Employee Cost Calculator
Calculate the annual fully loaded cost of employing a W-2 worker: salary, employer payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA), benefits, workers’ comp, 401(k) match, equipment, and annual overhead.
Open the CalculatorPre-configured with your state tax rates. Adjust salary, benefits, and overhead to model your specific hire.
Total Annual Cost
$101,207
Loaded multiplier: 1.27× base salary
Open the interactive calculator to adjust every input and export a PDF report.
The Employee Cost Calculator measures the ongoing annual cost of employing a W-2 worker — distinct from the one-time cost to recruit, hire, and onboard a new employee (use the separate Hiring Cost Calculator for that). It adds up eight recurring components — base salary, employer payroll taxes, benefits, workers’ compensation, retirement contributions, equipment, annual overhead, and an optional bonus — then shows the fully loaded employee cost and the burden multiplier.
Base salary is the gross annual wages paid to the employee before any employer add-ons. It is the starting figure every other cost is built on. The calculator accepts any salary from $30,000 to $300,000 and offers job-role presets to model a specific role.
On top of salary, employers pay FICA (7.65% — 6.2% Social Security up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500 plus 1.45% Medicare with no cap), FUTA (0.6% effective on the first $7,000, capped at $42 per employee per year), and SUTA (state unemployment, which varies by state and experience rating). These are employer-paid taxes, not withholdings from the employee’s check.
Benefits include employer-paid health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, plus paid time off. Health coverage is usually the second-largest cost after salary. The calculator takes a monthly benefit contribution ($0–$2,500) and annualizes it.
Workers’ comp is mandatory employer-paid insurance for workplace injuries, priced per $100 of payroll. Rates vary by state and industry classification — from under $0.50/$100 for low-risk office roles to over $5/$100 for construction. The calculator applies your rate to the salary.
The retirement line is the employer 401(k) match — a percentage of salary the employer contributes to the employee’s retirement account. A 4% match on an $80,000 salary costs $3,200 per year. The calculator applies your match percentage (0–10%) automatically and shows it as a separate line.
Equipment covers the annual cost of hardware, software licenses, and tools the employee needs to do the job — a laptop, desk phone, SaaS subscriptions, and role-specific tooling. For an office role this often runs $1,000–$3,000 per year; specialized setups cost more. In the calculator, equipment is captured together with overhead in a single “Equipment, software & overhead” input.
Annual overhead is the allocated share of business costs that support the employee but are not direct salary or benefits — office space, utilities, internet, management and HR time, payroll-processing fees, and facilities. The calculator takes a single annual overhead figure ($0–$20,000) so you can match your own allocation, and bundles equipment and software into the same input.
The fully loaded employee cost is the sum of all eight components — salary + employer taxes + benefits + workers’ comp + retirement + equipment + annual overhead + bonus. The calculator also shows the loaded multiplier (fully loaded cost ÷ salary), typically 1.25× to 1.45× for office roles. For the one-time cost to recruit, hire, and onboard this employee, use the Hiring Cost Calculator.
Every rate and formula is checked against the issuing agency before publication. Last updated 2026-08-24.
IRS
FICA, FUTA tax rate & wage base
U.S. DOL
FUTA credit, federal wage & hour
State Workforce Agencies
SUTA rates, wage bases, new-employer rates
BLS
Industry salary benchmarks & turnover
The calculator adds base salary, employer FICA (7.65%), FUTA (0.6% on the first $7,000), state unemployment (SUTA), workers’ compensation, monthly benefits, a 401(k) match, overhead (which bundles equipment, software, and allocated overhead), and an optional bonus. Every line item is shown in the breakdown so you can see exactly what drives the total. It measures ongoing annual employment cost; for the one-time cost to recruit, hire, and onboard a new employee, use the separate Hiring Cost Calculator.
Salary is the gross wages paid to the employee. Fully loaded cost is salary plus every employer-paid add-on — payroll taxes, workers’ comp, benefits, retirement match, and overhead. For a typical office role the fully loaded cost runs 25–40% above salary, which is why budgeting on salary alone routinely understates the real cash impact of a hire.
For a typical W-2 office role, the fully loaded cost runs 25–40% above base salary once you add employer payroll taxes, workers’ comp, benefits, a 401(k) match, and overhead. That means an $80,000 salary often costs the employer roughly $100,000–$112,000 per year. The exact gap depends on your state’s SUTA rate, your benefit package, and how you allocate overhead.
The employer FICA rate is 7.65%: 6.2% for Social Security on wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, plus 1.45% for Medicare on all wages with no cap. The employer pays this 7.65% on top of the employee’s salary, and withholds an identical 7.65% from the employee’s paycheck.
The calculator uses representative 2026 new-employer SUTA rates and illustrative office/clerical workers’ comp rates sourced from the IRS, Department of Labor, and state workforce agencies. Because SUTA is experience-rated and workers’ comp varies by classification and carrier, your actual rates may differ. Treat results as a planning estimate and confirm final numbers with your payroll provider or state agency.
For Estimation Purposes Only
TrueHireCost provides cost estimates for informational purposes only and is not professional tax, legal, or HR advice. Actual employer costs vary by experience rating, industry classification, carrier, and jurisdiction. Consult a qualified CPA, tax advisor, or HR professional before making hiring or payroll decisions.