What an in-house marketing team really costs | ThrivePOP

So you want a marketing department.

Pick the people you'd hire. We'll add up what they really cost once payroll taxes, health insurance, and the fourteen interviews are counted. Then we'll show you our receipt.

Who would you hire?

Tap a role to add it. Adjust the salary if you know your market, and tell us how many hours of that work you actually need each month.

Count the hiring hangover. Adds recruiting costs and the three months a new hire spends learning your brand at full salary. Turn it off if you'd rather see hard costs only.

Your two receipts

IN-HOUSE TEAM

Full-time hires, fully loaded

NO W-2s

THRIVEPOP

One team, $135/hr

How we did the math

Default salaries are U.S. mid-career averages for 2026 compiled from public salary data. Your market may differ, which is why every number is editable.
Payroll taxes are estimated at 8.5% of salary (Social Security, Medicare, and federal and state unemployment).
Health insurance uses the average employer share of a single-coverage plan: $9,325 total premium minus the $1,440 the average worker pays, per the KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Family coverage costs considerably more.
401(k) match is estimated at 3% of salary. Workers' comp and business insurance at 1% of salary.
Tools, software seats, and a laptop are estimated at $4,000 per person per year.
Hiring hangover (optional) adds $4,700 per hire in recruiting costs, based on SHRM's average cost-per-hire benchmark, plus roughly three months of ramp-up at half productivity.
This is an estimate to help you think, not a quote. We'll build a real one on a call.