Employee Total Cost Calculator

Compute the fully-loaded annual cost of an employee.

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CurrencyBase annual salary ($)Employer payroll taxes (%)Benefits (health, retirement, etc.) ($)Equipment / setup per year ($)Software / tooling per year ($)Overhead (office, admin, recruiting) ($)Productive hours / year

Fully-loaded cost is typically 1.25–1.5× base salary. Use the hourly figure to price internal projects or decide build-vs-buy.

$132,400

Fully-loaded annual cost

1.32×

Cost multiplier

$72

True hourly cost

Base salary

Payroll tax

Benefits

Equipment

Software

Overhead

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Disclaimer: This tool is for general informational and estimation purposes only and is not professional financial, tax, accounting or legal advice. All figures are estimates — verify with a qualified professional before making decisions. Read the full disclaimer.

Deciding whether to hire, outsource or build in-house? Work out an employee's fully-loaded cost — taxes, benefits, equipment and overhead — and the true hourly rate behind every project.

How to embed Employee Total Cost Calculator on your website

Add this free tool to your own site, blog or intranet — it's 100% free to embed. Paste this snippet where you want the tool to appear; it loads a clean, self-contained version with no ads or navigation.

<iframe src="https://tooljolt.com/embed/employee-tco-calculator" title="Employee Total Cost Calculator" width="100%" height="640" style="border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px" loading="lazy"></iframe>

About Employee Total Cost Calculator

An employee costs far more than their salary. Once you add payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, software and overhead, the fully-loaded cost is typically 1.25–1.5× base pay. This calculator gives you the real annual and hourly number.

How to use Employee Total Cost Calculator

1Enter the base salary and employer payroll-tax rate.
2Add benefits, equipment, software and overhead.
3Read the fully-loaded annual cost, multiplier and true hourly rate.

Why use Employee Total Cost Calculator?

✓Pricing internal projects and build-vs-buy decisions.
✓Budgeting headcount accurately.
✓Setting profitable agency or consulting rates.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fully-loaded cost of an employee?+

It is base salary plus all the extra costs of employing someone: payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, software, training and allocated overhead. The total is usually 1.25–1.5× the base salary.

How do I calculate an employee's true hourly cost?+

Divide the fully-loaded annual cost by the number of productive hours per year (often ~1,840 after holidays, leave and admin). Use this rate to price internal projects.