A 200-person retailer loses about $1.8 million a year to employee turnover.
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This turnover cost calculator for retail starts from a turnover rate of 45.2% (BLS JOLTS, Retail trade, 2025) and an average pay of $40,800 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.
BLS counts stores and other retail sellers, from grocery stores and car dealers to clothing and electronics shops.
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
90.4
Estimated cost per departure
$20,400
Estimated annual cost of turnover
$1,844,160
Potential annual savings
$122,400
if turnover drops by 3 percentage points
Your annual turnover rate of 45.2% matches the Retail trade average of 45.2%.
At the Retail trade average of 45.2%, a team of 200 would lose 90.4 people a year, and at 50% of a $40,800 salary that costs about $1,844,160, against $1,844,160 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 45.2% turnover lose 90.4 people a year, at $20,400 each.
- Departures a year
- 200 employees × 45.2% turnover
- 90.4
- Cost per departure
- $40,800 salary × 50% replacement cost
- $20,400
- Annual cost
- 90.4 departures × $20,400
- $1,844,160
- Saving from a 3-point cut
- 200 employees × 3% × $20,400
- $122,400
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 retailer about $461,000 a year, a 200-person one about $1.8 million and a 1,000-person one about $9.2 million.
| Company size | People who leave a year | Cost of turnover a year |
|---|---|---|
| 50 people | 22.6 | $461,040 |
| 200 people | 90.4 | $1,844,160 |
| 1,000 people | 452 | $9,220,800 |
People who leave = employees × 45.2%. Cost of one departure = $40,800 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 45.2% rate and $40,800 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 retail was 45.2% in 2025, against 39.7% for all US employers.
retail, 2015 to 2025
- Retail
- US average, all employers
The rate in retail was 58.5% in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, peaked at 69.8% in 2020 and was 45.2% in 2025. That is 5.5 points above the US average of 39.7%.
Every industry is in the turnover rate by industry table, year by year.
Most people who leave jobs in retail quit, and quits were 30.8 of the 45.2 exits per 100 jobs in 2025.
BLS counts three kinds of exit. A quit is the employee's choice, a layoff or discharge is the employer's, and the rest, such as retirements and transfers, is the third kind. In retail, quits are 68% of exits, against 60% for all US employers. BLS counts the quits but does not ask why people quit.
retail, 2025
Quits
30.8
Layoffs and discharges
12.6
Other exits
1.8
Average pay in retail is $40,800 a year, which is 61% of the $66,500 average for all private employers (BLS series CEU4200000011 and CEU0500000011, September 2025 to August 2026).
A 5-point cut in turnover would save a 200-person retailer about $204,000 a year.
At $40,800 pay and a 50% replacement cost, one departure costs $20,400. A 5-point cut in turnover keeps 10 of 200 people a year, and 10 × $20,400 is $204,000. Move the "cut turnover by" slider in the calculator to try your own target.
The part of turnover an employer can still change is the quits: 30.8 of the 45.2 exits per 100 jobs in retail, against 12.6 layoffs and discharges, which the employer started.
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.
The rate and the pay on this page come from public sources, and both are inputs you can change.
| Number | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover rate | 45.2% | BLS JOLTS, Retail trade, 2025, series JTU440000000000000TSR. Total separations per 100 jobs over 2025: the sum of the twelve monthly rates, which counts every kind of exit and reads like a company's own yearly turnover rate. |
| Average pay | $40,800 a year | BLS Current Employment Statistics, series CEU4200000011: the average weekly earnings of all employees, times 52 weeks, for September 2025 to August 2026 (the mean of the twelve months is $784.07 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. |
Three industries with a turnover rate near 45.2% each have a calculator page of their own.
- 48.0% turnoverTransportation, warehousing and utilities
- 48.1% turnoverConstruction
- 40.2% turnoverMining and logging
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 retail, answered.
- How much does employee turnover cost in retail?
- At the 45.2% rate and $40,800 average pay, turnover costs a 50-person retailer about $461,040 a year, a 200-person one about $1,844,160 and a 1,000-person one about $9,220,800. 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 retail?
- It was 45.2% in 2025, against 39.7% for all US employers (BLS JOLTS, Retail trade, 2025). Total separations per 100 jobs over 2025: the sum of the twelve monthly rates, which counts every kind of exit and reads like a company's own yearly turnover rate.
- 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 45.2%, that is 90.4 departures a year. At $40,800 pay and a 50% replacement cost, each costs $20,400, so the year costs $1,844,160.
- What pay does the calculator use for retail?
- $40,800 a year, which is the average weekly earnings of all employees, times 52 weeks, for September 2025 to August 2026 (BLS series CEU4200000011), 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.
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