Calculate true employee cost: salary plus taxes, benefits, insurance and overhead — see total cost and hourly cost.
Calculate true employee cost: salary plus taxes, benefits, insurance and overhead — see total cost and hourly cost.
Enter values above and click Calculate — results will appear here with the formula explained.
True employee cost is salary multiplied by loaded burden: employer payroll taxes, benefits premiums, retirement match, workers' compensation, paid time off and equipment overhead typically add 20% to 40% on top of base pay. A $60,000 salary therefore costs the business roughly $75,000 to $84,000 fully loaded — before recruiting, training and management overhead — and the multiplier varies by jurisdiction and benefit richness. The calculator applies a configurable burden percentage you estimate from your chart of accounts so the figure ties to your general ledger, not a generic rule of thumb.
Use the monthly cost to price freelance versus full-time trade-offs: if an employee's loaded monthly cost is $6,800 but delivers about 140 productive hours after meetings, the effective hourly is $48 — the comparison rate against a contractor quote. Update the burden yearly as premiums and headcount scale, because healthcare trend alone can shift the percentage by several points.
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True employee cost is salary multiplied by loaded burden: employer payroll taxes, benefits premiums, retirement match, workers' compensation, paid time off and equipment overhead typically add 20% to 40% on top of base pay. A $60,000 salary therefore costs the business roughly $75,000 to $84,000 fully loaded — before recruiting, training and management overhead — and the multiplier varies by jurisdiction and benefit richness. The calculator applies a configurable burden percentage you estimate from your chart of accounts so the figure ties to your general ledger, not a generic rule of thumb. Formula: Total = salary*(1+taxRate) + benefits + overhead; Hourly = total / 2080
Employee Cost Calculator: Calculate true employee cost: salary plus taxes, benefits, insurance and overhead — see total cost and hourly cost. Formula: Total = salary*(1+taxRate) + benefits + overhead. Example: With $60k salary, 8% taxes ($4,800), $10k benefits, $5k overhead, total $79,800, hourly about $38.
Calculate true employee cost: salary plus taxes, benefits, insurance and overhead — see total cost and hourly cost. Formula: Total = salary*(1+taxRate) + benefits + overhead; Hourly = total / 2080
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Annual salary ($) | e.g. 60000 |
| Payroll taxes (%) (%) | e.g. 8 |
| Benefits + insurance/year ($) | e.g. 10000 |
| Overhead/year ($) | e.g. 5000 |
All fields use the exact formulas shown below — results include step-by-step breakdowns you can verify by hand.
True employee cost is salary multiplied by loaded burden: employer payroll taxes, benefits premiums, retirement match, workers' compensation, paid time off and equipment overhead typically add 20% to 40% on top of base pay. A $60,000 salary therefore costs the business roughly $75,000 to $84,000 fully loaded — before recruiting, training and management overhead — and the multiplier varies by jurisdiction and benefit richness. The calculator applies a configurable burden percentage you estimate from your chart of accounts so the figure ties to your general ledger, not a generic rule of thumb.
Use the monthly cost to price freelance versus full-time trade-offs: if an employee's loaded monthly cost is $6,800 but delivers about 140 productive hours after meetings, the effective hourly is $48 — the comparison rate against a contractor quote. Update the burden yearly as premiums and headcount scale, because healthcare trend alone can shift the percentage by several points.
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With $60k salary, 8% taxes ($4,800), $10k benefits, $5k overhead, total $79,800, hourly about $38.36.
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