About Our Data
Every comparison on humanortoken is grounded in publicly available, verifiable data. We cross-reference government labour statistics with recruitment firm salary guides and official AI provider pricing to give you the most accurate picture possible.
Methodology
How we calculateHuman Cost Calculation
- Loaded hourly cost = base salary ÷ productive hours × 1.4 overhead multiplier
- UK productive hours: 1,958/yr (37.5 hrs/wk × 52.2 wks)
- US productive hours: 2,080/yr (40 hrs/wk × 52 wks, BLS standard)
- 40% overhead covers employer NI/payroll tax, pension/401(k), benefits, office costs, and management
AI Cost Calculation
- Cost = (input tokens × input price) + (output tokens × output price)
- Prices per 1M tokens from official provider docs and OpenRouter API
- Typical 1K-word task ≈ 1,300 input tokens + 1,000 output tokens
- Batch API and cached input pricing can reduce costs further but are not shown by default
UK Salary Data
ONS ASHE 2025Median full-time annual gross salaries from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024 provisional release, cross-referenced with recruitment firm salary guides. London salaries typically 15–30% above national median.
| Role | SOC Code | Median Salary | Range | Hourly (effective) | Loaded Cost/hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solicitor / Lawyer | 2411 | £52,300 | £35K–£90K | £26.70 | £37.40 |
| Chartered Accountant | 2421 | £40,000 | £30K–£63K | £20.40 | £28.60 |
| Financial Analyst | 2422 | £42,000 | £32K–£65K | £21.40 | £30.00 |
| Management Consultant | 2423 | £48,000 | £35K–£75K | £24.50 | £34.30 |
| Software Developer | 2134 | £45,000 | £30K–£70K | £23.00 | £32.20 |
| Web Developer / Designer | 2136 | £33,000 | £27K–£45K | £16.80 | £23.50 |
| Graphic Designer | 3421 | £30,000 | £22K–£40K | £15.30 | £21.40 |
| Copywriter / Content Writer | 3412 | £32,000 | £25K–£45K | £16.30 | £22.80 |
| Executive Assistant | 4215 | £35,000 | £28K–£55K | £17.90 | £25.00 |
| Marketing Manager | 1132 | £42,000 | £32K–£60K | £21.40 | £30.00 |
| HR Specialist | 4138 | £35,000 | £27K–£48K | £17.90 | £25.00 |
| Research Analyst | 2425 | £38,000 | £28K–£55K | £19.40 | £27.20 |
| Project Manager | 2424 | £45,000 | £35K–£65K | £23.00 | £32.20 |
| Paralegal | 3520 | £28,000 | £22K–£38K | £14.30 | £20.00 |
| Data Analyst | 2135 | £35,000 | £27K–£50K | £17.90 | £25.00 |
Effective hourly rate calculated on 1,958 productive hours/year. Loaded cost adds ~40% for employer NI (13.8%), pension (5%), benefits, and overhead.
Sources: ONS ASHE 2025 (provisional), Hays Salary Guide, Robert Walters, Michael Page, Robert Half, Represent Salary Survey.
US Salary Data
BLS OEWS May 2024All figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. Major metro premiums (NYC, SF, LA) can be 20–50% above national median.
