What payroll taxes does an Ohio employer pay?

Employers pay the matching FICA share (6.2% Social Security up to the wage base plus 1.45% Medicare with no cap), federal FUTA, and Ohio state unemployment insurance (SUI). Ohio has no employer-side disability or paid-family-leave payroll tax.

What is Ohio's new-employer SUI rate?

New non-construction employers in Ohio generally pay about 2.7% on the first $9,000 of each employee's wages. Construction employers pay a higher rate. After a few years your rate becomes experience-rated based on your layoff history.

How does the FUTA credit work?

Federal FUTA is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of wages, but employers who pay their state unemployment tax on time receive a 5.4% credit, leaving an effective 0.6% — about $42 per employee per year.

Does Ohio withhold any other employer payroll tax?

Beyond FICA, FUTA, and SUI, Ohio does not levy a separate state disability or paid-family-leave employer payroll tax. Local municipal income taxes are withheld from the employee, not paid by the employer.

Is the Social Security wage base capped?

Yes. The 6.2% Social Security tax applies only up to the annual wage base (about $168,600). Medicare's 1.45% has no cap, so high earners keep accruing the Medicare match on every dollar.

Ohio Employer Payroll Tax Calculator

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Hiring in Ohio costs more than the headline salary. On top of wages, an employer owes the matching half of FICA, federal unemployment tax (FUTA), and Ohio’s state unemployment insurance (SUI). This calculator adds those up so you can see the true cost of an employee.

How it works

The employer share is built from four pieces:

Social Security : 6.2%  on wages up to the wage base (~$168,600)
Medicare        : 1.45% on all wages (no cap)
FUTA            : 0.6%  effective on first $7,000 (6.0% less 5.4% credit)
Ohio SUI        : ~2.7% on first $9,000 (new-employer rate, non-construction)

Each tax stops at its own wage base, so FUTA and SUI are flat per-employee amounts once the salary clears those thresholds, while FICA scales with pay up to the Social Security cap.

Example

For a $50,000 salary the employer pays 6.2% Social Security ($3,100), 1.45% Medicare ($725), FUTA of about $42 (0.6% of $7,000), and Ohio SUI of about $243 (2.7% of $9,000). That is roughly $4,110 in employer payroll tax, lifting the true cost of the hire to about $54,110.

Notes

This is a planning estimate. Your actual Ohio SUI rate is experience-rated and appears on your annual ODJFS contribution-rate notice; construction employers pay a higher new-employer rate. Wage bases change yearly — confirm current figures at tax.ohio.gov, jfs.ohio.gov, and irs.gov before filing.