How much does a junior SDR cost?
A junior SDR costs $55,000–$80,000 per year all-in when you include base salary, benefits, recruiting fees, tools, and management overhead. In higher cost-of-living markets, expect $80,000–$100,000.
A junior SDR costs $55,000–$80,000 per year when you account for all costs — not just the base salary listed in the job posting. In major tech markets (San Francisco, New York, London), the all-in cost is typically $80,000–$100,000. Here's how that breaks down.
What does a junior SDR actually cost, line by line?
Base salary: $40,000–$60,000 for a junior SDR (0–2 years experience) in most US markets. The job posting usually shows OTE (on-target earnings), which includes commissions. Base is typically 60–70% of OTE.
Benefits: Health insurance, dental, vision, 401k matching, PTO. Adds 20–25% to base salary cost. Approximately $10,000–15,000 per year.
Recruiting cost: External recruiter fees are typically 15–20% of first-year salary, or $8,000–12,000 for a junior SDR hire. Internal recruiting time is an additional hidden cost.
Tools: The SDR's software stack — a sequencer (Outreach, Apollo, Instantly), a data tool (ZoomInfo, Apollo), LinkedIn Sales Navigator — typically runs $3,000–7,000 per SDR per year.
Management overhead: SDRs require active management. A sales manager spending 3–5 hours per week on an SDR represents $15,000–25,000 of manager time annually at typical sales manager rates.
The true total
Base ($50K) + benefits ($12K) + recruiting amortised ($10K) + tools ($5K) + management overhead ($18K) = approximately $95,000 per year for a junior SDR in a US market. The $50K salary on the job posting represents about half the true cost.
The ramp cost
A junior SDR takes 2–4 months to reach full productivity. At $95K annual cost, that's $16,000–32,000 paid during the ramp period before the SDR is fully productive. This is the cost of the bet. If the SDR leaves at month 8, you've paid for ramp, training, and the cost to hire again.
How does the cost compare to an AI SDR?
An AI SDR on a mid-tier plan (Starter at $200–500/month) costs $2,400–6,000 per year. No recruiting cost, no benefits, no management overhead beyond the time to review outputs and coach (typically 2–4 hours per week). No ramp period — it's running within 60 minutes of setup. No attrition risk.
The trade-off is real but specific. For volume outbound on a well-defined ICP, AI wins on cost by a factor of 10–15x. For strategic BD on high-ACV accounts — where a prospect wants to talk to a person, not reply to a sequence — you still need a human. That's a narrower use case than most hiring managers assume when they open a junior SDR req.