Startup budget: Startup Burn Benchmark
The median published figure in the Startup Burn Benchmark is 43.78 USD across 6 figures from 2 sources' own pages (range 14.07 to 66.45 USD), read 12 October 2026.
Runwayze sells its own paid plan in this category (our pricing). It is not counted here: every figure in this index is another provider's own published price, read from its own page.
2 of the 10 named sources read in full publish a figure; 8 publish none, read 12 October 2026.
The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 43.78 USD across 6).
By series
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| seriescivilian-total-compensation-per-hour | 49.46USD | 49.46 to 49.46USD | 1 |
| seriesprivate-industry-total-compensation-per-hour | 46.89USD | 46.89 to 46.89USD | 1 |
| seriesprivate-industry-wages-and-salaries-per-hour | 32.82USD | 32.82 to 32.82USD | 1 |
| seriesprivate-industry-benefit-costs-per-hour | 14.07USD | 14.07 to 14.07USD | 1 |
| seriesstate-and-local-government-total-compensation-per-hour | 66.45USD | 66.45 to 66.45USD | 1 |
| seriesstate-and-local-government-wages-per-hour | 40.67USD | 40.67 to 40.67USD | 1 |
| seriesemployment-cost-index-12-month-change | 3.4% | 3.4 to 3.4% | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release | 66.45USD | state-and-local-government-total-compensation-per-hour | 2026-10-12 |
| BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release | 49.46USD | civilian-total-compensation-per-hour | 2026-10-12 |
| BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release | 46.89USD | private-industry-total-compensation-per-hour | 2026-10-12 |
| BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release | 40.67USD | state-and-local-government-wages-per-hour | 2026-10-12 |
| BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release | 32.82USD | private-industry-wages-and-salaries-per-hour | 2026-10-12 |
| BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release | 14.07USD | private-industry-benefit-costs-per-hour | 2026-10-12 |
| BLS, Employment Cost Index | 3.4% | employment-cost-index-12-month-change | 2026-10-12 |
The sentence each figure was read from (7)
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release, read 2026-10-12:
Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $66.45 per hour
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release, read 2026-10-12:
Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $49.46 per hour worked in June
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release, read 2026-10-12:
Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $46.89 per hour worked in June
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release, read 2026-10-12:
Wages and salaries averaged $40.67 and accounted for 61.2 percent of employer
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release, read 2026-10-12:
Wages and salaries averaged $32.82 and accounted for 70.0 percent of employer costs, while
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release, read 2026-10-12:
benefit costs averaged $14.07 and accounted for the remaining 30.0 percent.
- BLS, Employment Cost Index, read 2026-10-12:
Over the year, total compensation rose 3.4 percent, wages and salaries rose 3.2 percent, and benefit costs rose 3.8 percent.
Read in full, publishes no figure
8 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS, OES 15-1252 Software Developers, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS, Business Employment Dynamics: entrepreneurship and the US economy, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS, Business Employment Dynamics news release, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- US Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- US Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, read 2026-10-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- SBA Office of Advocacy, data on small business, read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- FRED, Business Applications for the United States, read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
2 of the 10 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 8 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in USD (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 6 figures, never sentences; 7 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): the fully loaded monthly cost of a headcount plan: the OES median wage for each role and metro, grossed by the ECEC benefits-to-wages ratio and by the statutory employer load from the rate table, indexed forward by the ECI - giving cost per head per month that no single agency publishes.
Beside it the base rate a runway question is really asking: BLS establishment survival by year and industry, and Census business formation as the population those rates are measured on.
7 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (10)
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS, Employment Cost Index(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS, OES 15-1252 Software Developers(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS, Business Employment Dynamics: entrepreneurship and the US economy(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS, Business Employment Dynamics news release(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- SBA Office of Advocacy, data on small business(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- FRED, Business Applications for the United States(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
Cite or embed this figure
The median published figure in the Startup Burn Benchmark is 43.78 USD across 6 figures from 2 sources' own pages (range 14.07 to 66.45 USD), read 12 October 2026.
2 of the 10 named sources read in full publish a figure; 8 publish none, read 12 October 2026.
Startup Burn Benchmark, series civilian-total-compensation-per-hour: median 49.46 USD across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
Startup Burn Benchmark, series private-industry-total-compensation-per-hour: median 46.89 USD across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
Startup Burn Benchmark, series private-industry-wages-and-salaries-per-hour: median 32.82 USD across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
Startup Burn Benchmark, series private-industry-benefit-costs-per-hour: median 14.07 USD across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
Startup Burn Benchmark, series state-and-local-government-total-compensation-per-hour: median 66.45 USD across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
Startup Burn Benchmark, series state-and-local-government-wages-per-hour: median 40.67 USD across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
Startup Burn Benchmark, series employment-cost-index-12-month-change: median 3.40 percent across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 43.78 USD across 6).
Cite as: "Runwayze Startup Burn Benchmark", updated 2026-10-18, https://runwayze.com/datasets/startup-burn-benchmark/.
Download the CSV (7 rows, computed 2026-10-18)