KORE1 Contract Rate Index, version 2026-Q4
IT Staffing Bill Rate Benchmarks 2026
What IT contractors bill per hour by role and level, and how far a metro moves the number.
Effective October 16, 2026. Next update January 2027. Go to the key findings
What do IT contractors bill per hour in 2026?
A senior software engineer bills a median $131 an hour nationally and $165 in the San Francisco Bay Area, per the KORE1 Contract Rate Index 2026-Q4. KORE1’s own IT project managers billed a median $116 (n=21).
Last updated: November 7, 2026
Search for what IT contractors cost and you mostly get salary conversions and what contractors earn, neither of which is the number an employer sees on an invoice, which is why this report covers bill rates, the hourly price an employer pays a staffing firm for a W2 contractor, and nothing else.
Every figure comes from the KORE1 Contract Rate Index, which prices 21 roles at three levels across 23 metros. Fifteen cells are measured on our own placements. The rest are modeled from federal wage data. Each number below says which kind it is. The difference matters.
- This page
- The findings. How IT bill rates move with level and metro, and where our placements land against the model.
- Somewhere else
- Look up one role in one city in tech contractor hourly rates. See how the Contract Rate Index is built for the method.
KORE1 has run a contract staffing services desk since 2005, inside our wider IT staffing services practice. On an internal planning call this fall, Robert Ardell described the goal as “some kind of salary guide, but for contractors.” Close. Minus the salaries.
Key Findings From the 2026 IT Staffing Bill Rate Benchmarks
Five numbers worth quoting. Each one traces to a cell in the index.
1.6x
Senior over junior, national median
Seniority multiplies the bill rate by about 1.6, since a senior software engineer bills a median $131 an hour nationally against $83 for a junior, and a Level 3 help desk technician bills $61 against $38 at Level 1.
+$39
Bay Area over Dallas-Fort Worth, senior software engineer
Metro moves the rate more than most buyers budget for, because a senior software engineer bills a median $165 an hour in the San Francisco Bay Area and $126 in Dallas-Fort Worth, a $39 gap for the same seat.
+$17
Bay Area mid-level over Dallas-Fort Worth senior
A lower level in a dearer city can out-bill a higher level in a cheaper one, since a mid-level software engineer in the Bay Area bills $143 an hour and a senior in Dallas-Fort Worth bills $126.
+$35
KORE1 project managers over the modeled mid-level median
KORE1’s own placements land within $10 of the modeled national mid-level median for help desk, software engineering and ERP consulting, but IT project managers (n=21) billed a median $116 against a modeled $81.
$38 to $131
National medians across IT roles
The lowest national median in the index is $38 an hour for a Level 1 help desk technician and the highest in IT is $131 for a senior software engineer, with a senior controller at $165 the top of the whole index outside IT.
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How Far Apart Are Junior and Senior Bill Rates?
Further than most budgets assume. Steadier than you’d guess. Across ten IT roles the senior median runs 1.5 to 1.7 times the junior median. Data engineers, network engineers and cloud engineers sit at the low end. QA testers and project managers sit at the high end.
The ladder has even rungs. A software engineer climbs $25 from junior to mid and $23 from mid to senior, so the second step costs about what the first did. Help desk climbs $11, then $12. Not a cliff.
- $38 Level 1 modeled
- $49 Level 2 modeled
- $61 Level 3 modeled
- $49 KORE1 observed, 39 placements, all levels
- $61 Junior modeled
- $79 Mid modeled
- $100 Senior modeled
- $57 KORE1 observed, 12 placements, all levels
- $61 Junior modeled
- $81 Mid modeled
- $106 Senior modeled
- $116 KORE1 observed, 21 placements, all levels
- $83 Junior modeled
- $108 Mid modeled
- $131 Senior modeled
- $105 KORE1 observed, 16 placements, all levels
Each casing is one role. Pencil marks are modeled national medians at junior, mid and senior (Levels 1, 2 and 3 for help desk), read from the bottom up. The ink mark is the KORE1 observed median across all levels, so it isn’t a rung.
How Much Does Metro Move an IT Bill Rate?
Enough to change the answer. The San Francisco Bay Area runs above the national median in every role we model, and Dallas-Fort Worth sits within $5 of it in every senior role below. A senior security engineer bills $154 in the Bay Area, $125 in Dallas-Fort Worth and $126 nationally.
The gap is widest, in percentage terms, at the bottom of the ladder. A Level 3 help desk technician bills $85 in the Bay Area against $57 in Dallas-Fort Worth, which is 49% more. Same ticket queue. Different rent.
The Bay Area cells use the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont wage area and Dallas-Fort Worth uses the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington one, both from BLS data, and every role has its own Bay Area contractor rates and Dallas-Fort Worth contractor rates page, with IT contractor rates by city lining up the rest.
- $83 Junior modeled
- $108 Mid modeled
- $131 Senior modeled
- $84 Junior modeled
- $106 Mid modeled
- $126 Senior modeled
- $126 Junior modeled
- $143 Mid modeled
- $165 Senior modeled
The same three levels of software engineer, modeled, in three markets. The Bay Area casing stands higher at every level, and Dallas-Fort Worth tracks the national one. No ink here, because KORE1 has no observed software engineer cell for these metros.
Where Do KORE1 Placements Land Against the Modeled Market?
Mostly close, sometimes not, and we’d rather show both. Our help desk, software engineer and ERP placements bill within $10 of the modeled national mid-level median, security and systems administration run $20 or more below it, and IT project managers run $35 above. Big spread.
Part of that is where we work. Thirteen of the 15 observed cells are primarily Southern California, and the other two (ERP consulting and mechanical or electrical engineering) are multi-state. Orange County and Los Angeles share one federal wage area, and its modeled mid-level software engineer median is $124, $16 over the national $108. A Southern California cell that lands on the national number is therefore a little light against its own local model.
