to hire a locksmith.  Keys for the home or a car can be lost and occurrences such as these might happen at very odd times and during emergency situations.  Among the major concerns someone might have about hiring a locksmith would be the fees associated with the service.  A locksmith is a commercial enterprise and anyone who opts to hire such a professional will not want to suffer price shock when the bill comes due.  Based on research, it would seem that the costs associated with locksmithing is not overly costly.

An Interesting Study has been Performed

The Locksmith Ledger is a respected trade resource that performs an annual survey of its subscribers.  In 2013, the data pulled from the research reveals some fairly reasonable fees for the work associated with hiring a locksmith.  Currently, the average national service price of $68 was the common one in 2013.  The average price two years ago was only $2 less.  Therefore, the increase is really only a minor one.

The general average on the hourly rate of hiring a locksmith is about $45.  This is a $5 increase over the average cost of $40 in 2011.  $5 is not extremely substantial, but those dollars can add up over jobs that might take several hours.

Locksmith by xcode, on Flickr.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Costs Increase with Certain Jobs

Not every lock is the same and neither will every locksmithing job.  Generally, there has not been much of an increase over basic household door locksmithing work.  Such locks are not entirely complex in design.  The exception to this would be high end security locks or doors with several locks on them.  Doors to automobiles can be much more involved to open.  Those who require their auto doors opened discovered that the costs went up in 2013.  The average price of auto door openings was around $62.  The complexity of unlocking a car door factors into the cost, but there is another factor that drives the price up.  This factor would be, and still is, fuel.

The Issue of Having Auto Car Keys Made

When someone loses his or her car keys, he may be far away from home and also far away from a locksmith’s office.  Since the locksmith has to travel to the location of the auto, the cost of fuel and travel have to be factored into the service fee.  The prices of the service call might be revealed in advance as the locksmith might have a sliding scale quote that can be presented to someone who calls for a long distance response.  Some locksmiths could even offer a single set price and then there are those who might put forth a single, hourly rate.

Regardless of the situation surrounding the loss of car keys, getting the car door open is not going to be very cheap, but the costs are not going to be enormous either.

Having the Key Plates Made

In addition to the actual locksmithing, there are going to be costs associated with the cutting of the keys.  These costs can range tremendously based on what type of key is needed.  A key for a suitcase can cost as little as $10 and a foreign car key can run upwards of $70.  The keys to a padlock can run about $23.  This only covers the cost of cutting the keys.  There will also be a nominal fee for the actual blank key.

The Logic of the Poll

A few things do have to be understood about these particular polls.  For one, they are not scientific in any way.  They are based on surveys from readers of the publication.  Once the reader provides the necessary information, then the reader can take the steps to respond.  Since the readers are being honest in their responses, the figures offered are legitimate ones.  However, a scientific survey and research firm was not hired as the costs would likely have been prohibitive.  Based on the responses procured, we do have a clear idea of what these fees will likely be.