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SHRM benchmark

SHRM average cost per hire, 2025.

The 2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report puts the average nonexecutive cost per hire at $5,475 and executive at $35,879. Here is the headline figure, the year-by-year trend, exactly what SHRM counts, and why your real cost is almost always higher.

What is the SHRM average cost per hire?

The SHRM average cost per hire is $5,475 for nonexecutive positions and $35,879 for executive positions, from the 2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report (released 15 October 2025). Executives cost nearly 7x more than nonexecutives. The figure is direct spend, external plus internal recruiting cost divided by hires; it excludes interviewer panel time at most companies and always excludes the cost of the role sitting open, so it is a floor, not the true cost of a hire.

For 2026, SHRM's Recruiting Executives Benchmarking data brief reports medians rather than averages: executive cost per hire rose substantially, nonexecutive stayed relatively stable, and median nonexecutive time to fill fell to 39 calendar days. The 2026 cost values are in the members-only report.

Nonexecutive CPH
$5,475
2025 SHRM, national average
Executive CPH
$35,879
Nearly 7x nonexecutive
Report released
Oct 2025
2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report

SHRM cost per hire, year by year.

SHRM has published cost per hire across several editions, and older figures still circulate. Here is the trend from the primary SHRM sources so you can tell which number you are looking at. The current figure is $5,475.

Human Capital Benchmarking Report (FY2015, pub. Aug 2016)
Cost per hire
$4,129
Notes
The widely cited legacy figure
SHRM, The Real Costs of Recruitment (Apr 2022)
Cost per hire
~$4,700
Notes
Reported as "nearly $4,700"
2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report (Oct 2025), nonexecutive
Cost per hire
$5,475
Notes
Current national average
2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report (Oct 2025), executive
Cost per hire
$35,879
Notes
Nearly 7x nonexecutive
2026 Recruiting Executives Benchmarking (data brief)
Cost per hire
Medians, members only
Notes
Executive cost per hire up substantially; nonexecutive relatively stable

Sources: SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Report (fiscal year 2015, published 8 August 2016); SHRM, “The Real Costs of Recruitment” (11 April 2022); 2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report (released 15 October 2025); SHRM 2026 Recruiting Executives Benchmarking data brief (shrm.org/topics-tools/research/recruiting-benchmarking). Figures re-verified against SHRM on 2026-10-16.

What SHRM counts, and what it leaves out.

SHRM cost per hire follows the ANSI/SHRM cost-per-hire standard (ANSI/SHRM 06001.2012): total external cost plus total internal cost, divided by the number of hires in the period. That definition is why the SHRM number is smaller than what a hire actually costs your business.

Counted (external + internal)
  • Job boards, sponsored posts, career fairs
  • Agency and search firm fees
  • Background checks and relocation
  • Travel for candidates and recruiting staff
  • Recruiter and sourcer time
  • Referral bonuses
  • ATS and recruiting tooling
Not counted
  • Interviewer panel time (at most companies)
  • Hiring manager time in the loop
  • Vacancy cost while the role stays open
  • Onboarding and ramp to productivity
  • Cost of a mis-hire

Add the missing components back and a typical mid-level loop runs $4,000 to $8,000 in direct cost, an engineering loop with a full onsite panel runs $6,000 to $23,000, and vacancy cost on a senior role often exceeds the entire SHRM figure on its own. Our interview cost calculator applies the full five-component model so you can compare your number against the SHRM benchmark.

Run your own numbers.

Compare your cost per hire against the SHRM $5,475 benchmark with the calculator.

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SHRM cost per hire, answered.

What is the SHRM average cost per hire in 2025?
The 2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report, released 15 October 2025, puts the average cost per hire at $5,475 for nonexecutive positions and $35,879 for executive positions, which SHRM describes as nearly 7 times more expensive. This is direct spend (external plus internal recruiting cost) divided by the number of hires; it excludes the cost of the role sitting vacant while you hire.
What is the SHRM cost per hire for 2026?
SHRM has published 2026 recruiting data: its 2026 Recruiting Executives Benchmarking data brief (data from more than 4,600 organizations) reports that executive cost per hire increased substantially in 2026 while nonexecutive cost per hire stayed relatively stable, and that the median time to fill for nonexecutive positions fell to 39 calendar days. That brief reports medians, and the cost-per-hire values themselves sit in the members-only full report. The latest SHRM average that is published openly is still $5,475 nonexecutive and $35,879 executive, from the 2025 Recruiting benchmarking report (released 15 October 2025). A median and an average are different statistics, so do not compare a 2026 median directly with the 2025 average.
Is the SHRM cost per hire $4,700 or $5,475?
Both figures are real SHRM numbers from different years. The $4,700 figure comes from SHRM's April 2022 reporting ("the average cost per hire was nearly $4,700"). The current figure is $5,475, from the 2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report released in October 2025. The older and widely cited $4,129 figure is older still, from SHRM's Human Capital Benchmarking Report covering fiscal year 2015 (published August 2016). If you want the latest number, use $5,475.
What is the SHRM executive cost per hire?
The 2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report puts the average executive cost per hire at $35,879, nearly 7 times the $5,475 nonexecutive figure. That is still a direct-spend average and understates the all-in cost of a senior hire: a retained executive search alone runs 25 to 35 percent of first-year compensation, which pushes the true figure for many C-suite hires between $50,000 and $250,000.
What is included in SHRM cost per hire?
SHRM follows the ANSI/SHRM cost-per-hire standard (ANSI/SHRM 06001.2012), which sums external costs (job boards, agency and search fees, background checks, relocation, career fairs, travel for candidates and staff) plus internal costs (recruiter and sourcer time, referral bonuses, ATS and tooling), then divides by the number of hires in the period. It does not include interviewer panel time in most companies' reported numbers, and it never includes vacancy cost, which is why the SHRM figure is a floor rather than the true cost of a hire.
When was the 2025 SHRM Benchmarking Report released?
SHRM released its 2025 Benchmarking Reports on 15 October 2025. The Recruiting benchmarking report is the one that carries the $5,475 nonexecutive and $35,879 executive cost-per-hire figures. The survey behind it ran from 9 January to 3 March 2025 and drew 2,371 SHRM member responses. SHRM has since released a 2026 Recruiting Executives Benchmarking data brief, which reports medians rather than averages.
Does SHRM publish cost per hire by industry?
Only in its licensed member reports. SHRM's benchmarking database does break cost per hire out by industry (its Talent Access industry editions carry percentile tables), but those reports are licensed for internal use, and the figure SHRM publishes openly is the national one. The per-industry estimates on this site (tech around $6,200, healthcare around $4,700, retail around $2,700) are our own modelled estimates, built from that national anchor plus our salary and interviewer-hour methodology and following the SHRM direct-spend definition, not a SHRM industry table. See our by-industry breakdown for the full table and the driver behind each figure.
Why is my cost per hire higher than the SHRM average?
The SHRM $5,475 is a national average across all nonexecutive roles and every industry, so it hides a wide spread. Engineering, executive, senior, and specialised roles run 2 to 10 times higher because of interviewer hours, scarce talent, and agency fees; expensive metros and long time-to-fill push it up further. The average is a planning floor, not a target. Our calculator applies the full five-component model (recruiter, interviewer time, tooling, logistics, vacancy) so you can see your number against the benchmark.

Related reading

Cost per hire by industry

SHRM reports one national figure; here is the full ten-industry breakdown with time to fill.

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Cost-per-hire breakdown

The full component makeup behind the average, line by line.

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Recruiter fees

Contingency, retained, flat, and RPO models with worked examples.

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Updated 2026-06-09