Cost to hire calculator
See what a new hire really costs before you make the offer. Pick a role, location, and level to get salary benchmarks from Ravio's compensation data, plus the employer costs that sit on top, in partnership with Playroll.
- Salary data from Ravio
- Employer-cost data from Playroll
- Free, results by email
What you get
A salary benchmark for the role
The market salary for the role, level and location you pick, from Ravio's compensation data.
The employer costs on top
Social contributions, pension and insurance for that country, from Playroll's employer-cost data.
Your full first-year cost
Salary and employer costs added up into one cost to hire figure, sent to your inbox.
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The basics
What is cost to hire?
Cost to hire is the full amount your company pays to bring someone on board and keep them employed for their first year.
On top of base pay, employers cover mandatory social contributions, pension, insurance, and benefits. These vary a lot by country, so an employee paid the same salary can cost very different amounts in Berlin, London, or Stockholm.
Knowing the full figure early helps you set realistic budgets with leadership and finance, intelligently hire across locations, and make new hire offers you can stand behind.
What goes into cost to hire
- Base salary
- Set by role, level, and market
- Employer social contributions
- Set by local law
- Pension and insurance
- Statutory plus company top-ups
- Benefits and allowances
- Your policy
- Total cost to hire
- First-year cost
From Ravio and Playroll's data
What hiring costs across Europe right now
Ravio's compensation data covers 1,800+ companies and 618,000+ employees, whilst Playroll maintains accurate data on everything an employer pays on top of gross salary. Here's what this data shows about the cost of a new hire, globally.
- 0–70%
Spread in employer costs on top of gross salary, from Singapore (0%) to Brazil (70%) (source: Playroll).
- x2.96
Pay gap between the most and least expensive mid-level Software Engineering salary (source: Ravio).
- +4.2%
The median annual salary increase in the last 12 months (source: Ravio).
Salary vs total employer cost, by country
Average employer costs on top of gross salary
- UK+16%: National Insurance 13.9%, pension 1.9%
- US+10%: Social security 6.2%, unemployment insurance 2.2%, Medicare 1.4%
- Germany+20%: Pension 9.3%, health insurance 7%, long-term care insurance 1.6%
- India+4%: Gratuity 2.6%, pension 0.8%
- France+45%: Pension 16.9%, health insurance 13.5%, family benefits 5.3%
- Brazil+70%: Social security 20%, holiday pay 11.1%, 13th month pay 8.3%, severance fund 8%
Source: Playroll employer cost estimates, October 2026
Calculate cost to hireMedian base salary by role
Mid-level (P3), annual, EUR
| Role | UK | Germany | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | €86,600 | 0.94x | 1.55x |
| Product Manager | €80,700 | 0.96x | 1.54x |
| Account Executive | €69,600 | 0.92x | 1.37x |
| Marketing Manager | €64,800 | 0.98x | 1.43x |
| HRBP | €68,200 | 0.99x | 1.42x |
Source: Ravio compensation data, October 2026
Get started with RavioWhere the numbers come from
Salary percentiles come from Ravio's real-time compensation data, pulled directly from the HR systems of the companies we work with.
Employer-cost data comes from Playroll and reflect statutory contributions in each country.
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Frequently asked questions
How is cost to hire calculated?
Total cost to company is gross salary plus employer contributions. Employer costs are calculated by Playroll from location and gross salary (and US state where relevant), so they don't change by role. Treat them as a planning guide, not tax advice.
What employer costs are included?
Everything an employer pays on top of gross salary. That covers statutory costs like social security, National Insurance, unemployment funds, and training levies, plus other costs that vary by country, such as pension, meal vouchers, 13th or 14th month pay, and workers’ compensation.
Where does the salary data come from?
Ravio's salary data comes from direct HRIS integrations with over 1,800 companies. Because it's pulled from real payroll data, not surveys, it always reflects what the market is actually paying.
How often is the salary data updated?
Ravio's salary data is updated monthly, and every update is manually checked by our team of benchmarking experts.
Make pay decisions with confidence
Stop second-guessing your salary decisions. Find out what the market is paying today for your employees and new hires.
