Burden Rate Calculator
Find the fully-loaded cost of an employee and the burden rate that sits on top of base salary.
Employer's monthly portion
Typically 3 to 6 percent
Dental, vision, life insurance, etc.
Computer, software, office space, etc.
What the Burden Rate Measures
Base salary is only the visible part of what an employee costs. Layered on top are mandatory payroll taxes, the benefits you offer to attract and keep people, and the overhead needed to give someone a place and the tools to work. The burden rate rolls all of those extra costs into a single percentage, so you can see at a glance how much more than salary each hire really costs. A burden rate of 35% means that for every dollar of pay you also spend 35 cents on taxes, benefits, and overhead.
This calculator builds the number from the parts you can control. Payroll taxes are estimated at about 8.65% of salary to cover the employer half of FICA (7.65%) plus a rough allowance for federal and state unemployment taxes. Benefits combine your monthly health insurance contribution, your 401k match, and any other annual benefits such as dental, vision, or life insurance. Overhead captures equipment, software, and workspace. Summing salary, taxes, benefits, and overhead produces the fully-loaded annual cost, the true line-item a hire occupies in your budget.
Why Fully-Loaded Cost Matters for Hiring
Planning headcount on base salary alone is one of the most common budgeting mistakes small businesses make. Because the true cost typically runs 25% to 40% above salary, a team that looks affordable on paper can quietly blow through its budget once taxes and benefits are added. Knowing the fully-loaded cost up front lets you forecast accurately, compare a salaried hire against a contractor on equal footing, and avoid the unpleasant surprise of a payroll bill that is far larger than the sum of the salaries.
The burden rate is just as important when you sell time. Service firms, agencies, and consultancies need to bill above their fully-loaded hourly cost to make a profit, so a clear view of that number sets the floor for client rates. It also informs make-or-buy decisions: if loading a role pushes the effective hourly cost above what a specialized contractor charges, outsourcing may be the better call. Either way, the burden rate turns a fuzzy intuition about overhead into a precise figure you can plan around.
How to Read Your Results
The headline number is the fully-loaded annual cost, the total you should budget for the role. Below it, the breakdown splits that total into base salary, payroll taxes, benefits, and overhead so you can see where the money goes and which lever to pull if you need to trim. The total cost row is highlighted because it is the figure most worth remembering when you compare offers or set a budget for the year.
Underneath the dollar breakdown, three summary metrics translate the cost into different shapes. The burden rate shows the extra cost as a percentage of salary, the cost multiplier expresses the same idea as a factor (a 1.30x multiplier equals a 30% burden rate), and the fully-loaded hourly figure spreads the total across a standard 2,080-hour year so you can compare it directly to contractor rates or use it to price billable work. Read together, they give you a complete picture of what an employee costs, both as a lump sum and per hour.
Worked Example: Fully-Loaded Cost of a $70,000 Employee
Here is how a typical $70,000 salaried role builds up to its true annual cost. Your own figures will vary with your health plan, retirement match, and overhead, but the shape is representative of most US employers.
| Cost Component | Annual Amount | % of Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $70,000 | 100% |
| Payroll taxes (FICA + unemployment, ~8.65%) | $6,055 | 8.7% |
| Health insurance ($500/mo employer share) | $6,000 | 8.6% |
| 401(k) match (4%) | $2,800 | 4.0% |
| Other benefits (dental, vision, life) | $1,500 | 2.1% |
| Overhead (equipment, software, workspace) | $4,000 | 5.7% |
| Fully-loaded annual cost | $90,355 | 129% |
Burden rate: 29% · Cost multiplier: 1.29x · Fully-loaded hourly cost: $43.44 (across 2,080 hours).
Typical Burden Rate Ranges
| Employer Scenario | Typical Burden Rate | Cost Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Lean small business, minimal benefits | 15% to 22% | 1.15x to 1.22x |
| Typical US salaried role | 25% to 35% | 1.25x to 1.35x |
| Rich benefits or high overhead | 35% to 50% | 1.35x to 1.50x |
| Trades with workers comp and equipment | 40% to 80% | 1.40x to 1.80x |