Cost Per Hire Calculator

About this calculator

Cost per hire is a standard HR recruiting metric that measures the average total cost to fill one open position, calculated by adding all internal recruiting costs (recruiter salaries, HR staff time) and external recruiting costs (job board postings, agency fees, background checks, advertising, recruiting events) over a period, then dividing by the total number of hires made in that period. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) publishes a widely-referenced formula and benchmark for this exact calculation.

HR and talent acquisition teams track cost per hire to budget recruiting spend, compare the efficiency of different hiring channels (referrals versus job boards versus agencies, for instance), and build the business case for investing in employer branding or recruiting technology that could bring the average cost down. It’s typically viewed alongside time-to-hire and quality-of-hire metrics, since minimizing cost alone can come at the expense of hiring speed or candidate quality.