Free meeting cost calculator
Meeting cost calculator: what does this meeting really cost?
Put in the headcount, the pay and the length. See the cost per minute, per meeting and per year, and what ten minutes less would save.
Short answer
This meeting costs $289 each time and $13,860 a year.
This meeting costs
$289
each time · $6.42 a minute
- a year (weekly)
- $13,860
- hours of people's time a year
- 288
- Cut it by 10 minutes and save $3,080 a year.
- One fewer person saves $1,733 a year.
Live meter
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Start it when your next meeting does.
Reference
What common meetings cost in a year.
Worked out for an average salary of $70,000 with US employer costs (×1.43). Your numbers will differ; the order of magnitude usually doesn't.
| Meeting | People | Length | How often | Each time | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager 1:1 | 2 | 30 min | Weekly | $48 | $2,310 |
| Daily stand-up | 7 | 15 min | Every workday | $84 | $19,370 |
| Weekly team meeting | 8 | 45 min | Weekly | $289 | $13,860 |
| Sprint retrospective | 8 | 60 min | Every two weeks | $385 | $9,240 |
| Monthly all-hands | 60 | 60 min | Monthly | $2,888 | $34,650 |
Method
How the calculation works.
The calculator multiplies three things: how many people, what an hour of their time costs the company, and how long the meeting runs.
A yearly salary becomes an hourly rate by dividing it by 2,080 (40 hours × 52 weeks). On top of pay, employers pay taxes, pensions, insurance and other benefits, so the real cost of an hour is higher than the wage. That's the multiplier.
For the yearly figure, weekly means 48 meetings (allowing for holidays), and every workday means 230.
Formula
hourly cost = salary ÷ 2,080 × multiplier
meeting cost = people × hourly cost × minutes ÷ 60
yearly cost = meeting cost × meetings per year
×1.43
US private industry: wages are 70.0% of total compensation ($32.82 of $46.89 an hour).
×1.33
EU: non-wage costs are 24.8% of total labour costs (25.6% in the euro area).
Bring it down
Four ways to make meetings cheaper, without cancelling them.
Cut the default length
Book 25 or 50 minutes instead of 30 or 60. On a weekly eight-person meeting that's about $1,540 a year, and nobody misses the last five minutes.
Rules for shorter meetingsInvite fewer people
Every extra person adds their full hourly cost. People who only need the outcome can read the summary.
Write a summary worth readingTimebox every item
A visible countdown per agenda item stops the slow drift that turns 45 minutes into 70.
Use a meeting timerWrite the agenda first
A meeting with an outcome and timed items ends when it's done. A meeting without one ends when the calendar says so.
Make an agenda in seconds
Meeting cost questions
How do you calculate the cost of a meeting?
Multiply the number of people by their average hourly cost and by the meeting length in hours. For a salary, divide it by 2,080 working hours to get an hourly rate, then add employer costs such as payroll taxes and benefits.
What's a fair multiplier for employer costs?
Official statistics put it at about 1.43 times wages for US private employers (wages are 70% of total compensation, BLS, June 2026) and about 1.33 times wages across the EU (non-wage costs are 24.8% of labour costs, Eurostat, 2025). Use 1.0 if you only want to count salaries.
How much does a one-hour meeting cost?
With 8 people on an average salary of $70,000 and US employer costs, a one-hour meeting costs about $385. Held weekly, that's about $18,480 a year.
Does the calculator store my numbers?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser. The numbers go into the page address only so you can share the result; nothing is sent to us.
Why doesn't it include the cost of preparation and context switching?
Because those are hard to measure honestly. Treat the result as the floor: the real cost also includes preparing, travelling between rooms and getting back into focused work afterwards.
Keep reading
- GuideHow to run effective meetingsTen practical rules for running meetings that end on time with decisions: the facilitator's job, ground rules, etiquette and what to do when it derails.
- Free toolAI agenda makerDescribe your meeting in one sentence and get a timed agenda you can edit and run live. Free to use in your browser, no account needed.
- GuideMeeting minutes & action itemsWhat to put in meeting minutes, a recap email and a decision log, with copy-ready templates. Or let the meeting write its own summary as you go.
Make every minute of it count.
A timer for every item, decisions captured as you go, and a meeting score that shows whether you kept time.
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