Your real support cost is 30–50% higher than the salary line.
Most support budgets are built around base salaries, but the fully-loaded cost includes payroll taxes, health and retirement benefits, and the monthly software stack every agent relies on. Those hidden layers add 25–50% to the headline number.
The cost per ticket is where this becomes actionable. If your cost per ticket is above $30, even modest AI deflection — handling the 40–60% of questions that repeat every week — brings that number down sharply without reducing team size or quality.
Sources & methodology3 sources
Benefits multiplier default of 1.30× reflects BLS findings that benefits average 30% of total compensation for office and service roles.
Per-agent software tooling benchmark of $100–$300/month used to calibrate the default of $150/agent (helpdesk, chat, knowledge base, reporting).
Industry-average cost per ticket of $22–$45 cited as a sanity check for calculator output. Lower values indicate high deflection or short handle times.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a 'fully-loaded' support cost?
- Fully-loaded cost includes base salary plus employer-paid payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement contributions, and other benefits — typically 25–40% on top of base pay — plus the monthly cost of tools your agents use (helpdesk software, chat tools, knowledge base platforms). This is the true cost of a support seat.
- What should I set the benefits multiplier to?
- For US employers, 1.25–1.35 is typical for most roles. The BLS reports benefits averaging 30% of total compensation for office and service workers. If your team is in a higher-cost country or you offer generous benefits (equity, generous PTO, fully-paid health), use 1.4–1.5.
- How do I lower my cost per ticket?
- The two levers are: deflecting repetitive tickets with AI (so the same team handles more total volume) and reducing average handle time with better tooling and a stronger knowledge base. A 50% deflection rate on your current volume effectively doubles your team's capacity without a new hire.