| Role | SOC Code | Median Salary | Range (10th–90th) | Hourly (effective) | Loaded Cost/hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyer | 23-1011 | $176,470 | $73.9K–$268.6K | $84.84 | $118.78 |
| Accountant / Auditor | 13-2011 | $81,680 | $47K–$129K | $39.27 | $55.00 |
| Financial Analyst | 13-2051 | $101,350 | $62.4K–$180.6K | $48.73 | $68.20 |
| Management Consultant | 13-1111 | $101,190 | $52K–$170K | $48.65 | $68.10 |
| Software Developer | 15-1252 | $133,080 | $79.9K–$211.5K | $64.00 | $89.60 |
| Web Developer | 15-1254 | $90,930 | $48.6K–$162.9K | $43.72 | $61.20 |
| Graphic Designer | 27-1024 | $61,300 | $37.6K–$103K | $29.47 | $41.30 |
| Writer / Author | 27-3043 | $72,270 | $41.1K–$133.7K | $34.75 | $48.65 |
| Executive Secretary / EA | 43-6011 | $47,460 | $33.8K–$76.6K | $22.82 | $31.95 |
| Marketing Manager | 11-2021 | $156,580 | $80K–$240K | $75.28 | $105.40 |
| HR Specialist | 13-1071 | $79,730 | $45K–$120K | $38.33 | $53.66 |
| Market Research Analyst | 13-1161 | $76,950 | $42.1K–$144.6K | $37.00 | $51.80 |
| Project Management Specialist | 13-1082 | $108,100 | $55K–$170K | $51.97 | $72.76 |
| Paralegal | 23-2011 | $62,200 | $38K–$100K | $29.90 | $41.86 |
| Data Scientist | 15-2051 | $108,660 | $63K–$180K | $52.24 | $73.14 |
Effective hourly rate calculated on 2,080 hours/year (BLS standard). Loaded cost adds ~40% for payroll taxes, health insurance, 401(k), and overhead.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2024, BLS OOH, Robert Half Salary Guide.
AI Model Pricing
February 2026Prices from official provider documentation and the OpenRouter API, verified February 2026. AI pricing changes frequently—we recommend checking provider docs for the latest rates.
| Model | Provider | Tier | Input/1M | Output/1M | Context | ~1K word task |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4.6 | Anthropic | Frontier | $15.00 | $75.00 | 200K | $0.09 |
| Claude Opus 4.5 | Anthropic | Frontier | $5.00 | $25.00 | 200K | $0.03 |
| GPT-5.2 | OpenAI | Frontier | $2.50 | $10.00 | 400K | $0.013 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Anthropic | Mid-Range | $3.00 | $15.00 | 200K | $0.018 |
| GPT-4o | OpenAI | Mid-Range | $2.50 | $10.00 | 128K | $0.013 |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | Mid-Range | $1.25 | $10.00 | 1M | $0.011 | |
| Gemini 3 Pro | Mid-Range | $1.00 | $5.00 | 1M | $0.006 | |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Anthropic | Economy | $1.00 | $5.00 | 200K | $0.006 |
| GPT-4o Mini | OpenAI | Economy | $0.15 | $0.60 | 128K | $0.001 |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | Economy | $0.15 | $0.60 | 1M | $0.001 | |
| DeepSeek V3.2 | DeepSeek | Economy | $0.07 | $0.28 | 256K | $0.0003 |
| Grok 4 Fast | xAI | Economy | $0.20 | $1.00 | 128K | $0.001 |
Cost per 1K word task estimated at ~1,300 input tokens and ~1,000 output tokens (typical business task).
Batch API pricing (where available) can reduce costs by 50% for non-time-sensitive workloads. Enterprise/volume discounts not shown.
Sample Cost Comparisons
UKUSSide-by-side comparisons showing the cost ratio between human labour and AI for common tasks. AI quality scores reflect mid-level human benchmark equivalence.
