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Employee Turnover Cost Calculator: Turnover Rate and Cost to Replace
Turnover rate is departures divided by average team size, times 100: 3 departures on an average team of 12 is 25%. The cost of replacing one person is the sum of recruiting, hiring time, paid training, trainer time and lost productivity while they ramp up. Enter your own figures below; with the example inputs, one replacement costs $8,000.
Prepared by Prospyr · Reviewed October 11, 2026 · Free, no sign-up, runs in your browser
Turnover rate
Average of the head count at the start and end of the period.
Quits, firings and layoffs; not transfers between roles.
Cost of replacing one person
Job posts, agency or recruiter fees, background checks.
Average cost of the people who interview and train.
Screening, interviews, paperwork.
Paid hours before they work independently.
Your own estimate, averaged over the ramp-up weeks.
Cost to replace one team member
$8,000
Turnover rate
25%
departures ÷ average team size
Cost of this year's departures
$24,000
3 × $8,000
- Recruiting and advertising$1,500
- Hiring time$500
- Paid training time$1,000
- Trainer time$1,000
- Lost productivity while ramping up$4,000
This counts only costs you enter. It leaves out lost revenue from an empty chair and the cost of departures you have not had yet.
An estimate from numbers you enter, not a benchmark. Pay and benefits are not included beyond the paid training and ramp-up time you enter.
Want to see what each provider brings in? See sales by provider in Prospyr reporting →
The formulas
- Turnover rate = departures ÷ average team size × 100.
- Hiring time = hours hiring × your team's hourly cost.
- Training = paid training hours × new hire's hourly pay, plus trainer hours × your team's hourly cost.
- Ramp-up = weeks × hours per week × hourly pay × productivity gap %.
- Cost to replace one = recruiting + hiring time + training + trainer time + ramp-up.
Worked example with placeholder numbers
Recruiting is $1,500. Ten hiring hours at $50 is $500. Forty paid training hours at $25 is $1,000, and 20 trainer hours at $50 is $1,000. Eight weeks of 40 hours at $25, with a 50% gap, is $4,000. The total is $8,000 for one replacement; with 3 departures that is $24,000. These are example inputs, not typical costs for any role.
Next steps
Price a hire in full with the employee cost calculator, plan raises with the salary increase calculator, and set up a regular check-in with the performance review template. For the pay market, see the nurse injector pay calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate employee turnover rate?
Divide the number of people who left in a period by your average head count for that period, then multiply by 100. Average head count is usually the start and end counts added and halved. Three departures on an average team of 12 is 25% for the period.
How do you calculate the cost of employee turnover?
Add the costs of replacing one person: recruiting and advertising, the time your team spends hiring, the new hire's paid training time, the trainer's time, and the lost productivity while they reach full speed. Multiply by the number of departures to get the total for the period.
How do I estimate lost productivity?
Estimate how many weeks a new hire takes to reach full speed and how far below full speed they are on average during that time. The calculator multiplies weeks, hours per week, hourly pay and that gap. It is your estimate, so test a range.
What does this leave out?
Revenue lost while a chair or desk is empty, overtime paid to cover the gap, severance and unemployment costs, and any effect on morale or patient experience. If those are large for you, add them to the total yourself.
Is there a standard turnover rate I should compare to?
This page does not publish one. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports separations rates in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, built the same way as the rate here, but a practice is small, so one departure can move your rate a lot.
Should I count people who moved to another role in the practice?
No. Count people who left the practice. A move from front desk to medical assistant is a transfer, not a separation, although it may still create a vacancy and a training cost you can enter by hand.
Sources and scope
- BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, technical note
Defines the separations rate as separations divided by employment, times 100, the same construction used for the turnover rate here.
An estimate from the numbers you enter; the example figures are placeholders, not benchmarks or typical costs. It is not HR, legal or accounting advice.