What will your next technical hire cost?
Plan the first-year cost of hiring an AI engineer, founding engineer or technical leader in the United States. Adjust your own salary and cost assumptions to build a clearer hiring budget.
How much does it cost to hire an engineer at a US startup?
Start with annual base salary, then add an allowance for employer costs, benefits, recruitment and onboarding. This startup hiring budget calculator makes those assumptions visible so a founder can compare scenarios without confusing salary with the full first-year commitment.
Cost to hire an AI engineer
Define whether the work involves integrating existing models or developing custom machine learning. Enter a salary assumption that matches that scope and your hiring location. Model usage, GPU infrastructure and research costs should be budgeted separately.
Founding engineer hiring budget
Agree on ownership, product milestones and technical support before setting the package. Budget for cash compensation and employer costs, and discuss equity separately. This calculator does not value equity or predict candidate availability.
San Francisco, New York or Boston?
Use a salary and employer cost assumption validated for your intended location. City selection describes the search; it does not apply an automatic salary adjustment. Remote US hiring also needs a package and employment setup appropriate to where the person works.
Hiring cost calculator questions
Are these US salary benchmarks?
No. The starting values are illustrative planning assumptions. Role and location do not supply market salary data. Replace them with your own figures or discuss the package with Big Wave Digital.
What is included in the employer cost allowance?
Use an allowance for the employer costs you want to model, such as benefits, payroll-related costs and insurance. The percentage is editable and is not a statutory tax calculation. Confirm actual costs for your employment arrangements.
How are recruitment fees calculated?
If you select an agency-assisted search, the calculator applies your chosen fee percentage to annual base salary for each hire. This is a scenario assumption, not Big Wave Digital's published fee or a quote. Choose direct sourcing to exclude that modeled fee.
Does the monthly figure include one-time costs?
No. Monthly recurring cost is annual base salaries plus the employer allowance, divided by twelve. Recruitment and setup costs are shown separately in the first-year total. The model assumes all hires work for the full twelve months.
Can I save or share my hiring budget?
Download the cost plan as a text file or copy it into your existing employer enquiry. Inputs remain in this browser tab and are not submitted automatically by this plugin.
Plan the search behind the numbers
Big Wave Digital supports founders and scaling teams with AI, software engineering, founding engineer and technical leadership recruitment across San Francisco, New York City and Boston.
Discuss your hiring budget →Illustrative budgeting only. Excludes equity, bonuses, overtime, vacancy costs, salary increases, ongoing equipment subscriptions and any costs you have not included in your allowances.
