How to calculate the right amount for your employee referral bonuses

Employee referral programs are an effective way to tap into the power of existing employees' networks and attract top talent. One critical aspect to consider when implementing such programs is determining the appropriate amount for employee referral bonuses. 

In this article, we will explore key considerations in determining the ideal employee referral bonus to maximize the success of your referral program.

1. Start by calculating your average cost-per-hire*

*Cost Per Hire = Total Recruitment Cost in a given period (one year) / Total Number of Hires in that given period

Note: In this case here, you’ll only* need to calculate costs that referral hires help you avoid. These include: Job advertisement fees, Job Board Fees, External recruiter fees, Recruiting agency fees, Staffing agency/firm fees, Recruiting event costs, Travel expenses due to recruitment, Employer branding. 

2. Determine your average referral bonus amount.

Next, you’ll need to determine how much you want your average referral bonus amount to come down to. Typically, this should at-least be equal to your cost-per-hire. This is because you're going to see your ROI on reducing turnover costs. Alternatively, you can have your average referral bonus be slightly less than your calculated cost-per-hire if you want a clear way to show reduction in your recruiting costs. 

3. Categorize your open positions

If you’re a large organization, your roles will probably be already categorized according to seniority.

If not, there are multiple options for categorization:

• For example, divide your open roles into 1) Hardest-to-fill 2) Hard-to-fill 3) Easy-to-fill.
• Another example is by seniority: VP, Directors, Managers, Seniors, Entry-Level
• A third example of bucketing is by departments: RN/LPN, Allied Health, Nutrition, Technicians, etc …

4. Distribute your average referral bonus amount across your categories 

There’s two ways to do so.

a) The easy way is to distribute your average referral bonus amount across your categories. For example, let’s say your your average referral bonus amount is $1,500, you would distribute it as such:

b) The second and even more-accurate way is to use your past hire data and distribute the bonus amounts accordingly. Here’s the table:

Keep editing the proposed referral bonus amounts until the average equals your target one calculated above.

For example, for the above to produce an average referral bonus amount of $1,500, the proposed amounts would have to be $3,200 for RN/LPN, $1,500 for Allied Health, and $1,300 for nutrition.

5. [Extra] Average employee referral bonus stats

Average employee referral bonus by industry:

• Average healthcare bonus is $3,200
  • Average CRNA Employee Referral Bonus: $3,700 – with the highest being $10,000
  • Average RN/LPN Employee Referral Bonus: $1,900 – with the highest being $5,000
  • Average Surgical Tech Employee Referral Bonus: $3,000 – with the highest being $5,000
    
  • Average Physician Employee Referral Bonus: $5,000 – with hospitalist going up to $10,000
• Average Employee Referrals Bonuses for healthcare by state
  • California: $2,200
  • Missouri: $1,800
  • Maryland: $1,300
  • Minnesota: $1,100
• Average Employee Referral Bonus in Assisted Living: $1,600
  • Average Resident Assistant Employee Referral Bonus: $2,000
  • Average Nutrition Services Aide Employee Referral Bonus: $750‍
• ‍Average Employee Referral Bonus in Construction: $1,400‍

Learn more: The State of Employee Referral Programs in 2025 (Key Insights & Benchmarks)