What temp staffing really costs in 2026: bill rate vs pay rate

The two numbers that matter

This guide walks through the two numbers, what the markup pays for, what our own published rates look like in 2026, a worked example you can price yourself in 20 seconds, and the fees that decide whether a "cheap" hourly rate is actually cheap. Updated October 2026 with our published 2026 rate card, the crew cost calculator and the fee list as written on our pricing page.

The pay rate is what the worker earns per hour before their own taxes. It is set by the local market for that role: a dishwasher in a small town and a forklift operator in a big metro are very different numbers, and in 2026 the floor moved again in several states (Florida's minimum wage reached $15.00 an hour on September 30, 2026 under the constitutional schedule voters approved in 2020; see the 2026 context section below).

The bill rate is what you pay the agency for each approved hour. It covers the worker's pay plus every cost of employing that worker and running the service. When a worker is a W-2 employee of the agency, the agency is the employer of record. That means the agency, not you, carries payroll taxes, workers' compensation and the paperwork.

The relationship between the two is usually expressed as a markup: bill rate divided by pay rate, minus one. A $26 bill rate on an $18 pay rate is a markup of roughly 44%.

What is inside the markup

A markup looks large until you list what it has to pay for. For a W-2 temp worker, the main costs are:

• Employer payroll taxes. Social Security and Medicare (FICA) are 7.65% of wages. Federal unemployment tax (FUTA) is effectively 0.6% on the first $7,000 of each worker's wages in most states, and state unemployment tax (SUTA) varies by state and by the employer's claims history.
• Workers' compensation insurance. Priced per $100 of payroll and set by state and job class. A roofer or demolition laborer costs far more to cover than a host or a cashier.
• General liability insurance for work done on your site, with certificates of insurance on request.
• Screening and onboarding. Background checks, identity and I-9 verification, certification checks (food handler cards, OSHA 10, forklift, flagger) and orientation.
• Recruiting. Job ads, interviews and keeping a bench of ready workers so someone is available when you call at 5 a.m.
• Payroll and pay speed. Running payroll daily or next day costs more than paying every two weeks, and the agency pays workers long before you pay the invoice.
• Dispatch and support. The people who answer the phone, confirm workers, handle call-outs and send replacements.
• Margin. What is left after all of the above. For most staffing companies it is a thin slice of the bill rate, not the bulk of it.

Our published rates in 2026

We post an all-in rate for every one of the 51 roles we staff on our pricing page. The rates below are the indicative ranges as published there on October 2, 2026. The all-in rate includes worker pay, employer payroll taxes, workers' comp, liability insurance, screening and live dispatch, and you pay for approved hours only. Worker pay is the typical U.S. range for the role based on public wage data; your dispatcher confirms the exact rate for your city, shift, certifications and headcount before you commit.

Two things to notice. First, the spread between the two columns is the markup described above, and across the rate card it works out to roughly 37% to 40% over the midpoint of the pay range (closer to 25% where local pay sits at the top of the range, closer to 60% where it sits at the bottom). Second, tips are not in the rate: for servers, bartenders and other tipped roles, tips go on top and belong to the worker.

A worked example

Take four loaders for one eight-hour shift, ordered three or more days ahead. At the published all-in rate of $25 to $28 an hour, that is 32 billed hours and a total of about $800 to $896, before any overtime. If the loaders are picking up $18 an hour, the markup sits inside that range.

Order the same crew for tomorrow and a 5% short-notice surcharge applies; order it for today (within 12 hours) and the surcharge is 10%. Add a weekend of 10-hour shifts and the hours past 40 in the workweek bill at 1.5×.

You can run any version of this yourself: the crew cost calculator on our pricing page uses the same numbers as the order form. Pick the role, headcount, hours, days and how soon you need them, and it shows the all-in range, the estimated total and what the worker takes home.

Fees to ask about before you sign

The hourly rate is only half of the price. The other half lives in the service agreement. Ask every agency, including us, to answer these in writing. Our answers are copied from the fine print on our pricing page, as published on October 2, 2026:

1. 1Minimum shift length. Is there a minimum number of billed hours per worker per shift? Ours: 4 hours per worker per shift, even if you send them home early.
2. 2Cancellation terms. How late can you cancel without paying? Ours: free with at least 24 hours' notice; inside 24 hours, or after the crew is on the way, each cancelled worker is billed the 4-hour minimum.
3. 3Overtime. Federal law requires time and a half past 40 hours in a workweek, and some states add daily overtime. Ours: 1.5× the hourly rate past 40 hours, or past the daily limit where state law has one; we flag overtime before it happens.
4. 4Holiday and short-notice premiums. Ours: same-day orders (within 12 hours) add 10%; orders within 48 hours add 5%; three or more days out is the standard rate. No separate holiday premium is published.
5. 5Conversion fees. What does it cost to hire a temp full-time? Ours: the temp-to-hire conversion fee steps down as the worker logs hours on your orders and reaches $0 past the hour threshold written into your service terms; it applies even if the worker applies to you directly.
6. 6Platform or sign-up fees. Ours: none. No sign-up, platform, subscription or booking fees.
7. 7No-show policy. Ours: you are never billed for a worker who did not show; dispatch sends a replacement, billed only from the moment they check in. And if you are not happy with a worker during their first 4 hours on their first shift with you, you do not pay for those hours. Details on the guarantee page.