UK Comparisons
| Task | Human Role | Human Cost | AI Model | AI Cost | Ratio | AI Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draft a standard NDA | Solicitor | £74.80 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.05 | 1,496x | 75% |
| Review a 10-page contract | Solicitor | £112.20 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.12 | 935x | 65% |
| Quarterly financial summary | Accountant | £114.40 | GPT-4o | $0.06 | 1,907x | 70% |
| 1,500 word blog post | Copywriter | £68.40 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.03 | 2,280x | 80% |
| Presentation deck (10 slides) | Graphic Designer | £128.40 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.15 | 856x | 55% |
| Schedule management | Executive Assistant | £25.00 | GPT-4o Mini | $0.001 | 25,000x | 60% |
| Market research summary | Research Analyst | £108.80 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.08 | 1,360x | 70% |
| Code a basic web form | Web Developer | £47.00 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.07 | 671x | 85% |
| Translate 2,000 word doc | Translator | £50.00 | GPT-4o | $0.04 | 1,250x | 80% |
| Project status report | Project Manager | £48.30 | Claude Haiku 4.5 | $0.01 | 4,830x | 75% |
US Comparisons
| Task | Human Role | Human Cost | AI Model | AI Cost | Ratio | AI Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draft a standard NDA | Lawyer | $237.56 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.05 | 4,751x | 75% |
| Review a 10-page contract | Lawyer | $356.34 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.12 | 2,970x | 65% |
| Quarterly financial summary | Accountant | $220.00 | GPT-4o | $0.06 | 3,667x | 70% |
| 1,500 word blog post | Copywriter | $145.95 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.03 | 4,865x | 80% |
| Presentation deck (10 slides) | Graphic Designer | $247.80 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.15 | 1,652x | 55% |
| Schedule management | Executive Assistant | $31.95 | GPT-4o Mini | $0.001 | 31,950x | 60% |
| Market research summary | Research Analyst | $207.20 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.08 | 2,590x | 70% |
| Code a basic web form | Web Developer | $122.40 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $0.07 | 1,749x | 85% |
| Translate 2,000 word doc | Translator | $80.00 | GPT-4o | $0.04 | 2,000x | 80% |
| Project status report | Project Manager | $109.14 | Claude Haiku 4.5 | $0.01 | 10,914x | 75% |
Data Sources
Verified Feb 2026Every data point on humanortoken traces back to one of these sources. We prioritise government statistics and official provider documentation, supplemented by reputable recruitment firm guides.
| Source | Type | Cost | Update Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONS ASHE | UK salary data | Free | Annual | Gold standard for UK earnings; 4-digit SOC codes; regional breakdowns |
| Nomis API | Programmatic ONS access | Free | Annual | API access to ASHE data; R and Python libraries available |
| BLS OEWS | US salary data | Free | Annual | May 2024 most recent; 800+ occupations; state and metro breakdowns |
| Robert Walters | UK salary cross-ref | Free | Annual | Professional and financial services focus |
| Hays Salary Guide | UK salary cross-ref | Free | Annual | Broad sector coverage; UK regions; includes benefits data |
| Michael Page | UK salary cross-ref | Free | Annual | 15 sector coverage; includes hiring trends |
| Robert Half | UK & US salary data | Free | Annual | Strong on administrative, EA, and finance roles |
| OpenRouter API | AI model pricing | Free | Real-time | 400+ models; structured JSON; input/output/cache pricing |
| Artificial Analysis | AI benchmarks | Free tier | Weekly | Independent quality scores, speed, latency |
| pricepertoken.com | AI pricing tracker | Free | Daily | 300+ models tracked; historical pricing data |
| Anthropic Docs | Claude pricing | Free | At release | Official pricing for Claude model family |
| OpenAI Docs | GPT pricing | Free | At release | Official pricing for GPT model family |
Important Notes
Salary data is national median. London and major US metro salaries are typically 15–50% higher depending on role and location. Contractor and freelance day rates can differ significantly from employed equivalents.
AI quality scores are estimates. Quality scores represent how well AI output matches a mid-level human professional for that specific task type. Scores are derived from benchmark evaluations, user feedback, and expert assessment. They vary by task complexity and domain.
AI pricing changes frequently. Model prices shown were verified in February 2026. Providers regularly adjust pricing. We pull live data from the OpenRouter API where possible and update fallback pricing periodically.
This is not financial or legal advice. humanortoken provides cost comparisons for informational purposes only. Always consult qualified professionals for legal, financial, and compliance matters.
Data last verified: February 2026
UK salary data: ONS ASHE 2024 provisional (published October 2024)
US salary data: BLS OEWS May 2024 (published April 2025)
AI pricing: Official provider docs + OpenRouter API, February 2026