Employer payroll tax calculator

The employer share of US payroll tax: Social Security, Medicare, FUTA and state unemployment. Wage-base caps are applied per employee, which is where averaged estimates go wrong.

Result

$48,700 in employer payroll tax, 8.1% of payroll

Social Security6.2% up to the annual wage base$37,200
Medicare1.45% of all wages$8,700
FUTA0.6% on the first $7,000 of wages$420
State unemployment insurance3.4% to $7,000$2,380
Total$48,700

Shareable result: https://peosignal.com/calculators/payroll-tax?employees=10&salary=60000&sui=3.4&suiBase=7000

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What this assumes

  • Employer share only; employee withholding is not included.
  • Assumes every employee works the full year at the average salary, so wage-base caps bite once per employee.
  • Additional Medicare tax is withheld from the employee and carries no employer match, so it is excluded.

How the maths works

Social Security stops at the annual wage base of $176,100 per employee. Medicare has no cap on the employer side. FUTA applies to the first $7,000 of each employee's wages at 0.6% once the standard state credit is taken.

State unemployment is the only rate you influence. It is assigned from your claims experience and varies by state alongside the wage base, so two identical teams in different states pay materially different amounts.

Because every one of these taxes except Medicare has a cap, they are computed per employee here. Ten employees at $60,000 and five at $120,000 produce the same payroll but not the same tax bill.

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Questions

How much does an employee cost an employer beyond salary?
Payroll tax alone usually adds 8% to 11% of salary. Add workers' compensation and a health contribution and the loaded cost of a US employee typically runs 20% to 30% above base pay.
What is the employer payroll tax rate?
6.2% Social Security up to the wage base, 1.45% Medicare on all wages, 0.6% FUTA on the first $7,000, plus a state unemployment rate assigned to your account.
Does the employer pay the additional Medicare tax?
No. The additional Medicare tax on high earners is withheld from the employee and has no employer match, which is why it is excluded from this calculation.

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