Staffing bill rate calculator
Turn a pay rate into a bill rate. Add employer burden, travel stipends and MSP or VMS fees, then price from a markup on pay or a target gross margin and see the spread, gross profit per hour and true margin on net bill rate.
- MSP / VMS fee
- −$2.25
- Net bill rate
- $72.75
- Loaded cost
- $60.00
- Spread (bill − pay)
- $25.00 33.3%
- Gross profit / hr
- $12.75
- Gross margin (on net bill)
- 17.5%
- Markup on pay
- 50.0%
Estimates only. Burden, fees and stipend treatment vary by state, program and contract. Check payroll tax and stipend rules with your accountant.
How the calculator works
Every result starts from the clinician's fully loaded hourly cost:
Stipends are added to cost without burden because housing and meal stipends are usually not subject to payroll taxes. The MSP or VMS fee is taken from the bill rate, so gross margin is measured on what actually reaches the agency. For a walk-through of every layer, read bill rate vs pay rate.
Markup on pay vs margin on loaded cost
The toggle in step 3 switches between the two ways agencies set a bill rate.
- Markup on pay is how many rate cards and quotes are written. It's quick, but it ignores burden and fees, so the margin it produces moves every time those change.
- Margin on loaded cost starts from the margin you need to keep and works backwards. It grosses up for the program fee so the target survives it.
Switching the toggle carries the current price across, so you can read the markup that a margin target implies and the reverse. The conversion between the two is covered in markup vs margin in staffing.
Staffing agency markup rates in practice
There is no standard staffing markup. It varies by segment, contract type, burden, who pays program fees and how hard the market is competing for the role. What matters is what a markup leaves after costs. The table applies common markups to a $50.00/hr pay rate with 20% burden and a 3% MSP fee. The numbers are illustrative, not market data.
| Markup on pay | Bill rate | Net bill rate | Gross profit / hr | Gross margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25% | $62.50 | $60.63 | $0.63 | 1.0% |
| 30% | $65.00 | $63.05 | $3.05 | 4.8% |
| 40% | $70.00 | $67.90 | $7.90 | 11.6% |
| 50% | $75.00 | $72.75 | $12.75 | 17.5% |
| 60% | $80.00 | $77.60 | $17.60 | 22.7% |
| 75% | $87.50 | $84.88 | $24.88 | 29.3% |
| 100% | $100.00 | $97.00 | $37.00 | 38.1% |
A 50% markup on pay, which sounds generous, leaves a gross margin in the high teens once burden and the fee are paid. That gross profit still has to cover recruiters, credentialing, overhead and bad debt.
What goes into burden
Burden is everything the agency pays on top of wages for a W-2 clinician. Use “Itemize it” in the calculator to build your own.
- Employer FICA: 7.65%
- 6.2% Social Security plus 1.45% Medicare on wages. Social Security stops at the annual wage base.
- FUTA
- Federal unemployment tax: 0.6% after the standard state credit, on only the first $7,000 of each worker's annual wages. On a full-year clinician the effective rate per hour is far lower.
- SUTA
- State unemployment tax. Each state sets the rate and wage base, and your rate moves with your claims history.
- Workers' compensation
- Priced by state and job class code. Clinical roles that lift and move patients cost more than office roles.
- Benefits, PTO and other
- Health insurance, paid time off, professional liability, credentialing and compliance costs, where the agency carries them.
Travel contracts add a further layer: stipends, travel reimbursement and housing. See how a travel nurse pay package is built.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate a staffing bill rate?
From a markup: bill rate = pay rate × (1 + markup). From a margin target: bill rate = loaded cost ÷ (1 − target margin), where loaded cost is the pay rate plus employer burden and any stipends. If an MSP or VMS fee comes off the bill rate, divide again by (1 − fee) so you keep the margin after the fee.
What are typical staffing agency markup rates?
There is no single standard rate. Markup depends on the segment, contract type, employer burden, who pays program fees and how competitive the market is. A markup that looks healthy on pay rate can leave a thin gross margin once burden and MSP fees are counted, so check every markup against gross margin on net bill rate.
What is the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost. Margin is the same profit as a percentage of price. A 50% markup on cost is a 33.3% margin on price. Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup); markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin).
What is included in employer burden?
Employer FICA of 7.65% (6.2% Social Security plus 1.45% Medicare), federal unemployment (FUTA, 0.6% after the state credit on the first $7,000 of wages), state unemployment (SUTA, set by each state), workers' compensation priced by state and job class, plus any benefits, paid time off and liability costs the agency carries.
Should MSP and VMS fees be included in the bill rate?
Yes. In most programs the fee is deducted from the bill rate before it reaches the agency, so margin should be measured on the net bill rate. Pricing to a margin target without grossing up for the fee means you keep less than you planned.
How are travel nurse stipends handled in a bill rate?
Housing and meal stipends are a real cost per hour (weekly stipends ÷ guaranteed hours) but are usually not subject to payroll taxes, so they are added to loaded cost without burden. Applying a markup to the taxable wage alone, and passing stipends through at cost, overstates the profit on a travel contract.