How Cost Per Hire Calculator works

1. Scope

Sums external (ads, agency) and internal (hours × hourly rate) recruiting costs plus onboarding to produce cost per hire. It does not model time-to-productivity or first-year attrition loss.

2. Inputs and outputs

Engine source: src/lib/cost-per-hire-calculator/engine.ts

3. Formula / scoring logic

internal_time = recruiter_hours * recruiter_rate + interviewer_hours * interviewer_rate
total         = job_board + agency + referral + internal_time + onboarding
cost_per_hire = total / number_of_hires

4. Assumptions

• Recruiter time and interviewer time are priced at separate loaded hourly rates, not one shared rate.
• Referral bonuses are a first-class cost category alongside ads and agency fees.
• Onboarding cost is first-month expenses; longer ramp-to-productivity is out of scope.

5. Data sources

• US BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) as of 2024
• SHRM 2022 Talent Acquisition Benchmarking Report (use for directional comparison only) as of 2022

6. Known limitations

• Industry-wide cost-per-hire medians carry heavy population skew; SHRM 2022 reports $4,700 but that averages across agency-heavy enterprise roles and low-cost front-line hiring.
• Failed-hire cost (attrition in first 12 months) is not computed. A common rule of thumb — 1× to 2× annual salary — has limited academic backing and is not cited as a precise benchmark.

7. Reproducibility

8. Change log

• 2026-04-24 methodology page first published.

Worked example

Run live against the same engine this site ships (/engines/cost-per-hire-calculator.js). The inputs and outputs below are recomputed on every build and independently re-verified in CI — they are never hand-authored.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Cost Per Hire Calculator calculate?

Sums external (ads, agency) and internal (hours × hourly rate) recruiting costs plus onboarding to produce cost per hire. It does not model time-to-productivity or first-year attrition loss.

What inputs does the Cost Per Hire Calculator need?

It takes 9 inputs: job_board_costs, agency_fees (default 0), referral_bonuses (default 0), internal_recruiter_hours, recruiter_hourly_rate, interviewer_hours, interviewer_hourly_rate, onboarding_costs (default 0), number_of_hires (default 1). Outputs returned: totalRecruitingCost, costPerHire, breakdownByCategory.

What formula does the Cost Per Hire Calculator use?

The exact computation is: internal_time = recruiter_hours * recruiter_rate + interviewer_hours * interviewer_rate; total = job_board + agency + referral + internal_time + onboarding; cost_per_hire = total / number_of_hires

Can I verify the Cost Per Hire Calculator with a worked example?

Yes. With job_board_costs = $500, agency_fees = $0, referral_bonuses = $0, internal_recruiter_hours = 20 at $75, interviewer_hours = 10 at $75, onboarding_costs = $1,500, number_of_hires = 1. the tool returns internalTime = $2,250, totalRecruitingCost = $4,250, costPerHire = $4,250.

Where does the Cost Per Hire Calculator get its benchmark data?

Reference data is sourced from: US BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) (as of 2024); SHRM 2022 Talent Acquisition Benchmarking Report (use for directional comparison only) (as of 2022).

What can the Cost Per Hire Calculator not tell me?

Known limitations: Industry-wide cost-per-hire medians carry heavy population skew; SHRM 2022 reports $4,700 but that averages across agency-heavy enterprise roles and low-cost front-line hiring. Failed-hire cost (attrition in first 12 months) is not computed. A common rule of thumb — 1× to 2× annual salary — has limited academic backing and is not cited as a precise benchmark.