KORE1 Contract Rate Index, version 2026-Q4
Contract Staffing Rates for 2026, by Role, Level and Metro
Hourly bill rates for W2 contractors across 21 roles and 23 metros, plus what three or six months costs.
Effective October 16, 2026. Next update January 2027. Go to the rate chart
What do contract staffing rates look like in 2026?
Median contract staffing rates in 2026 run from $38 an hour for a Level 1 help desk technician to $165 for a senior controller, per the KORE1 Contract Rate Index 2026-Q4. A mid-level software engineer bills a median $108.
Last updated: November 6, 2026
On a planning call this fall, Ryan McManus put the buyer’s question about as plainly as it gets. “If I need a help desk level 2 person in Plano, Texas, what am I paying? It’s going to be for a three-month contract.” In Dallas-Fort Worth, which takes in Plano, that seat bills $43 to $54 an hour, median $48, or about $25,000 for the quarter.
This page answers the same question for 21 roles, three levels and 23 metros. Every number is a bill rate, the hourly price on a staffing firm’s invoice, and never the contractor’s pay. Each cell says whether we observed it on KORE1 placements or modeled it from federal wage data.
KORE1 has run a contract staffing services desk since 2005, inside our wider IT staffing services practice, and Robert Ardell described what we wanted to build as “some kind of salary guide, but for contractors.” That’s close. It’s a price list with an effective date.
What Does a Contractor Cost per Hour in 2026?
National median bill rates for 21 roles at three levels, modeled from BLS OEWS May 2025 wages plus a 24% employer burden. The small figures are the 25th to 75th percentile range. Where KORE1 has five or more placements since 2023, our observed median sits in the last column.
| Role | Level 1junior | Level 2mid | Level 3senior | KORE1 observedall levels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT support and infrastructure | ||||
| Help desk technician | $38$35 to $44 | $49$44 to $56 | $61$55 to $66 | $4939 placements |
| Systems administrator | $61$56 to $69 | $79$70 to $90 | $100$90 to $109 | $5712 placements |
| Network engineer | $83$76 to $95 | $106$95 to $120 | $128$115 to $139 | Under 5 placements |
| Cloud / DevOps engineer | $83$76 to $95 | $106$95 to $120 | $128$115 to $139 | Under 5 placements |
| Security analyst / engineer | $78$71 to $90 | $102$90 to $116 | $126$113 to $136 | $827 placements |
| Software and data | ||||
| Software engineer | $83$77 to $96 | $108$96 to $122 | $131$118 to $142 | $10516 placements |
| QA / test engineer | $62$57 to $72 | $83$73 to $94 | $106$94 to $114 | Under 5 placements |
| Data engineer | $87$80 to $99 | $110$98 to $122 | $129$118 to $140 | Withheld |
| Data scientist / ML engineer | $67$61 to $80 | $95$82 to $111 | $122$107 to $132 | Under 5 placements |
| Data analyst / BI developer | $67$61 to $80 | $95$82 to $111 | $122$107 to $132 | $11511 placements |
| ERP and business analysis | ||||
| ERP / NetSuite / Salesforce consultant | $65$60 to $74 | $84$75 to $95 | $106$95 to $115 | $9115 placements, several states |
| Business systems analyst | $65$60 to $74 | $84$75 to $95 | $106$95 to $115 | $996 placements |
| Business analyst | $61$56 to $70 | $81$71 to $93 | $106$93 to $114 | $11610 placements |
| Project delivery | ||||
| IT project manager / scrum master | $61$56 to $70 | $81$72 to $93 | $106$93 to $114 | $11621 placements |
| Project coordinator | $61$56 to $70 | $81$72 to $93 | $106$93 to $114 | Under 5 placements |
| Finance and accounting | ||||
| Accountant / senior accountant | $52$48 to $59 | $65$59 to $75 | $87$77 to $94 | $4411 placements |
| Audit / SOX consultant | $52$48 to $59 | $65$59 to $75 | $87$77 to $94 | Under 5 placements |
| Financial analyst / FP&A | $62$57 to $71 | $82$72 to $94 | $106$94 to $114 | Under 5 placements |
| Controller / accounting manager | $100$92 to $116 | $127$112 to $148 | $165$145 to $178 | Under 5 placements |
| Engineering and HR | ||||
| Mechanical / electrical engineer | $66$60 to $73 | $83$75 to $94 | $105$94 to $114 | $869 placements, several states |
| HR generalist / contract recruiter | $46$43 to $53 | $59$52 to $68 | $79$70 to $85 | $6917 placements |
Modeled cells use BLS OEWS May 2025 national wages. Observed medians come from KORE1 W2 placements started 2023 to 2026, primarily in Southern California unless marked multi-state, and mix every level. The data engineer observed cell is withheld, because our eight placements include analyst and ETL support titles and billed well under the market.
