WestwardAI Consulting

Local market data · Recruiting agencies · New York

AI for recruiting agencies in New York

The New York metro area had 633 recruiting agencies in 2022, the most of all 215 US metros and 9% of all in the country. They employed 12,460 people at an average of $58,596 a year. 74% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.

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Recruiting agencies in New York vs the US

New York metroUnited States
Businesses6337,030
People employed12,460271,104
Average staff per business19.738.6
Average yearly pay per employee$58,596$49,499
Share with fewer than 10 staff74%68%

Pay here is 18% higher than the national average for recruiting agencies, so every hour of staff time costs more to spend on admin. The average recruiting agency here has 19.7 people on payroll, 49% lower than the US figure of 38.6.

How big recruiting agencies in New York are

Fewer than 5 staff387 (61%) US 57%
5 to 980 (13%) US 11%
10 to 1958 (9%) US 9%
20 to 4960 (9%) US 10%
50 or more48 (8%) US 13%

Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.

Recruiting agencies by county in the New York area

New York County has the most, with 209 of the metro's 633 (33%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, New York ranks 6th for average pay and 4th for the share of small firms.

CountyBusinessesEmployeesAvg pay
New York County2094,247$74,575
Kings County561,707$40,887
Bergen County38751$47,230
Nassau County37323$61,765
Westchester County36117$91,120
Middlesex County341,344$34,853
Suffolk County34496$45,181
Queens County28492$46,244
Essex County23104$59,933
Monmouth County23297$39,293
Morris County21966$89,771
Hudson County18614$35,168

8 smaller counties not shown. Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.

Where AI helps a recruiting agency first

A recruiting agency gets the most from AI on the repetitive parts of the desk: capturing job orders, answering candidates, scheduling interviews and chasing feedback. Relationships and judgment stay with the recruiter, and a person should make every decision about a candidate. Start with the work that makes recruiters stay late.

What your team's admin hours cost in New York

Change any number. The starting values are the New York averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.

Those hours cost you$224,000 a year

The share you would hand off$67,200 a year

Hours your team gets back2,400 a year

See what we would build for this

Guides for recruiting agencies, one job each

Recruiting agencies in other big metros

MetroBusinessesAvg payRank of 387
Los Angeles553$71,3282nd
Chicago310$64,4443rd
Miami265$53,4334th
Dallas242$47,4426th
Houston214$55,0787th
Atlanta244$46,9235th
Washington133$59,94310th
Philadelphia147$69,2238th
Boston144$97,2789th

Where these numbers come from

From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 561311 (Employment placement agencies), for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area (22 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.

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Related businesses in New York

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