Staffing bill rate and markup calculator
Enter what you pay the worker and what it costs you to employ them. Pick a markup or a target gross margin. The calculator returns the bill rate, the gross profit per hour, and both versions of the percentage.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved.
The formulas
burden % = FICA + FUTA + SUTA + workers comp + benefits, each as a percent of the pay rate.
loaded cost = pay rate x (1 + burden %).
markup mode: bill rate = pay rate x (1 + markup %).
margin mode: bill rate = loaded cost / (1 - target margin %).
gross profit = bill rate - loaded cost. gross margin % = gross profit / bill rate.
Markup is not margin
Markup is measured against the pay rate. Margin is measured against the bill rate. The same deal gives two different percentages, and mixing them up is how a firm prices itself below cost.
A 50% markup on a $20 pay rate is a $30 bill rate. The $10 spread is 33% of the bill rate, so the gross margin is 33%, not 50%. And that spread still has to pay the burden before anything is left.
Where the example defaults come from
The prefilled burden numbers are examples, not advice. Your rates depend on your state, your classification codes, and your carrier. Replace each one with your own.
- FICA 7.65%: the employer share of Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%), per the IRS. Social Security stops at a yearly wage cap, so the real percentage is lower on high earners.
- FUTA 0.6%: the 6.0% federal rate less the 5.4% state credit, on the first $7,000 paid to each worker, per the IRS. Over a full year this is a small share of pay. On a short assignment it is a larger share.
- SUTA 2.70%: the 2026 entry-level rate in Texas, used here only as one example of a new-employer rate. It applies to the first $9,000 in Texas. Wage bases and rates differ in every state.
- Workers comp 0.30%: clerical work, class code 8810, often runs under $0.30 per $100 of payroll. Industrial and driving codes run many times higher. Use the rate on your policy.
- Benefits 0% and overhead 0%: no single number fits every firm, so both start at zero. BLS reports benefits at about 30% of private-industry compensation costs, but that covers full-time staff with paid leave, insurance, and retirement. Temporary assignments usually cost less. Enter what you actually pay.
What the calculator leaves out
It does not model funding costs on slow-paying clients, vendor management fees, overtime and holiday premiums, or state-specific taxes beyond the single SUTA line. Add them to the burden or overhead boxes as a percent of pay if they apply to you.
Once the deal is priced, the next question is where the next job order comes from. dreach flags the employers hiring now, names the manager who owns the roles, and shows your warmest way in.