Pricing one specific seat?
Send the role, level, city, start date, length and hours a week. We’ll come back with a bill rate range for that req.
Get a bill rate quoteWhat does a three- or six-month contract cost?
Take the hourly rate and multiply. Three months at 40 hours a week is 520 hours, six months is 1,040, and the costs below use the mid-level median rounded to the nearest hundred dollars. A mid-level software engineer comes to about $56,100 for a quarter.
| Role, mid-level | Bill range | Median | 3 months | 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Help desk technician, Level 2 | $44 to $56 | $49 | $25,400 | $50,700 |
| Systems administrator | $70 to $90 | $79 | $40,900 | $81,800 |
| Network engineer | $95 to $120 | $106 | $55,300 | $110,600 |
| Cloud / DevOps engineer | $95 to $120 | $106 | $55,300 | $110,600 |
| Security analyst / engineer | $90 to $116 | $102 | $53,300 | $106,600 |
| Software engineer | $96 to $122 | $108 | $56,100 | $112,200 |
| QA / test engineer | $73 to $94 | $83 | $43,000 | $86,000 |
| Data engineer | $98 to $122 | $110 | $57,200 | $114,500 |
| Data scientist / ML engineer | $82 to $111 | $95 | $49,600 | $99,200 |
| Data analyst / BI developer | $82 to $111 | $95 | $49,600 | $99,200 |
| ERP / NetSuite / Salesforce consultant | $75 to $95 | $84 | $43,700 | $87,300 |
| Business systems analyst | $75 to $95 | $84 | $43,700 | $87,300 |
| Business analyst | $71 to $93 | $81 | $42,000 | $84,000 |
| IT project manager / scrum master | $72 to $93 | $81 | $42,200 | $84,400 |
| Project coordinator | $72 to $93 | $81 | $42,200 | $84,400 |
| Accountant / senior accountant | $59 to $75 | $65 | $33,900 | $67,900 |
| Audit / SOX consultant | $59 to $75 | $65 | $33,900 | $67,900 |
| Financial analyst / FP&A | $72 to $94 | $82 | $42,400 | $84,800 |
| Controller / accounting manager | $112 to $148 | $127 | $66,100 | $132,300 |
| Mechanical / electrical engineer | $75 to $94 | $83 | $42,900 | $85,900 |
| HR generalist / contract recruiter | $52 to $68 | $59 | $30,700 | $61,500 |
What did KORE1 placements actually bill?
Fifteen cells come straight from our own placements, five minimum per cell. Some match the model. Our help desk placements billed a median $49 across all levels, the same as the modeled national Level 2 cell.
Others don’t, and we’d rather show it. Twenty-one IT project manager placements billed a median $116 against a modeled $81 for a mid-level project manager nationally. The observed cell mixes levels and mostly Southern California work. Different question, different answer.
