Which payroll taxes does the employer pay on a driver's wages?

In 2026 you match the employee's Social Security at 6.2% until their wages for the year reach $184,500, and their Medicare at 1.45% with no cap, 7.65% in total for any driver under that limit. FUTA, the federal unemployment tax, is 6.0% of up to $7,000 in wages per worker each year. If you pay your state unemployment tax in full and on time, the state credit (up to 5.4%) cuts that to 0.6%, or $42 per employee. Employers in a credit reduction state owe more. State unemployment rates and wage bases vary by state and by employer.

How is workers' comp priced for NEMT drivers?

Texas is a useful example. There, the payroll in each job classification is multiplied by the insurer's rate for that class, stated per $100 of payroll, and an experience modifier based on past losses may be applied. Rating works differently from state to state, and your rate depends on the class code, insurer, and claim history, so take it from your policy or quote.

Do employee drivers in NEMT get overtime pay?

Yes, in most cases. Federal law requires at least 1.5 times the regular rate for every hour a non-exempt employee works beyond 40 in a workweek. Some interstate drivers fall under the motor carrier exemption, but the small vehicle exception brings them back under overtime rules when the job involves vehicles of 10,000 pounds or less, though not vehicles "designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers, including the driver, for compensation." California goes further: it pays 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 8 in a day and double for hours over 12.

Do I pay drivers for time spent waiting at a clinic?

Usually. A driver kept waiting and ready for the next rider is working under federal rules, because the employer has engaged them to wait. Unpaid time requires three things: the driver is completely relieved, knows in advance exactly when work resumes, and has long enough to spend the time freely.

Does the calculator work for per-trip pay?

Yes, after you turn trip pay into an hourly figure. Take a typical week's trip earnings, divide by all hours worked, and enter that as the wage, with hours split at 40 as usual. For an employee paid a flat amount per job, federal rules treat that average as the regular rate and add half of it for each hour past 40, which is the same total the calculator gives.

Does this calculator work for 1099 drivers?

It is built for employees. Whether a driver can be treated as an independent contractor depends on the whole relationship, not the label: the IRS looks at behavioral control, financial control, and the type of relationship. Our guide on paying drivers on a W-2 or a 1099 covers the tests.

NEMT driver cost calculator: wages plus taxes, comp, and benefits

Updated September 29, 20265 min read

A NEMT driver costs more than the hourly wage. Add the overtime premium (1.5 times the wage past 40 hours a week), the employer's 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare, state and federal unemployment tax, workers' comp premiums, benefits, and training. Divide the weekly total by paid hours for the loaded hourly cost, and by trips for the cost of each trip.

On this page

The numbers filled in are examples, not averages. Replace each one with your own quotes, rates, and costs.

PayFor one employee driver in a typical week.

Hourly wage

Regular hours per week

Overtime hours per week

Paid at time and a half.

What you pay on top of wages

Employer payroll taxes

Social Security and Medicare are 7.65% of wages. Add your state and federal unemployment taxes.

Workers' comp rate

From your policy: the premium for each $100 of driver payroll.

Benefits per month

Health insurance, retirement match, and other benefits for this driver.

Training and screening per year

Courses, background checks, drug tests, and paid training hours.

Work

Trips per week

One-way trips this driver completes in a week.

Driver cost

Example numbers

Loaded cost per hour

$23.38

30% above the $18.00 wage, over 46 hours a week.

Cost per trip: $24.44
Yearly cost: $55,925

One week

Regular pay40 hours at $18.00: $720.00
Overtime pay6 hours at $27.00: $162.00
Payroll taxes10% of wages: $88.20
Workers' comp$4.00 per $100 of wages: $35.28
Benefits: $60.00
Training and screening: $10.00
Weekly cost: $1,075.48

With taxes and comp, a regular hour costs $20.52 and an overtime hour costs $30.78.

How to use the driver cost calculator

Fill it in for one employee driver in a normal week. The starting values are placeholders that show the math, so swap in your own pay rates, tax rates, and policy figures. Results recalculate on every keystroke.

Enter the hourly wage.
Enter regular hours and overtime hours for the week.
Enter your employer payroll tax rate and the workers’ comp rate you pay on each $100 of wages.
Enter benefits per month and training and screening per year for one driver.
Enter the trips per week the driver completes.
Read the loaded cost per hour, the cost per trip, and the weekly breakdown.

Every paid hour counts, including waits between trips and time at the depot. The trips field decides the cost per trip, so use completed one-way trips, not scheduled ones.

What each field covers

Input	What to enter	Source
Hourly wage	Pay for one straight-time hour	Payroll records or your job posting
Regular hours per week	Paid hours at the base rate	Timecards
Overtime hours per week	Hours paid at time and a half	Timecards: hours past 40 in the workweek, plus any daily overtime your state requires
Employer payroll taxes	The employer’s Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes, combined into a single percentage of wages	7.65% federal, plus your state unemployment rate notice and federal unemployment tax
Workers’ comp rate	Premium per $100 of driver payroll	Your policy: the classification rate times your experience modifier
Benefits per month	Health insurance, retirement contributions, and other benefits	Monthly invoices divided by the drivers covered
Training and screening per year	Courses, CPR and first aid, background checks, drug tests, and wages during training	Last year’s spending per driver
Trips per week	Completed one-way trips	Trip logs

For a starting point, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data puts the national median wage at $17.93 an hour for shuttle drivers and chauffeurs. Pay varies by state and city, so use what you pay or what you would need to offer to hire.