Part of it is mix. Observed cells blend every level while the model splits them. Small samples too. Security is seven placements. Treat it gently.
| IT role | JuniorLevel 1 | MidLevel 2 | SeniorLevel 3 | KORE1 observedall levels, n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Help desk technician (Levels 1 to 3) | $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 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 |
| ERP / NetSuite / Salesforce consultant | $65$60 to $74 | $84$75 to $95 | $106$95 to $115 | $9115 placements, several states |
| IT project manager / scrum master | $61$56 to $70 | $81$72 to $93 | $106$93 to $114 | $11621 placements |
Modeled cells use BLS OEWS May 2025 national wages plus a 24% employer burden. Small figures are the 25th to 75th percentile range. Help desk uses Levels 1, 2 and 3. Observed medians come from KORE1 W2 placements started 2023 to 2026, primarily in Southern California unless marked multi-state, with at least five placements per cell. The data engineer observed cell is withheld.
Role by role, with the full level and metro grid, in help desk, network engineer, cloud engineer, QA, ERP consultant and project manager bill rates.
What Stands Behind the Observed Cells?
Placements we made, counted before a single cell was published.
15
Observed cells in the index
13 primarily Southern California, 2 multi-state
180
Placements across the 13 all-levels cells
W2 contract starts, 2023 to 2026
5
Placements minimum for any observed cell
Fewer than five is never published
24%
Employer burden built into every modeled cell
Taxes, insurance, sick leave, benefits
Nearly 2.0 million temporary and contract employees worked for America’s staffing companies in an average week, according to the American Staffing Association (2025). This report is KORE1’s slice of that work, priced by the hour. Budgeting past the first quarter? See how long contract assignments last.
What Does the Index Leave Out, and Why?
A benchmark is only as good as what it refuses to average in. Four kinds of work never reach a cell. Here they are.
Payrolling
Payroll-only deals
When we only run payroll for someone a client found, the price is a different product, so it stays out.
Direct hire
Permanent placements
A placement fee isn’t an hourly rate, so direct hire never lands in a contract bill rate cell.
Other models
Offshore and corp-to-corp
These follow different cost structures than a W2 contractor, so neither one is blended into the numbers.
Outliers
Anything out of range
Data errors and special deals get dropped before a cell is built, so one odd contract can’t drag a median.
Two observed sets are withheld on purpose. Our data engineer placements billed well under the modeled market and include analyst and ETL support titles, so the index publishes the modeled data engineer cells and holds the observed one until those titles are reclassified. Audit and SOX consultant observations mostly came from a single engagement, so those wait as well.
That’s why you’ll see a data engineer row with no observed figure. Nothing missing. A decision. Holding a quote up against these numbers? Compare staffing agency quotes line by line first, and ask what each one includes.
How Is the Index Built, and How Do I Cite It?
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.
- Modeled
- The BLS OEWS hourly wage for that occupation and metro, plus the 24% burden, multiplied by the bill range we see on our own placements at that cost. Junior uses the 25th percentile wage, mid the median, senior the 75th.
Occupations map to Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, 15-1252 for software engineers and 15-1232 for help desk, for example. The wage data is the May 2025 release, published in May 2026 (BLS release). The 24% burden covers employer payroll taxes, workers’ comp, insurance, state sick leave and benefits, and the contractor burden rate page lists each line. The next index version lands in January 2027, with new placements and the next federal release folded in. Full detail is on how the Contract Rate Index is built.
How to cite this report
KORE1. “IT Staffing Bill Rate Benchmarks 2026.” KORE1 Contract Rate Index 2026-Q4, effective October 16, 2026. https://www.kore1.com/it-staffing-bill-rate-benchmarks-2026/
Download this report’s findings as a CSV. Want every role and metro? The 2026 Contract Rate Card comes as a PDF and a spreadsheet.
Quote a figure and name its label. Observed or modeled, plus the version. That’s it.
Common Questions
What do IT contractors bill per hour in 2026?
National median IT bill rates run from $38 an hour for a Level 1 help desk technician to $131 for a senior software engineer. Mid-level security, network, cloud, software and data engineers land between $102 and $110. Bill rates are what the employer pays, not what the contractor earns.
How much more does a senior IT contractor bill than a junior one?
About 1.6 times as much at the median. A senior software engineer bills $131 an hour nationally against $83 for a junior, and a Level 3 help desk technician bills $61 against $38 at Level 1. Across ten IT roles the multiple runs 1.5 to 1.7.
Does the city really change what an IT contractor costs?
Yes. A senior software engineer bills a median $165 an hour in the San Francisco Bay Area, $131 nationally and $126 in Dallas-Fort Worth. At Level 3, help desk runs $85 in the Bay Area and $57 in Dallas-Fort Worth. Dallas-Fort Worth tracks the national figure closely.
Are these the rates KORE1 pays contractors?
No. Every figure is a bill rate, the hourly price an employer pays KORE1 for a W2 contractor. It covers wages, a 24% employer burden for taxes, insurance and benefits, and our recruiting and account costs. In a worked example, $100 of pay loads to $124 and typically bills around $150 to $160.
How do KORE1 placements compare with the modeled rates?
Close for help desk, software engineers and ERP consultants, within $10 of the modeled national mid-level median. KORE1 IT project managers billed a median $116 (n=21) against a modeled $81 for mid-level. Observed cells blend levels and lean Southern California.
How should I cite these benchmarks?
Cite the KORE1 Contract Rate Index 2026-Q4, effective October 16, 2026, name the page, and say whether a figure is observed or modeled. The next version publishes in January 2027, and every cell carries either a placement count or a Modeled label.
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