Employer burden
Payroll burden and the employer burden rate formula
Employer burden rate is the percentage added on top of base salary to estimate the full cost of employing someone. It usually includes employer payroll taxes, unemployment taxes, workers compensation, benefits, and payroll administration.
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Calculate employer burden rate
Simple formula
employer_burden_rate = (total_employer_cost - salary) / salaryWhy it changes by state
Federal FICA is consistent across states, but SUTA wage bases, unemployment rates, workers compensation rules, paid leave programs, and local obligations can move the total cost materially.
When to use a range
Use ranges when you do not know your assigned SUTA rate, workers compensation class code, experience modifier, or benefits plan cost. Use custom inputs once your payroll provider or state agency gives you assigned rates.
Employer burden rate by state, 2026
The number most people arrive here for. Employer cost above the wage, as a percentage of salary, for the same employee everywhere: $60,000 salary, office or professional risk, 18.0% benefits, mid workers-compensation rate, $840 payroll administration, and the state's new-employer unemployment rate. Change any of those and your own rate changes; this is a benchmark to start from, not your payroll.
The state matters far less than people expect. Across the 39 states that publish a new-employer rate, the burden runs from 27.5% in Arkansas to 29.9% in New Jersey — a spread of only 2.4 percentage points, with a median of 27.9%. Benefits are 18.0% of that in every state; unemployment tax, the thing that actually differs, is capped per employee and rarely moves the total by more than a point. The exception is Hawaii, and it is not a small one: a mandatory employer cost that no percentage above includes adds 12.3% of salary on its own, roughly $7,385 a year per employee. Where the state genuinely changes the answer, it is almost never the tax line. The commonly quoted 1.25-to-1.4 multiplier means 25% to 40%: on these assumptions almost every state sits at the bottom of that band.
| State | Burden rate | Cost above salary | SUTA | FUTA | Workers comp | If the state's conditional cost applies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 29.9% | $17,942 | $1,254 | $42 | $416 | 30.3% with +$224 |
| Oregon | 29.7% | $17,805 | $1,361 | $42 | $172 | 30.1% with +$240 $494 in TriMet district, Portland metro $480 in Lane Transit District, Eugene-Springfield |
| Nevada | 29.5% | $17,724 | $1,311 | $42 | $141 | 30.7% with +$702 |
| Colorado | 29.0% | $17,407 | $933 | $42 | $202 | 29.5% with +$264 |
| New York | 29.0% | $17,376 | $722 | $42 | $382 | 29.6% with +$360 |
| Connecticut | 28.4% | $17,069 | $513 | $42 | $284 | — |
| Idaho | 28.4% | $17,067 | $583 | $42 | $212 | — |
| Alaska | 28.4% | $17,037 | $542 | $42 | $223 | — |
| Illinois | 28.3% | $17,008 | $477 | $42 | $258 | — |
| California | 28.3% | $16,972 | $238 | $147 * | $357 | — |
| Rhode Island | 28.2% | $16,911 | $373 | $42 | $267 | — |
| Oklahoma | 28.2% | $16,903 | $375 | $42 | $256 | — |
| Pennsylvania | 28.1% | $16,875 | $382 | $42 | $221 | $330 in City of Pittsburgh |
| Maine | 28.1% | $16,839 | $305 | $42 | $263 | 28.6% with +$300 |
| North Dakota | 28.1% | $16,833 | $466 | $42 | $95 | — |
| Massachusetts | 28.0% | $16,822 | $363 | $42 | $187 | 28.5% with +$252 |
| North Carolina | 28.0% | $16,797 | $342 | $42 | $183 | — |
| South Dakota | 27.9% | $16,751 | $263 | $42 | $216 | — |
| Kentucky | 27.9% | $16,743 | $324 | $42 | $147 | — |
| Georgia | 27.9% | $16,739 | $257 | $42 | $210 | — |
