The Meeting Cost Index

A quarterly benchmark of meeting costs across industries, company sizes, and roles. Powered by anonymized, aggregated data from the Tolly platform.

L3: Intelligence

Q1 2026 Edition

Average Meeting Cost

$338

Per meeting, across all industries and company sizes

Avg Hours in Meetings

31/week

For mid-level managers and above

Unproductive Meeting Rate

72%

Of meeting time rated as partially or fully unproductive

Cost by Industry

Average per-meeting cost across key sectors.

IndustryAvg Cost / MeetingTrend
Financial Services$412^ Rising
Technology$389^ Rising
Healthcare$356- Stable
Professional Services$341^ Rising
Manufacturing$278v Falling
Retail$245- Stable

Based on anonymized, aggregated data. Individual results will vary.

Methodology

The Meeting Cost Index is calculated using anonymized, aggregated data from organizations on the Tolly platform. Meeting costs are derived from actual compensation data integrated via HRIS systems, combined with calendar metadata including duration, attendee count, and frequency.

Data is refreshed quarterly and segmented by industry, company size (headcount bands), and role seniority. All data is aggregated at the cohort level — no individual or organization-level data is disclosed.

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