Are you paying too much for background checks?
The background check industry needs more price transparency.
We launched our Background Check Price Transparency Survey because we recognized that most vendors in the industry charge widely different prices to each customer and fail to publicly publish their pricing.
Most vendors have variable pricing, offering discounts to customers that order in higher volumes. Unless a person or business has worked with a number of background check vendors in the past, many people and businesses won’t know if they’re quoted price is fair.
In order to address the secretive nature of pricing, our goal is to collect user submissions and aggregate the results into a report that gives folks more insights than were previously available.
There’s more to vendor selection that just price, but we hope this report provides you with valuable information that you can use as you search for the vendor that is best-suited to your needs.
The most popular background check search package.
Background checks are often customized to meet the needs of the business, and many businesses use multiple package types to align to the different risks posed by various positions within the company.
To ensure that we compared apples-to-apples pricing, we established the most common package type across all survey submissions to standardize the data.
While there were several packages that were well represented, the most popular package (shown here) included all levels of criminal searches, employment verification, and driving history.
Small businesses pay 53% more than large businesses.
Based on the comments made by most new Perfect Fit Background Checks customers, we had a strong suspicion that small businesses paid more for background checks than larger businesses. The results of our price transparency survey definitively confirmed this.
The chart below shows the average price for the most popular background check package (shown above), broken down by company size. Large businesses with more than 2,000 employees paid the lowest price, averaging $57.29 per background check. Medium businesses paid 35% more at $77.54, and small businesses paid 53% more at $87.98.
The main takeaway here is that the fewer employees you have, the more important it is that you get quotes from multiple companies to ensure you get the best price possible. If you’d like a written quote from us, you can create and save your own quote using our Background Check Quote Calculator. If the Quote Calculator doesn’t have the searches you need (we have many more than the most popular searches in the calculator), or if you would simply prefer that we build the quote for you, then you can reach out to us to receive a custom quote.
Note: Unless you happen to use the exact package above, you can’t compare your price directly to the numbers below. All price averages listed are before third-party pass-through fees.
More insights in the full report.
By downloading the full report, you’ll be able to see more information about your industry. Specifically you’ll see:
- How popular specific searches are within your industry. If a search is popular with your peers but you don’t have it in your current package, you may want to take a moment to consider whether you have a blind spot in your current search package.
- The average price paid for background checks (before pass through fees) by all survey takers in your industry. This average includes all package types big and small, but when considering how comprehensive your search package is and how large your company is, this number could hint at whether you are paying too much. For example, if you are a large business with a less comprehensive search package and your price is higher than the average, then you may want to do some shopping to find a better rate.
Download The Full Report Today!
Want to contribute to the report?
This report wouldn’t be possible without folks sharing their information.
We hope you’ll consider contributing your pricing info to help improve the report! Contributors will receive early access each time we release an update to the report.
Notes on Data Collection
Individualized data will not be publicly shared; only aggregated and anonymized data will be included in the report. No third party will be given access to your responses.
As a survey participant, you will receive a copy of the report before it’s published publicly. If a submission seems likely to be false or inaccurate, we will contact you to attempt to confirm the information.
By participating in this survey, you understand and agree to the provisions in this disclaimer.