A fair quote is one where these answers are simple and written down before the first shift.

Hiring direct vs. hiring through an agency

An $18 wage never costs $18. When you hire an hourly worker yourself you carry employer FICA (7.65%), FUTA and SUTA, workers' comp, liability coverage, recruiting and screening, onboarding and payroll admin, the cost of no-shows and turnover, and idle time in slow weeks. Through an agency you pay one hourly rate for approved hours and the agency carries the rest.

The honest trade-off: for steady full-time roles you will fill for years, hiring direct is usually cheaper per hour. For peaks, events, projects, fill-ins and try-before-you-hire, a crew you only pay for when you need it usually wins. Our guide to temp vs temp-to-hire vs direct hire walks through when each one fits.

2026 context: why rates moved

Three things pushed hourly staffing costs in 2026, and none of them is agency margin.

Minimum wages kept stepping up. Florida's rate rose to $15.00 on September 30, 2026 (the last step of the 2020 ballot amendment; tipped cash wage $11.98), and more than a dozen states indexed their minimums to inflation on January 1. When the floor rises, the pay range for dishwashers, bussers and event cleanup crews rises with it, and the bill rate follows.

Workers' comp and liability premiums are set per $100 of payroll. Higher wages mean a higher premium base even when the rate per $100 is flat, so the insurance share of the bill rate grows in dollar terms.

Next-day pay is now table stakes for crew work. Paying workers the day after a shift means the agency funds payroll weeks before a net-30 invoice is paid. That financing cost sits inside the markup; it is also why workers show up.

How to compare quotes fairly

Line up quotes on an all-in basis. A lower hourly number with a four-hour minimum, a cancellation fee and a platform fee can easily cost more than a higher all-in rate with none of those.

Also compare what you are really buying: reliability. A cheap worker who does not show up costs you a full shift of lost output, overtime for the rest of your team and a manager's morning on the phone. Ask how the agency confirms workers before a shift, how it tracks check-ins and what happens in the first hour if someone is missing. How to cut no-shows for hourly shifts covers what to ask for.

Finally, make sure the workers are W-2 employees of the agency with workers' comp in place. If they are 1099 contractors, some of the cost you are "saving" is risk you are quietly taking on. Our guide to W-2 vs 1099 gig workers explains why. For event-specific pricing (servers and bartenders per guest, setup crews, multi-day loads), see how much event staffing costs.

The bottom line

A staffing agency's bill rate pays for the worker, the taxes and insurance that come with employing them, and the people who make sure they show up. Expect an all-in markup somewhere around 40% to 55% for hourly crew work in most quotes, higher for high-risk trades; our 2026 rate card sits at the low end of that, and every fee is on the pricing page.

Want a number for your job? Request workers and you will see an estimate before you confirm, then a dispatcher confirms the final rate.

Quick answers

How much does a staffing agency charge per hour in 2026?

For hourly crew roles, all-in bill rates on our published card run from about $19.50 an hour (host, busser) to $42 an hour (carpenter), with most restaurant, event and warehouse roles between $21 and $28. The rate includes worker pay, payroll taxes, workers' comp, liability insurance, screening and dispatch.

What is a typical staffing agency markup?

Roughly 40% to 55% over the worker's pay rate for hourly crew work, more for high-risk trades. Our published 2026 rates work out to about 37% to 40% over the midpoint of the pay range.

What is the difference between bill rate and pay rate?

The pay rate is what the worker earns per hour; the bill rate is what the client pays the agency per approved hour. The difference covers employer taxes, insurance, screening, recruiting, payroll, dispatch and the agency's margin.

Are there fees on top of the hourly rate?

With us, no sign-up, platform, subscription or booking fees. The things that do change the invoice are the 4-hour minimum per worker, rush surcharges (10% same day, 5% within 48 hours), overtime at 1.5×, late cancellations (inside 24 hours, billed at the 4-hour minimum) and the temp-to-hire conversion fee, which drops to $0 over time.

Do I pay if a worker doesn't show up?

No. You are never billed for a worker who did not show, and a replacement is sent and billed only from check-in.

This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Tax rates are general federal figures for illustration and can change; state rates vary. Rates and pay shown are indicative estimates as published on our pricing page on October 2, 2026; a dispatcher confirms your actual rate.