| Missouri | 27.9% | $16,738 | $214 | $42 | $252 | — |
| Vermont | 27.9% | $16,735 | $154 | $42 | $309 | 29.4% with +$899 |
| Kansas | 27.9% | $16,711 | $264 | $42 | $174 | — |
| Iowa | 27.8% | $16,707 | $204 | $42 | $231 | — |
| Alabama | 27.8% | $16,700 | $216 | $42 | $212 | — |
| Michigan | 27.8% | $16,687 | $243 | $42 | $172 | — |
| Texas | 27.8% | $16,666 | $243 | $42 | $151 | — |
| Maryland | 27.8% | $16,665 | $221 | $42 | $172 | — |
| Ohio | 27.8% | $16,661 | $257 | $42 | $132 | — |
| Florida | 27.8% | $16,654 | $189 | $42 | $193 | — |
| Indiana | 27.7% | $16,646 | $238 | $42 | $137 | — |
| Delaware | 27.7% | $16,633 | $174 | $42 | $187 | 28.1% with +$240 |
| West Virginia | 27.7% | $16,631 | $257 | $42 | $103 | — |
| South Carolina | 27.7% | $16,618 | $148 | $42 | $197 | — |
| Tennessee | 27.7% | $16,614 | $189 | $42 | $153 | — |
| Virginia | 27.7% | $16,613 | $200 | $42 | $141 | — |
| Nebraska | 27.7% | $16,601 | $113 | $42 | $216 | — |
| Arizona | 27.6% | $16,566 | $160 | $42 | $134 | — |
| Arkansas | 27.5% | $16,513 | $140 | $42 | $101 | — |
The 11 states that cannot be given one number
These publish a range of employer rates rather than a single new-employer rate, so a point estimate would be invented rather than sourced. Collapsing a range to its midpoint is how a benchmark starts lying: Minnesota's published range alone spans 0.5% to 10.6%. Use the rate on your own employer notice.
| State | Burden rate range | Published SUTA range | Wage base | Conditional cost on top |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 27.6% – 28.5% | 1.9% – 7.4% | $9,000 | +$450 on top |
| Hawaii | 27.9% – 33.5% | 0.0% – 5.6% | $64,500 | +$7,385 on top |
| Minnesota | 27.9% – 35.3% | 0.5% – 10.6% | $44,000 | +$308 on top |
| Mississippi | 27.5% – 28.7% | 0.4% – 5.6% | $14,000 | — |
| Montana | 27.6% – 32.5% | 0.1% – 6.3% | $47,300 | — |
| New Hampshire | 27.5% – 29.3% | 0.0% – 7.5% | $14,000 | — |
| New Mexico | 27.6% – 30.6% | 0.3% – 5.4% | $34,800 | +$10 on top |
| Utah | 27.5% – 33.4% | 0.2% – 7.2% | $50,700 | — |
| Washington | 27.8% – 33.6% | 0.3% – 6.0% | $78,200 | +$194 on top |
| Wisconsin | 27.6% – 30.4% | 0.0% – 12.0% | $14,000 | — |
| Wyoming | 27.6% – 32.4% | 0.1% – 8.5% | $33,800 | — |
Computed from the same sourced dataset the calculator uses, version 2026.09.21. Social Security 6.2% to $184,500, Medicare 1.5%, FUTA 0.6% on $7,000 plus any state credit reduction (marked *). Louisiana is absent: the state publishes nothing this model can quote without the employer's own notice, and inventing a figure would be worse than the gap. The last column is a mandatory employer cost that exists in that state and is not inside the percentage, because it depends on headcount, city or payroll size — the state page carries the condition and the official source.
How the state moves the burden rate
The SUTA piece of the burden is capped per employee at wage base × rate, and that cap changes sharply by state:
- Texas — up to $243 per employee (2.70% on $9,000)
- Washington — employer-specific rate on a $78,200 wage base
- Maryland — up to $221 per employee (2.60% on $8,500)
- California — up to $238 per employee (3.40% on $7,000)
- South Dakota — up to $262 per employee (1.75% on $15,000)
- North Dakota — up to $466 per employee (1.00% on $46,600)
- Montana — $558–$1,031 per employee (1.18%–2.18% on $47,300)
- Arkansas — up to $140 per employee (2.00% on $7,000)
- Alaska — up to $542 per employee (1.00% on $54,200)
- Idaho — up to $583 per employee (1.00% on $58,300)
See the sortable 2026 SUTA rate and wage base table for all 50 states and DC.