What It Means
Meeting cost is the pay that goes into a meeting while everyone sits in it: the number of people, times the length in hours, times their hourly pay. It's a rough figure, since it leaves out benefitsBenefits packageEverything an employer offers on top of wages, such as health insurance, paid leave and a retirement plan, which can be worth thousands of dollars a year. See more and the work each person set aside to attend. Put next to the decision a meeting is meant to produce, it shows whether the meeting is worth holding, and whether it needs everyone on the invite list.
Try It: Price a Meeting Before You Book It
Slide the headcount and the length. Hourly pay starts at the BLS average for private-sector workers, August 2026; type your own.
Pay only. Benefits and payroll taxes would add to an employer's cost.
How People Say It at Work
- "That status meeting costs us a few hundred dollars every week."
- "Does everyone really need to be on this invite?"
- "Could this be an email instead?"
The Breakdown
The formula
Meeting cost = people x hours x average hourly pay.
Worked example. Eight people meet for one hour every week. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' August 2026 average hourly earnings for all private-sector employees, $37.75, as an example rate:
| Step | Number |
|---|---|
| Person-hours | 8 people x 1 hour = 8 |
| One meeting | 8 x $37.75 = $302 |
| Weekly for a year | $302 x 52 = $15,704 |
What the result means. Cut the meeting to 30 minutes and it costs $151; drop it to four people and the full hour costs $151 too. Use your team's real pay when you know it, since a room of senior staff costs more than the national average.
Before you book a meeting (Buhata's suggestion)
- Write the decision or outcome the meeting is for in the invite.
- Invite only the people needed to reach it, and send updates to everyone else in writing.
- Pick the shortest length that fits the agenda.
- Every quarter, look at each repeating meeting and ask whether it still needs to happen.
Good to Know
The $37.75 figure is BLS's average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls in August 2026, seasonally adjusted. BLS publishes a new figure each month in its Employment Situation release and revises recent months, so check the latest release before quoting it. For production and nonsupervisory employees the August 2026 figure was $32.53.
FAQ
How do you calculate the cost of a meeting?
Multiply the number of attendees by the meeting's length in hours, then by their average hourly pay. Eight people for one hour at $37.75 an hour comes to $302.
What hourly rate should I use?
Your team's real average pay if you know it. If not, BLS publishes average hourly earnings for private-sector workers every month; it was $37.75 in August 2026.
Does meeting cost include benefits?
This simple version counts pay only. Adding benefits and payroll taxes would make each meeting cost an employer more.
Do It in Buhata
Calendar and Team Space
Book the meeting on the Calendar with its one decision in the title, and post the updates that don't need a meeting as a thread in your Team Space.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- One-on-one meeting
A regular private meeting between a manager and one person who reports to them, used for check-ins, feedback, problems and career growth.
- Deep work
Focused, distraction-free time spent on a mentally demanding task, a term from author Cal Newport's 2016 book Deep Work.
- Time tracking
Recording how much time goes to each task or type of work, either to see where your hours really go or to keep the hours records pay depends on.
- Context switching
Moving your attention from one task to another and back, which costs time and focus each time your mind has to reset for the new task.
Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Employment Situation Summary" (August 2026 results); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted" (August 2026 results)
Last updated .