| Role and level | Placements | Bill range | Median | 3 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountant, all levels | 11 | $42 to $85 | $44 | $23,100 |
| Help desk technician, Level 1 | 12 | $41 to $50 | $45 | $23,400 |
| Help desk technician, all levels | 39 | $41 to $55 | $49 | $25,500 |
| Systems administrator, all levels | 12 | $54 to $70 | $57 | $29,600 |
| HR generalist / contract recruiter, all levels | 17 | $52 to $70 | $69 | $36,000 |
| AP / AR / billing specialist, all levels | 6 | $42 to $85 | $74 | $38,500 |
| Security analyst / engineer, all levels | 7 | $70 to $124 | $82 | $42,900 |
| Mechanical / electrical engineer, all levels (multi-state) | 9 | $74 to $128 | $86 | $44,800 |
| ERP consultant, all levels (multi-state) | 15 | $73 to $123 | $91 | $47,200 |
| Business systems analyst, all levels | 6 | $99 to $103 | $99 | $51,500 |
| Software engineer, all levels | 16 | $91 to $120 | $105 | $54,600 |
| Data analyst / BI developer, all levels | 11 | $69 to $116 | $115 | $59,800 |
| Business analyst, all levels | 10 | $90 to $120 | $116 | $60,400 |
| IT project manager, all levels | 21 | $105 to $124 | $116 | $60,400 |
| Software engineer, senior | 7 | $91 to $138 | $120 | $62,400 |
Broken out role by role: help desk, network engineer, cloud engineer, QA, data analyst and BI developer, Salesforce, ERP consultant, business analyst, project manager, accountant and controller. For the wider picture, see tech contractor hourly rates explained.
How Much Does the Same Role Cost in My Metro?
More than most buyers expect. The same mid-level software engineer bills a median $96 an hour in Cincinnati and $143 in the San Francisco Bay Area, a $47 gap for identical work.
Help desk moves less in dollars but just as much in share, from $47 in Houston, Cincinnati and Nashville to $71 in the Bay Area. Southern California sits in the upper middle. Orange County and Los Angeles share one federal wage area, so their modeled cells match, and our own help desk placements there billed a median $49 across all levels (39 placements).
That Plano seat from the top of the page? See Dallas-Fort Worth contractor rates for every role there, or compare cities side by side on IT contractor rates by city.
| Metro | Level 2 help desk | Mid sysadmin | Mid software engineer |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States, national | $49 | $79 | $108 |
| Atlanta, GA | $49 | $80 | $105 |
| Austin, TX | $49 | $83 | $106 |
| Boston, MA | $61 | $93 | $128 |
| Charlotte, NC | $48 | $71 | $108 |
| Chicago, IL | $48 | $82 | $107 |
| Cincinnati, OH | $47 | $81 | $96 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth, TX | $48 | $82 | $106 |
| Denver, CO | $59 | $83 | $109 |
| Houston, TX | $47 | $80 | $103 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $58 | $84 | $124 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $48 | $71 | $98 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | $50 | $82 | $104 |
| Nashville, TN | $47 | $74 | $100 |
| New York, NY | $59 | $95 | $127 |
| Orange County, CA | $58 | $84 | $124 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $49 | $80 | $106 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $49 | $74 | $105 |
| Raleigh-Durham, NC | $49 | $82 | $105 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $49 | $79 | $103 |
| San Diego, CA | $57 | $83 | $126 |
| San Francisco Bay Area, CA | $71 | $103 | $143 |
| Seattle, WA | $61 | $83 | $128 |
| Washington, DC | $61 | $99 | $119 |
Hiring outside these 23 metros?
Remote and other markets get priced from the national cells and the local wage data. Tell us where the work happens.
Get a bill rate quote
How Is a Contract Bill Rate Built?
Three layers. The contractor’s wage, the employer burden that rides on every payroll dollar, and the staffing firm’s cost of finding the person and running the assignment.
The burden is the part buyers miss. We model it at 24%, which covers Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45% under IRS Publication 15, federal and state unemployment, workers’ comp, liability insurance, California’s five days of paid sick leave, and dental and vision that KORE1 pays in full. Our contractor burden rate page breaks it down line by line.
- Contractor pay$100 an hour
- Plus 24% burden$124 an hour
- Typical bill rate$150 to $160
That’s the only place on this page a pay figure appears. Devin’s view of it is blunt. “First off, it’s not a markup.” There’s a margin inside the spread, plus a stack of costs most buyers never see, which is why he tells clients to look for “a firm who’s willing to show you how they make their money and not hide anything.”
What Changes a Contract Rate Inside Its Range?
