What payroll taxes does a New Hampshire employer pay?

An employer pays a 6.2% Social Security match up to the wage base, a 1.45% Medicare match with no cap, federal FUTA, and New Hampshire state unemployment insurance. New Hampshire has no mandatory employer disability or paid-leave payroll tax.

What is the effective FUTA rate?

FUTA is nominally 6.0% on the first $7,000 of wages, but employers who pay their state unemployment tax on time receive a 5.4% credit. That leaves a net effective rate of 0.6%, a maximum of $42 per employee per year.

What is New Hampshire's SUI wage base?

New Hampshire charges state unemployment insurance on the first $14,000 of each employee's annual wages. Your assigned rate combines a base experience rate with any administrative contribution or solvency surcharges set by the state.

Does New Hampshire have an employer paid-leave tax?

No mandatory one. New Hampshire's Granite State Paid Family Leave program is voluntary, so employers are not required to pay a payroll tax for it. There is also no state disability insurance employer tax.

What is the true cost of a New Hampshire employee?

It is gross wage plus all employer payroll taxes. For a typical worker the added employer tax is roughly 8 to 9 percent of wages, before benefits, workers' compensation insurance, and overhead, which add more on top.

New Hampshire Employer Payroll Tax Calculator

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Hiring in New Hampshire costs more than the salary you quote. On top of wages, an employer owes matching Social Security and Medicare, federal unemployment tax, and New Hampshire’s state unemployment insurance. This calculator adds all four to show the true cost of a New Hampshire employee.

How it works

Four employer taxes are summed:

Social Security = 6.2%  × min(wages, 168,600)
Medicare        = 1.45% × wages                 (no cap)
FUTA (net)      = 0.6%  × min(wages, 7,000)
New Hampshire SUI = your rate × min(wages, 14,000)

The Social Security match stops at the annual wage base. FUTA is effectively 0.6 percent after the 5.4 percent state credit, capping at 42 dollars per worker. New Hampshire charges SUI only on the first 14,000 dollars of pay; enter the combined rate Employment Security assigned you, which includes any administrative or solvency surcharges.

Example

For an employee earning 50,000 dollars, the employer pays 3,100 dollars Social Security, 725 dollars Medicare, 42 dollars FUTA, and 378 dollars New Hampshire SUI at 2.70 percent on the first 14,000 — about 4,245 dollars total, roughly 8.5 percent of wages. The true cost is about 54,245 dollars before benefits.

Notes

This covers statutory payroll taxes only. Workers’ compensation insurance, health benefits, retirement matching, and overhead add further cost. New Hampshire has no mandatory employer disability or paid-leave payroll tax. Your exact SUI rate is reassigned each year by New Hampshire Employment Security. Verify federal figures at irs.gov and state figures at nhes.nh.gov.