A 200-person hospital loses about $1.6 million a year to employee turnover.
Last updated FreeNo signupFormula shown
This turnover cost calculator for hospitals starts from a turnover rate of 18.5% (NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, March 2026 (527 hospitals in 40 states, 965,886 workers)) and an average pay of $83,900 a year (September 2025 to August 2026), and it works out what a year of turnover costs at a replacement cost of 50% of pay. Change any number to match your company.
The rate is for the employees of acute care hospitals and the pay is the average of all hospital employees, from doctors to cleaners, so put your whole headcount in the employees box.
Don't know it? Use our turnover rate calculator first.
Gallup estimates replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary. 50% is the low end of that range and a conservative place to start for a mixed team.
Estimated departures per year
37
Estimated cost per departure
$41,950
Estimated annual cost of turnover
$1,552,150
Potential annual savings
$251,700
if turnover drops by 3 percentage points
Your annual turnover rate of 18.5% is 21.2 points below the US average of 39.7%.
At the US average of 39.7%, a team of 200 would lose 79.4 people a year, and at 50% of a $83,900 salary that costs about $3,330,830, against $1,552,150 at your rate.
Averages are exits per 100 jobs over 2025, from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. See every industry, year by year.
200 people at 18.5% turnover lose 37 people a year, at $41,950 each.
- Departures a year
- 200 employees × 18.5% turnover
- 37
- Cost per departure
- $83,900 salary × 50% replacement cost
- $41,950
- Annual cost
- 37 departures × $41,950
- $1,552,150
- Saving from a 3-point cut
- 200 employees × 3% × $41,950
- $251,700
The replacement cost percentage holds everything from the job ad to the months a new hire takes to get up to speed.
Turnover costs a 50-person hospital about $388,000 a year, a 200-person one about $1.6 million and a 1,000-person one about $7.8 million.
| Company size | People who leave a year | Cost of turnover a year |
|---|---|---|
| 50 people | 9.3 | $388,038 |
| 200 people | 37 | $1,552,150 |
| 1,000 people | 185 | $7,760,750 |
People who leave = employees × 18.5%. Cost of one departure = $83,900 pay × 50%. Cost of turnover = people who leave × cost of one departure, the same sum as the calculator above. The highlighted row is what the calculator opens with.
These three sizes use the same 18.5% rate and $83,900 pay. Your company is different, so put your own headcount, pay and rate in the calculator above, or start from the main employee turnover cost calculator.
The turnover rate in hospitals was 18.5% in 2025, as NSI reports it.
hospitals, 2021 to 2025
- Everyone counted
- Full and part time staff only
The rate went from 25.9% in 2021 to 18.5% in 2025, and it rose 0.2 points in the last year.
Every industry is in the turnover rate by industry table, year by year.
Voluntary resignations were 94.9% of hospital exits in 2025, and 29.5% of new hires left within a year.
These are the reasons and figures the survey publishes, each with its source.
- Voluntary resignations were 94.9% of all hospital separations in 2025. Source: NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
- Hospitals named personal issues, relocation, career advancement, retirement and education as the main reasons people left, followed by scheduling conflicts, salary, commute, culture and workload or staffing ratios. Source: NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
- 29.5% of new hires left within a year, and first-year exits were 35.6% of all exits. 56.8% of the people who left had under two years of service. Source: NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
Average pay in this page is $83,900 a year, which is 126% of the $66,500 average for all private employers (BLS series CEU6562200011 and CEU0500000011, September 2025 to August 2026).
A 5-point cut in turnover would save a 200-person hospital about $420,000 a year.
At $83,900 pay and a 50% replacement cost, one departure costs $41,950. A 5-point cut in turnover keeps 10 of 200 people a year, and 10 × $41,950 is $419,500. Move the "cut turnover by" slider in the calculator to try your own target.
Gallup found that 52% of employees who left voluntarily say their manager or organization could have done something to prevent it, and 51% say that in the three months before they left, nobody spoke with them about their job satisfaction or their future with the company.
- 74% of the hospitals have a formal retention strategy and 80.8% have a plan to protect newly hired nurses. Nurse residency programs are a common one, and hospitals rated them 3.9 out of 5 for how well they work. Source: NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
The rate and the pay on this page come from public sources, and both are inputs you can change.
| Number | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover rate | 18.5% | NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, March 2026 (527 hospitals in 40 states, 965,886 workers). NSI counts every employee who left a hospital in the calendar year, as a share of the average number of employees. Temporary, agency and travel staff and moves inside the hospital are left out. |
| Average pay | $83,900 a year | BLS Current Employment Statistics, series CEU6562200011: the average weekly earnings of all employees, times 52 weeks, for September 2025 to August 2026 (the mean of the twelve months is $1,614.17 a week), to the nearest $100. BLS marks the latest month as preliminary. |
| Replacement cost | 50% of pay | Gallup, March 2019: replacing an employee costs one-half to two times annual salary. 50% is the low end of that range. |
| Company sizes | 50, 200, 1,000 | Chosen for comparison. The calculator opens at 200 people, and you can enter your own headcount. |
The wider group of jobs has a page of its own: Health care and social assistance.
Three industries with a turnover rate near 18.5% each have a calculator page of their own.
- 27.0% turnoverFinance, insurance and real estate
- 27.5% turnoverWholesale trade
- 29.3% turnoverManufacturing
The main calculator lists every industry. To see which of your own people are at risk, run the free flight risk check.
Here are four questions about the cost of turnover in hospitals, answered.
- How much does employee turnover cost in hospitals?
- At the 18.5% rate and $83,900 average pay, turnover costs a 50-person hospital about $388,038 a year, a 200-person one about $1,552,150 and a 1,000-person one about $7,760,750. That assumes each departure costs 50% of a year's pay, the low end of what Gallup found.
- What is the employee turnover rate in hospitals?
- It was 18.5% in 2025 (NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, March 2026 (527 hospitals in 40 states, 965,886 workers)). NSI counts every employee who left a hospital in the calendar year, as a share of the average number of employees. Temporary, agency and travel staff and moves inside the hospital are left out.
- How does the calculator work out the cost?
- It multiplies the people who leave by the cost of replacing each one. For 200 people at 18.5%, that is 37.0 departures a year. At $83,900 pay and a 50% replacement cost, each costs $41,950, so the year costs $1,552,150.
- What pay does the calculator use for hospitals?
- $83,900 a year, which is the average weekly earnings of all employees, times 52 weeks, for September 2025 to August 2026 (BLS series CEU6562200011), to the nearest $100. Put your own average pay in the calculator for a closer figure.
Turnover is cheaper to prevent than to calculate.
TeamPredict flags resignation risk early from public LinkedIn signals, giving you lead time to retain your best people before they hand in notice.
Start 30-Day Free TrialNo charge today · Cancel anytime