Each cell is a range because two people with the same title rarely bill the same. Four things move a quote from the 25th percentile toward the 75th.
Level
Seniority, priced in steps
A senior software engineer bills a median $131 nationally, $23 more than mid-level and $48 more than junior.
Skill
One scarce platform skill
A specific ERP module, security clearance or cloud certification pushes a seat toward the top of its range.
Metro
Where the work sits
Local wages set the floor, so a Bay Area seat starts higher before skill even enters the quote.
Terms
Length and overtime rules
How long the contract runs and which state’s overtime law applies both change what the seat costs.
Overtime deserves its own line in the budget. California pays 1.5 times the regular rate after eight hours in a day and double after twelve, per the California Labor Commissioner, so a ten-hour day costs more there than in Texas. That premium flows into the bill. How contractor overtime is billed walks through it.
Classification matters too. A W2 contractor carries the burden described above, which is why a W2 rate and a corp-to-corp rate for the same person aren’t the same number. W2 vs C2C vs 1099 covers the trade-offs.
How Long Do Contracts Run, and How Fast Can Someone Start?
Longer than a quarter, and quicker than most buyers plan for. Measured across KORE1 W2 contract placements.
116 days
Median assignment length
1,887 ended assignments
44 to 227
Days, the middle half of assignments
25th to 75th percentile
3 days
Median from offer to start
1,997 placements
86%
Started within seven days
37% started the same day
The median runs close to four months. Budget past the first quarter. How long contract assignments last breaks it down by role.
How Is the KORE1 Contract Rate Index Built and Updated?
Two kinds of cells, always labeled.
- KORE1 observed
- Bill rates from our own W2 contract and contract-to-hire placements that started 2023 to 2026. Five placements minimum, or the cell isn’t published. Fifteen made it.
- Modeled
- The BLS OEWS wage for that occupation and metro, plus the 24% burden, times the bill range we see on our own placements at that cost. Junior uses the 25th percentile wage, mid the median, senior the 75th.
We also leave a few things out on purpose. Payroll-only deals, direct hire, offshore and corp-to-corp work, and anything billed outside the normal range get dropped before a cell is built. The BLS figures are the May 2025 estimates, released in May 2026 (BLS release).
The next version lands in January 2027, with new placements and the next federal release folded in. Full detail, exclusions and SOC codes are on how the Contract Rate Index is built.
Common Questions
What does a Level 2 help desk technician cost per hour in Dallas for a three-month contract?
About $48 an hour, the median for a Level 2 help desk technician in Dallas-Fort Worth in the KORE1 Contract Rate Index 2026-Q4. The range runs $43 to $54, and three months at 40 hours a week comes to about $25,000. Plano, Irving and Frisco price the same.
How much does a mid-level contract software engineer bill per hour?
$96 to $122 an hour nationally, median $108, or about $56,100 for a three-month contract at 40 hours a week. Metro changes that a lot. Seattle runs $115 to $145 with a $128 median, and Cincinnati sits at $96.
What is the KORE1 Contract Rate Index?
It’s KORE1’s published list of contract bill rates by role, level and metro, with three- and six-month costs. Version 2026-Q4 took effect October 16, 2026. Fifteen cells come from KORE1 W2 placements with at least five placements each, and the rest are modeled from BLS OEWS May 2025 wages plus a 24% employer burden. It updates quarterly.
Is the bill rate what the contractor gets paid?
No. The bill rate is what the employer pays the staffing firm per hour, and it covers the contractor’s wage, a 24% employer burden for taxes, insurance and benefits, and the firm’s recruiting and account costs. In the worked example, $100 of pay loads to $124 and typically bills around $150 to $160.
What have KORE1 contract ERP consultants actually billed?
Fifteen KORE1 ERP consultant placements since 2023 billed $73 to $123 an hour, median $91. At the median a three-month, full-time contract is about $47,200. Those placements ran in several states, and the cell covers NetSuite, Salesforce and other ERP consultants.
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Get a bill rate quoteWorking on a budget instead? Run the numbers in the contract staffing cost calculator or download the 2026 Contract Rate Card.
