Team & hiring
Fully-Loaded Cost of an Employee
Formula reviewed by Tahir Asif, CMA
An employee's total cost to a business — salary plus payroll taxes, benefits, and overhead — not just their salary.
Fully-loaded cost adds employer payroll taxes, benefits, and a share of general overhead on top of base salary, arriving at what an employee actually costs the business per year — commonly 1.25x to 1.5x the salary figure alone.
The load multiplier (fully-loaded cost ÷ base salary) is a useful shorthand for comparing overhead burden across roles or companies without needing to restate the full underlying cost breakdown each time.
Fully-loaded cost
Salary + Payroll taxes + Benefits + Overhead + One-time costs
Calculate your own fully-loaded cost of an employee instantly, free.
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