PEO Cost Case Studies: Modeled Examples From Published Ranges
Three modeled cost scenarios — a restaurant group, a healthcare practice and a technology consultancy — priced with the sourced fee ranges this site has verified. Every example is explicitly arithmetic, not a provider quote and not a client case study.
Read this first. These are modeled examples. We hold no client data and we will not invent any. The fee ranges are the ones we have actually verified — ADP, checked 2026-08-12, puts administrative fees near $40 to $160 per employee per month (or 2% to 12% of payroll); NAPEO’s average lands near $116 per employee per month, about $1,395 per employee per year. The arithmetic below applies those ranges to three fictional employer shapes and shows exactly what the total excludes.
How to read these tables
The employer FICA column is statutory and identical whether you use a PEO or not — it is passed through, not a PEO cost. The PEO administrative fee is the provider’s own compensation. State unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation premium and benefit plan cost are excluded because they are buyer-specific and usually larger than the fee — a quote, not a table, is where they belong.
Restaurant group
Kitchen and front-of-house staff, high turnover, seasonal wages.
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| Headcount | 25 |
| Average annual wage | $30,000 |
| Gross annual payroll | $750,000 |
| PEO admin fee, PEPM range ($40–$160) | $12,000 – $48,000 per year |
| PEO admin fee, % of payroll range (2%–12%) | $15,000 – $90,000 per year |
| Employer FICA (statutory, passed through) | $57,375 per year |
| Excluded | SUI, workers' comp, benefits — see below |
Healthcare practice
Physicians and clinical staff, high wages, HIPAA considerations.
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| Headcount | 40 |
| Average annual wage | $95,000 |
| Gross annual payroll | $3,800,000 |
| PEO admin fee, PEPM range ($40–$160) | $19,200 – $76,800 per year |
| PEO admin fee, % of payroll range (2%–12%) | $76,000 – $456,000 per year |
| Employer FICA (statutory, passed through) | $290,700 per year |
| Excluded | SUI, workers' comp, benefits — see below |
Technology consultancy
Senior engineers and consultants, six-figure wages, bonuses.
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| Headcount | 15 |
| Average annual wage | $140,000 |
| Gross annual payroll | $2,100,000 |
| PEO admin fee, PEPM range ($40–$160) | $7,200 – $28,800 per year |
| PEO admin fee, % of payroll range (2%–12%) | $42,000 – $252,000 per year |
| Employer FICA (statutory, passed through) | $160,650 per year |
| Excluded | SUI, workers' comp, benefits — see below |
Side-by-side
| Scenario | Headcount | Avg wage | Annual payroll | Admin fee (PEPM) | Admin fee (% of payroll) | Employer FICA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant group | 25 | $30,000 | $750,000 | $12,000 – $48,000 | $15,000 – $90,000 | $57,375 |
| Healthcare practice | 40 | $95,000 | $3,800,000 | $19,200 – $76,800 | $76,000 – $456,000 | $290,700 |
| Technology consultancy | 15 | $140,000 | $2,100,000 | $7,200 – $28,800 | $42,000 – $252,000 | $160,650 |
What this comparison is not. A percentage model on a $140,000 wage base grows with every raise and every bonus; a flat PEPM does not. Which one wins depends on your payroll trajectory and headcount — model next year’s payroll, not this year’s, and get the administrative fee in writing, unbundled from insurance.
Bottom line
The honest takeaway is the range, not a point estimate: the annual PEO administrative fee for these shapes lands roughly in the bands above, and the excluded lines — SUI, workers' comp, benefits — can each exceed the fee itself. That is why every provider profile and every page on this site refuses to print a single confident number as “the cost.”
Get your own number: price your own quote in the calculator · the seven questions to ask · what quotes omit · the state dataset
Frequently asked
Are these real client results?
No. Every example is labeled modeled: arithmetic applied to the published fee ranges we have verified. No provider quoted these numbers and no client supplied them. Treat them as teaching numbers, not quotes.
Why is the range so wide?
Because the verified market range is wide — roughly $40 to $160 per employee per month, or 2% to 12% of payroll, per the sourced ADP range. The spread of your total is mostly your workers' comp, plan design and state unemployment rate, which no five-field model can know.
What should I do instead of guessing from a range?
Get a written, unbundled quote — administrative fee stated separately from insurance and statutory pass-throughs — and price it in the calculator. A range is a benchmark; your quote is your number.