A 200-person wholesaler loses about $2.2 million a year to employee turnover.
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This turnover cost calculator for wholesale trade starts from a turnover rate of 27.5% (BLS JOLTS, Wholesale trade, 2025) and an average pay of $80,700 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 businesses that buy goods in bulk from makers and sell them to retailers, contractors and other businesses.
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
55
Estimated cost per departure
$40,350
Estimated annual cost of turnover
$2,219,250
Potential annual savings
$242,100
if turnover drops by 3 percentage points
Your annual turnover rate of 27.5% matches the Wholesale trade average of 27.5%.
At the Wholesale trade average of 27.5%, a team of 200 would lose 55 people a year, and at 50% of a $80,700 salary that costs about $2,219,250, against $2,219,250 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 27.5% turnover lose 55 people a year, at $40,350 each.
- Departures a year
- 200 employees × 27.5% turnover
- 55
- Cost per departure
- $80,700 salary × 50% replacement cost
- $40,350
- Annual cost
- 55 departures × $40,350
- $2,219,250
- Saving from a 3-point cut
- 200 employees × 3% × $40,350
- $242,100
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 wholesaler about $555,000 a year, a 200-person one about $2.2 million and a 1,000-person one about $11.1 million.
| Company size | People who leave a year | Cost of turnover a year |
|---|---|---|
| 50 people | 13.8 | $554,813 |
| 200 people | 55 | $2,219,250 |
| 1,000 people | 275 | $11,096,250 |
People who leave = employees × 27.5%. Cost of one departure = $80,700 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 27.5% rate and $80,700 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 wholesale trade was 27.5% in 2025, against 39.7% for all US employers.
wholesale trade, 2015 to 2025
- Wholesale trade
- US average, all employers
The rate in wholesale trade was 29.4% in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, peaked at 37.5% in 2020 and was 27.5% in 2025. That is 12.2 points below 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 wholesale trade quit, and quits were 17.0 of the 27.5 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 wholesale trade, quits are 62% of exits, against 60% for all US employers. BLS counts the quits but does not ask why people quit.
wholesale trade, 2025
Quits
17.0
Layoffs and discharges
9.1
Other exits
1.4
Average pay in wholesale trade is $80,700 a year, which is 121% of the $66,500 average for all private employers (BLS series CEU4142000011 and CEU0500000011, September 2025 to August 2026).
A 5-point cut in turnover would save a 200-person wholesaler about $404,000 a year.
At $80,700 pay and a 50% replacement cost, one departure costs $40,350. A 5-point cut in turnover keeps 10 of 200 people a year, and 10 × $40,350 is $403,500. 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: 17.0 of the 27.5 exits per 100 jobs in wholesale trade, against 9.1 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 | 27.5% | BLS JOLTS, Wholesale trade, 2025, series JTU420000000000000TSR. 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 | $80,700 a year | BLS Current Employment Statistics, series CEU4142000011: the average weekly earnings of all employees, times 52 weeks, for September 2025 to August 2026 (the mean of the twelve months is $1,552.38 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 27.5% each have a calculator page of their own.
- 27.0% turnoverFinance, insurance and real estate
- 29.3% turnoverManufacturing
- 33.6% turnoverInformation
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 wholesale trade, answered.
- How much does employee turnover cost in wholesale trade?
- At the 27.5% rate and $80,700 average pay, turnover costs a 50-person wholesaler about $554,813 a year, a 200-person one about $2,219,250 and a 1,000-person one about $11,096,250. 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 wholesale trade?
- It was 27.5% in 2025, against 39.7% for all US employers (BLS JOLTS, Wholesale 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 27.5%, that is 55.0 departures a year. At $80,700 pay and a 50% replacement cost, each costs $40,350, so the year costs $2,219,250.
- What pay does the calculator use for wholesale trade?
- $80,700 a year, which is the average weekly earnings of all employees, times 52 weeks, for September 2025 to August 2026 (BLS series CEU4142000011), to the nearest $100. Put your own average pay in the calculator for a closer figure.
Turnover is cheaper to prevent than to calculate.
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