Cost per hire calculator

Add your recruiting spending and staff time for one period, then divide by the hires made in that period.

Use costs and hires for the same period, such as a quarter or a year. Outside costs start at zero; replace them with your actual spending.

External costs

Job advertising ($ in period)

Agency fees ($ in period)

Background checks ($ in period)

Assessments ($ in period)

Candidate travel ($ in period)

Relocation ($ in period)

Other external costs ($ in period)

Internal costs and hires

Recruiter time (hours in period)

Recruiter hourly wage ($ per hour)

Manager and interviewer time (hours in period)

Manager and interviewer wage ($ per hour)

Compensation multiplier (total compensation ÷ wages)

Referral bonuses ($ in period)

Recruiting software ($ in period)

Other internal costs ($ in period)

Number of hires (whole hires in period)

The recruiter wage starts at the BLS May 2025 median for human resources specialists ($36.51 per hour). The compensation multiplier starts at 1.4287, from BLS private industry costs in June 2026. Replace both with your figures. The same multiplier applies to recruiter and manager time.

Your cost per hire

$0.00

External costs: $0.00
Internal costs: $0.00
Total recruiting costs: $0.00

What this calculates

The calculator follows ANSI/SHRM 06001.2012 Cost-Per-Hire: total external recruiting costs plus total internal recruiting costs, divided by total hires. Use your own costs and the same reporting period throughout. Entries stay in your browser and are not saved.

The formula in plain words

Cost per hire = (total external costs + total internal costs) ÷ total hires, for the same period. Staff time costs hours multiplied by hourly wage multiplied by the compensation multiplier. Include only the share of staff time and software spending attributable to recruiting.

An illustrative hiring period

Suppose two hires require $1,000 in advertising, $200 in background checks and $200 in recruiting software. Twenty recruiter hours at $30 per hour and ten manager hours at $50 per hour, each with a 1.4 compensation multiplier, add $840 and $700 in staff costs. Total costs are $2,940, or $1,470 per hire.

Compare with care

SHRM's 2025 benchmarking reported an average nonexecutive cost per hire of $5,475 and an executive average of $35,879. These are dated reference figures from SHRM's respondents, not targets for an individual employer. Job type, location, hiring volume and which expenses you include all affect comparisons.

Limits and sources

The result does not measure quality of hire, vacancy costs, lost productivity or retention. Do not count the same bill both as an agency cost and an internal expense. Recruiter wage and compensation load are public-data starting points, not estimates of your team's actual pay.

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 13-1071 Human Resources Specialists (series OEUN000000000000013107108). Period: May 2025; read 2026-10-22.
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation – June 2026 (news release, September 9, 2026), private industry workers. Period: June 2026; read 2026-10-22.
SHRM Releases 2025 Benchmarking Reports: How Does Your Organization Compare? (press release, October 15, 2025). Period: 2025; read 2026-10-22.