How much does it cost to hire an employee?
Hiring an employee costs $4,700 to $5,475 per hire in 2026. What changes your price is below.
SHRM's 2025 survey of 2,371 members put the average cost per hire at $5,475 for non executive roles, up from an older $4,700 benchmark. That covers job ads, recruiter time and checks. Taxes, benefits and training come on top, so the first year often costs 1.25 to 1.4 times the salary.
Estimate the cost to hire an employee
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Is this price fair?
A fair price is $4,700 to $5,475.
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Middle of the range: $5,100
What you are paying for
How we calculate this
Prices are for the United States in 2026 from published cost guides, checked September 2026. This is an estimate, not a quote.
What does hiring cost?
| Cost per hire, non executive | $5,475 (SHRM 2025). |
|---|---|
| Cost per hire, older benchmark | About $4,700 (SHRM). |
| Cost per hire, executive | $35,879 (SHRM 2025). |
| Small employers at $5,000 or less per hire | 54 percent (HR Research Institute). |
| Pay plus benefits per hour, private industry | $46.60 (BLS, Mar 2026). |
| Benefits part of that | $14.01 an hour. |
What pushes a quote up
| Role | Senior and hard to fill jobs cost more. |
|---|---|
| Recruiter | Agency fees are often 15 to 25 percent of salary. |
| Location | Big cities pay more. |
| Benefits | Health plans add the most. |
| Turnover | A bad hire means paying twice. |
Hiring an employee cost by region
| Lower cost states | $3,800 to $4,400. Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia and most rural areas. |
|---|---|
| Average cost states | $4,700 to $5,475. Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and most mid size cities. |
| Higher cost states | $6,100 to $7,100. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington, plus big metros such as Chicago, Denver and Washington DC. |
These rows are our estimate. We took the typical national range and adjusted it for local labor costs, which run about 20 percent lower in the cheapest states and about 30 percent higher in the dearest ones. Pay and benefit costs are higher in big cities.
Recruiting cost vs first year cost
Cost per hire only counts the cost to find and sign someone. The bigger cost is the first year. BLS data for March 2026 shows private employers paid $46.60 an hour per worker in pay and benefits, of which $14.01 was benefits.
Employers also pay 7.65 percent Social Security and Medicare tax on wages, plus federal and state unemployment tax. Qureos puts the full first year cost at 1.25 to 1.4 times base pay.
Time to fill
SHRM puts the median time to fill a job at about a month and a half. The work still has to get done in the meantime.
How to judge the quote in your hand
- Ask a recruiter their fee as a percent of salary.
- Ask about a replacement guarantee.
- Price benefits per person per month.
- Ask your payroll provider about state taxes.
- Budget for training time.
Ways to pay less
- Use employee referrals.
- Write a clear job post to cut bad applicants.
- Check free job boards before paid ones.
- Use a structured interview to avoid bad hires.
- Plan onboarding so new hires get productive sooner.
Before you decide
A worked example
Say you hire someone at $50,000 a year. Recruiting costs about $5,475. Social Security and Medicare add $3,825. Using the BLS mix, benefits add roughly 43 cents per wage dollar, or about $21,500. The first year could land near $80,000 before training and equipment. A simpler plan with fewer benefits costs less, so price your own plan.
See our workers comp insurance cost page.
This page is price information, not tax or legal advice.
About $4,700 to $5,475 per hire in recruiting costs. Often 1.25 to 1.4 times their salary. 7.65 percent for Social Security and Medicare, plus unemployment taxes. Often 15 to 25 percent of the first year salary.Common questions
How much does it cost to hire an employee?
What does an employee really cost in the first year?
How much are employer payroll taxes?
How much does a recruiter charge?
Other service costs