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//// Career · Business Owner

Cost of Hiring Calculator

W-2 employee vs 1099 contractor vs DIY — full cost stack including employer FICA, benefits, recruiting (amortized), onboarding loss, overhead, and your management time. Break-even bill rate and the 1.3–1.5× salary rule with actual math.

Where this fits

🧾 TaxTax StackGoing 1099FreelancersEmployees

This tool lives inside Tax Stack + Going 1099 and is most useful for freelancers and employees.

SE Tax Rate15.3%
QBI Deduction20%
Quarterly DeadlinesApr · Jun · Sep · Jan

Role Compensation

Annual Salary / Contract Value

W-2: annual gross salary. 1099: total annual contract value.

$

W-2 Benefits & Taxes

Employer FICA rate

Standard: 7.65% (6.2% SS + 1.45% Medicare)

%
Health insurance (monthly)
$
401k match
% of salary
PTO days per year
days
Other benefits (dental, vision…)
$/yr

Recruiting & Onboarding

Recruiting cost (total)

Job boards, recruiter fee, interview time

$
Onboarding weeks

Weeks before fully productive

wks
Annual training budget
$/yr

Overhead

Desk / office space
$/yr
Equipment (amortized)
$/yr
Software licenses
$/yr

Your Management Time

Mgmt hours per week
hrs/wk
Your hourly rate

Your opportunity cost per hour

$/hr

DIY Scenario

Hours/week you'd spend
hrs/wk
Your skill level for this role

100% = full specialist skill

%

W-2 True Cost

$144,631

1.70× salary

1099 True Cost

$110,573

1.30× contract

DIY Cost

$62,400

opp. cost

$74/hr

Break-even bill rate

If the hire generates more than this per productive hour, they pay for themselves. If a contractor charges less for equivalent output, the 1099 is the better buy.

Analysis

The 1099 contractor is cheaper on paper, but factor in flexibility vs institutional knowledge.

W-2 vs 1099 cost delta: +$34,059 for W-2

W-2 Employee

Cash Compensation$85,000
Employer FICA (7.65%)$6,503
Benefits Package$16,704
Recruiting (amortized 3yr)$2,667
Onboarding Cost$6,538
Training$1,500
Overhead (desk/equip/sw)$7,000
Your Mgmt Time$18,720
Total Annual Cost$144,631
Effective cost/hr delivered$74/hr
Cost multiplier on cash comp1.70×

1099 Contractor

Cash Compensation$85,000
Employer FICA (7.65%)$0
Benefits Package$0
Recruiting (amortized 3yr)$1,333
Onboarding Cost$3,269
Training$450
Overhead (desk/equip/sw)$1,800
Your Mgmt Time$18,720
Total Annual Cost$110,573
Effective cost/hr delivered$55/hr
Cost multiplier on cash comp1.30×

Do It Yourself

cheapest
Cash Compensation$0
Employer FICA (7.65%)$0
Benefits Package$0
Recruiting (amortized 3yr)$0
Onboarding Cost$0
Training$0
Overhead (desk/equip/sw)$0
Your Mgmt Time$0
Total Annual Cost$62,400
Effective cost/hr delivered$200/hr

The Hidden Costs in a W-2

$6,503

Employer FICA

$16,704

Benefits total

$59,631

Total gap above salary

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