Pricing & growth · 2026 payroll
True cost of hiring
Go beyond wages with payroll taxes, benefits, paid time off and setup costs.
Example amounts. Replace with your numbers.
The role
Modeled at 1.5× hourly pay, in addition to regular hours. State or other overtime rules may differ.
Ongoing annual employer cost
$62,420$5,202 per month, before one-time setup costs.
- First year, including setup
- $63,420
- Cost per productive hour
- $31.21
What goes into the cost
- Gross wages
- $52,000
- Employer Social Security
- $3,224
- Employer Medicare
- $754
- Federal unemployment
- $42
- State unemployment estimate
- $300
- Employer benefits
- $3,600
- Retirement contribution
- $1,560
- Workers’ compensation
- $520
- Added payroll service fees
- $420
How this estimate works
One employee, 2026. Social Security is capped at $184,500 per employer and Medicare is uncapped. Employee withholding is part of gross wages and is not added again. There is no employer match for Additional Medicare Tax. Benefits are assumed not to add taxable wages. Training time, replacement coverage, bonuses and taxes not entered are excluded.
Salary mode treats the entered salary as the full annual amount; hours and weeks affect only productive-hour cost. Employee classification and state overtime rules require separate review.