Cost to hire payroll specialists: Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan against local pay
Only Georgia and Kazakhstan publish pay for payroll specialist work (official occupation figures), so the starting pay in Armenia and Ukraine is the national average, a placeholder. Between the two with figures, Georgia costs $739 a month as a contractor and Kazakhstan $819. To compare tax and fees at one pay, use the calculator on each country's page. A US hire at the BLS median costs $6,936 a month with benefits.
| Country | Starting pay | Contractor | Take-home | EOR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | $690 | $739 | $683 | $1,492 | |
| Ukraine | $700 | $749 | $616 | $1,575 | placeholder pay |
| Kazakhstan | $770 | $819 | $690 | $1,570 | check regime |
| Armenia | $870 | $919 | $740 | $1,589 | placeholder pay |
Where the starting pay comes from
- Georgia: Geostat's 2025 average for group «43 Numerical and Material Recording Clerks», GEL 1,783.6 ($688)1.
- Kazakhstan: the April 2026 average for the occupation group «Служащие в области администрирования», KZT 341,120 ($767)2 at 40 hours a week.
- Armenia and Ukraine: no pay figure by occupation, so the national average wage ($8703, $7004), a placeholder.
Regimes that may not fit payroll specialists
- Kazakhstan: the simplified declaration may exclude accounting (check the ОКЭД).
- Armenia: the micro-business system may exclude accounting in Yerevan.
Payroll specialists hired at home
| Market | Median pay a month | Employer cost a month |
|---|---|---|
| United States56 | $4,855 | $6,936 |
| Canada78 | $3,721 | wage only |
| Australia9108 | $4,658 | $5,213 |
Payroll specialists are a mid-sized US occupation (153,140 jobs), in the smaller half of the 17 we price.
US pay for payroll specialists is fairly even: the 90th percentile ($81,350) is 2.1 times the 10th ($39,500).
State gaps for payroll specialists are wider than average: District of Columbia $74,670, Mississippi $45,170.
Even the best-paid large industry for payroll specialists, food services and drinking places, pays only 7% over the national median: the US benchmark barely depends on the sector.
No single sector dominates: the largest employer of US payroll specialists, professional, scientific, and technical services, holds only 16%.
Canadian provinces differ widely for payroll specialists: C$26.15 an hour in Prince Edward Island against C$49.83 in Nunavut.
Australia publishes no figure for the job itself: the row above is the full-time group «Accounting clerks and bookkeepers» plus super.
| US sector | Jobs | Median a year |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 23,800 | $56,160 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 18,530 | $54,900 |
| Construction | 15,930 | $57,850 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 14,220 | $61,020 |
| US pay | A year | A month | Employer cost × Georgia contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $39,500 | $3,292 | 6.4× |
| 25th | $47,990 | $3,999 | 7.7× |
| Median | $58,260 | $4,855 | 9.4× |
| 75th | $69,600 | $5,800 | 11.2× |
| 90th | $81,350 | $6,779 | 13.1× |
| Statistics | Code | Occupation as published |
|---|---|---|
| US, BLS (SOC 2018) | 43-3051 | Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks |
| Canada, ESDC (NOC 2021) | 13102 | Payroll administrators |
| Australia, ABS (ANZSCO) | 5513 | Payroll clerks |
| ISCO-08 (ILO), used for Georgia | 4313 | unit group in «Numerical and Material Recording Clerks» |
Questions
How much does it cost to hire a payroll specialist remotely?
$739–$919 a month as a contractor in the four countries here, $1,492–$1,589 through an employer of record. A US hire costs about $6,936.
Which country is cheapest to hire a payroll specialist from?
Of the countries with an official payroll specialist figure, Georgia ($739 a month as a contractor) against Kazakhstan ($819); the others have no pay by occupation to compare.
Not tax or legal advice: rates depend on the person’s registration and activity. Corrections: hello@silkstaff.com.
Sources
11 sources, with links
- Geostat: average monthly nominal earnings of employees by occupation (ISCO-08), 2021 and 2025, xlsx: geostat.ge
- Бюро национальной статистики РК: распределение заработной платы работников по основным профессиям и должностям (2026), форма 2-Т, апрель 2026, xlsx: stat.gov.kz
- Armstat, average monthly nominal wage, August 2026: armstat.am
- State Statistics Service of Ukraine, average monthly wage of staff employees, August 2026: lv.ukrstat.gov.ua
- BLS OEWS May 2025, 43-3051: bls.gov
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, private industry, June 2026: bls.gov
- ESDC Job Bank, wages by occupation and economic region, 2025 release: open.canada.ca
- ECB euro reference rates, 2026-11-03: ecb.europa.eu
- ABS, Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, May 2025, data cubes 11, 12 and 13: abs.gov.au
- ATO, super guarantee rates: ato.gov.au
- BLS OEWS May 2025, national industry-specific estimates: bls.gov
How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.