Fully Loaded Cost Calculator
What an employee costs once taxes, benefits and the desk are counted, for one person or a whole roster, beside the rule of thumb.
Worked out in your browser. A roster is read there too, and nothing is uploaded.
$78,000
Rule of thumb, 1.3 times
the same share whatever the salary
$84,021
Worked out, 1.40 times
the rule of thumb is short by $6,021
$44.69
An hour worked
$40.39 an hour paid; 1,880 of 2,080 paid hours are worked
Where the money goes
- Base salary$60,000 (100.0% of salary)
- Social Security, employer share$3,720 (6.2% of salary)
- Medicare, employer share$870 (1.4% of salary)
- Federal unemployment tax$42 (0.1% of salary)
- State unemployment tax$189 (0.3% of salary)
- Health cover, employer share$9,600 (16.0% of salary)
- Retirement contribution$2,400 (4.0% of salary)
- Other benefits$1,200 (2.0% of salary)
- Equipment, software and space$6,000 (10.0% of salary)
- In all$84,021
On these rates the rule of thumb is about right at a salary of $92,800. Below that it understates the cost; above it, it overstates.
How this was worked out
- Social Security at 6.2% of pay up to $184,500, and Medicare at 1.45% of all pay, are the employer's shares. The defaults are the published 2026 federal figures; check them with payroll.
- Federal unemployment tax at 0.6% of the first $7,000, and state unemployment tax at 2.7% of the first $7,000. State rates and wage bases differ by state and by employer, so set your own; the default is only an example.
- Bonus is taxed like salary. Retirement contribution is 4% of base salary.
- Health cover is $9,600 a person a year, the employer's share.
- Other benefits $1,200 and equipment, software and space $6,000 a person a year.
- A paid year is 2080 hours. A productive year leaves out 15 days of paid time off and 10 holidays.
- This estimates what employment costs the employer. It is not a tax calculation, and it leaves out workers' compensation insurance, whose rate depends on the job and the state.
The rates behind it
Federal figures are the published ones for 2026; confirm them, and your state’s unemployment rate and wage base, with payroll. The benefit and overhead figures are examples: put in your own.
The multiplier is not a constant
“Salary times 1.3” is the usual shortcut for what an employee costs, and it is wrong at both ends. Health cover costs about the same whoever it covers, so it can be a quarter of a modest salary and a twentieth of a large one. Social Security tax stops at the wage base, and unemployment taxes stop after the first few thousand dollars. So the lowest paid often cost half again their salary, and the highest paid barely a fifth more. The tool works the cost out from the parts, shows where the rule of thumb happens to be right, and across a roster shows which salary bands it under- and over-states.
An hour paid is not an hour worked
Holidays and paid time off are paid for, so a year of 2,080 paid hours holds fewer hours of work. The cost of an hour worked is the one to use when pricing a project or comparing staff with a contractor’s rate, and it sits beside the cost of an hour paid.
Your rates, not ours
Every rate is yours to set. The federal payroll figures default to the published 2026 values, and should still be checked with payroll. State unemployment rates and wage bases vary by state and by employer, so the default is only an example. Health, retirement and overhead defaults are examples too; a roster can carry each person’s own health premium and bonus.
What this does not do
It estimates cost. It is not a tax calculation or a payroll run, it leaves out workers’ compensation insurance, whose rate depends on the job and the state, and it does not decide anybody’s pay. The Pay Converter & Proration turns rates between hourly and annual, and the Total Comp Statements tool shows each employee what their package is worth.