How Much Do Recruiters Make?

Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary recruiters make, you've come to the right place.

Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for recruiters and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of recruiters are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much recruiters can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Recruiters

According to data from 2023, there were about 960,445 positions for recruiters in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for recruiters was reported to be $67,662. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 273,193 job postings related to positions for recruiters.

How Much Money Do Recruiters Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money recruiters and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.

Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for recruiters.

Annual Salary for Recruiters

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for recruiters and related professions earned about $42,890 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $121,805 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for recruiters in the United States in 2023 was $67,662.

Hourly Salary for Recruiters

The BLS also breaks down compensation for recruiters by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for recruiters in 2023 was $33. Lowest hourly earners took home $21 while the highest reported hourly salaries for recruiters was $59.

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Advertised Compensation for Recruiters

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for recruiters, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for recruiters.

Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™

Annual Salary from Job Postings for Recruiters

During a review of 263,588 job postings related to recruiters, advertised salary was included in 108,596 of them, which was 41%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for recruiters was $60,032 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Recruiters

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for recruiters. Based on 40% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for recruiters in the United States is about $29.

Salary Trend for Recruiters

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for recruiters. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.

Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for recruiters dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for recruiters have increased 24%.

What's the Job Growth for Recruiters?

Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for recruiters over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 958,928 jobs for recruiters in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 107,413 jobs will be added. That's a 11.2% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about recruiters? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for recruiters.

What do recruiters do?
Recruiters: How do you become one?

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