Unemployment taxes stop at a wage base. Federal unemployment tax covers only the first $7,000 you pay a worker in a year, and state wage bases differ. A flat percentage in this calculator slightly overstates those taxes for drivers who earn well past the base. For training, count course fees along with the paid hours. The Community Transportation Association of America’s PASS Basic online course (Passenger Assistance, Safety and Sensitivity) lists at $55, or $28 for association members.

How to read the result

The answer at the top is the loaded cost per hour: the week’s total cost divided by every paid hour. The line under it shows how far that sits above the base wage.

Cost per trip divides the week’s cost by completed trips. Use it when you price trips or check a contract rate.
Yearly cost is the weekly figure times 52.
The weekly breakdown lists regular pay, overtime, payroll taxes, workers’ comp, benefits, and training.
The note at the bottom compares one regular hour with one overtime hour, both with the taxes and comp that follow wages.

For context, BLS figures for June 2026 put private employers’ costs for transportation and material moving occupations at $36.38 per hour worked. Wages were $24.97 of that and benefits $11.41, or 31.4% of total compensation. That group also covers truck drivers and material moving workers, so read it as background rather than a NEMT figure.

Worked example

Here is the calculator with its default values, which are examples rather than market rates. A driver earns $18 an hour and works 40 regular hours plus 6 overtime hours a week. Payroll taxes run 10% of wages, workers’ comp is $4 per $100 of payroll, benefits cost $260 a month, and training and screening cost $520 a year. The driver completes 44 trips a week.

Regular pay: 40 hours at $18 is $720. Overtime: 6 hours at $27 is $162. Wages: $882.
Payroll taxes: 10% of $882 is $88.20. Workers’ comp: $882 divided by 100, times $4, is $35.28.
Benefits: $260 times 12 months, divided by 52 weeks, is $60 a week. Training: $520 divided by 52 is $10 a week.
Weekly cost: $1,075.48. Yearly: about $55,925.
Loaded cost per hour: $1,075.48 divided by 46 paid hours is $23.38, about 30% above the wage.
Cost per trip: $1,075.48 divided by 44 trips is $24.44.

With taxes and comp, each regular hour costs $20.52 and each overtime hour $30.78. Raise only the trips: at 50 a week in the same hours, the weekly cost stays at $1,075.48 and the cost per trip drops to $21.51.

Where driver cost hides

Waiting time. Gaps at clinics are paid hours when the driver is kept on standby with the van, since federal rules treat that as work. An unpaid gap needs a full release from duty, a set time to come back, and long enough to be useful.
Long shifts. Five 10-hour days add up to 50 hours, and 10 of them cost time and a half. California goes further and pays daily overtime past 8 hours in a workday. Our guide to NEMT driver overtime covers the exemptions that rarely fit.
Paid hours with no trips. An hour on the clock without a rider still counts toward the week’s cost, so it raises the cost per trip. Watch trips per hour to catch it.
Turnover. Each replacement driver repeats the screening and training costs before the first paid trip. The guide to NEMT driver retention covers ways to keep good drivers.
Misclassification. Classing an employee as a contractor with no reasonable basis can make you liable for the employment taxes on that worker’s pay. The W-2 versus 1099 guide explains the tests.

For premiums and class codes, read our NEMT workers’ comp guide. Wage levels and pay structures are in NEMT driver pay.

Timecards ready for payroll

HealthRide builds driver timecards from real clock-ins and exports hours and GPS miles ready for payroll, so the hours you enter here come from records rather than memory. Pull a quarter’s driver activity from reports, then run this calculator to see how overtime and trips per week move your cost per trip.

Frequently asked questions

Which payroll taxes does the employer pay on a driver's wages?: In 2026 you match the employee's Social Security at 6.2% until their wages for the year reach $184,500, and their Medicare at 1.45% with no cap, 7.65% in total for any driver under that limit. FUTA, the federal unemployment tax, is 6.0% of up to $7,000 in wages per worker each year. If you pay your state unemployment tax in full and on time, the state credit (up to 5.4%) cuts that to 0.6%, or $42 per employee. Employers in a credit reduction state owe more. State unemployment rates and wage bases vary by state and by employer.
How is workers' comp priced for NEMT drivers?: Texas is a useful example. There, the payroll in each job classification is multiplied by the insurer's rate for that class, stated per $100 of payroll, and an experience modifier based on past losses may be applied. Rating works differently from state to state, and your rate depends on the class code, insurer, and claim history, so take it from your policy or quote.
Do employee drivers in NEMT get overtime pay?: Yes, in most cases. Federal law requires at least 1.5 times the regular rate for every hour a non-exempt employee works beyond 40 in a workweek. Some interstate drivers fall under the motor carrier exemption, but the small vehicle exception brings them back under overtime rules when the job involves vehicles of 10,000 pounds or less, though not vehicles "designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers, including the driver, for compensation." California goes further: it pays 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 8 in a day and double for hours over 12.
Do I pay drivers for time spent waiting at a clinic?: Usually. A driver kept waiting and ready for the next rider is working under federal rules, because the employer has engaged them to wait. Unpaid time requires three things: the driver is completely relieved, knows in advance exactly when work resumes, and has long enough to spend the time freely.
Does the calculator work for per-trip pay?: Yes, after you turn trip pay into an hourly figure. Take a typical week's trip earnings, divide by all hours worked, and enter that as the wage, with hours split at 40 as usual. For an employee paid a flat amount per job, federal rules treat that average as the regular rate and add half of it for each hour past 40, which is the same total the calculator gives.
Does this calculator work for 1099 drivers?: It is built for employees. Whether a driver can be treated as an independent contractor depends on the whole relationship, not the label: the IRS looks at behavioral control, financial control, and the type of relationship. Our guide on paying drivers on a W-2 or a 1099 covers the tests.