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Marketing hire cost calculator

A marketing hire costs more than the salary. The BLS puts median pay for marketing specialists at $78,760 a year (May 2025), and private US employers spend about $14.07 on benefits for every $32.82 in wages (June 2026). Enter the roles you need to see your salary budget, the cost with benefits and overhead, and what a HappyCXO remote team member could cost instead: as little as half the salary budget.

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Savings estimate

What would a remote team member save you?

Enter the roles you're paying for now, or the hire you've been trying to make. Defaults are US median pay from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Role 1

Default: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Market Research Analysts (incl. marketing specialists), median pay (May 2025)

Default is 42.9%. Private US employers spend about $14.07 on benefits for every $32.82 in wages (BLS, June 2026).

Your current salary budget:
$78,760/year
With benefits and overhead:
$112,500/year

Estimated savings: up to $39,300/year

A HappyCXO engagement can start from about $39,300/year, roughly half the salary budget above.

Not counted above: about $33,800/year in benefits and overhead you wouldn't carry, plus recruiting and training costs.

Book a 20-min demo to get a real quote

This is an estimate, not a quote. Your actual price depends on scope and is confirmed after the demo. Salary defaults are US national medians from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (May 2025). Your local pay may differ.

What the result means

The calculator shows four numbers. Only the first is what you type; the rest follow from it.

Your current salary budget
Number of people times annual salary, added up across the roles you entered. Defaults are US national medians; type your own figure if you know it.
With benefits and overhead
The salary budget plus employer-paid benefits and payroll overhead, at the percentage you set. This is closer to what an employee really costs you.
Estimated savings
Half of the salary budget. It is based on the salary line only, so the benefits and overhead you would also avoid are shown separately and never inflate the headline.
HappyCXO “from” estimate
Where an engagement can start: about half the salary budget of the role you would otherwise hire. The real price depends on scope and is confirmed after a 20-minute demo.

Not counted anywhere in the calculator: recruiting, onboarding and training, equipment, software and office space. They make a hire more expensive, so leaving them out keeps the comparison conservative.

Methodology and sources

Everything runs in your browser with simple arithmetic. These are the exact steps and the sources behind each default.

How the numbers are calculated

  1. Salary budget = number of people × annual salary per person, added up across roles.
  2. Benefits and overhead = salary budget × the overhead percentage, only when the overhead switch is on.
  3. Cost with benefits and overhead = salary budget + benefits and overhead (rounded to the nearest $100).
  4. HappyCXO “from” estimate = half the salary budget, rounded down to the nearest $100.
  5. Estimated savings = salary budget − the “from” estimate, rounded down to the nearest $100.

Where the defaults come from

Salary defaults (US national median annual pay)

Benefits and overhead default

42.9%. BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, private industry (June 2026)

The BLS updates the Occupational Outlook Handbook yearly and the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release quarterly. Each default shows the release it comes from.

The salaries you enter stay in your browser. If analytics is on, we only record that the calculator was used and whether its demo button was clicked, never the values.

Go deeper

Questions about the calculator

How much does it cost to hire a marketing specialist in the US?
The BLS puts median pay for market research analysts and marketing specialists at $78,760 a year (May 2025). Benefits come on top: private employers spend about $14.07 on benefits for every $32.82 in wages (June 2026). Recruiting, training, equipment and software add more, and the calculator leaves them out.
What does “fully loaded” cost mean here?
It is salary plus what an employer pays on top, such as benefits and payroll taxes. The calculator shows the salary budget on its own and with benefits and overhead, using a default percentage you can change. See the glossary definition of fully loaded employee cost.
How is the savings figure calculated?
The headline savings is half of the salary budget you enter, rounded down to the nearest $100. It uses the salary line only: benefits and overhead are shown separately as costs you would also avoid, not added to the headline. That keeps the estimate conservative.
Is the result a quote?
No, it is an estimate. A HappyCXO engagement can start from about half the salary budget of the role you would otherwise hire, but the actual price depends on scope and is confirmed after a 20-minute demo.
Where do the default salaries come from, and can I change them?
Each role defaults to its US national median annual pay from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (May 2025). Pay varies by region and experience, so type your own figure or use the slider. The salaries you enter are not sent anywhere.

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