ATD State of the Industry Report: Training Expenditure Per Employee
The Association for Talent Development's State of the Industry Report (SOIR) is the most-cited US benchmark for direct learning expenditure per employee. Here is the headline figure for every recent edition, with the data year each one actually reports.
Direct expenditure covers content, facilitator, platform, and materials. It excludes indirect cost (time off desk), which typically adds 40 to 60 percent. See the full direct-plus-indirect calculator.
Direct learning expenditure per employee, by report edition
Each ATD edition is named for the year it is published and reports the prior calendar year's data. So the “2026” report covers 2025, the “2025” report covers 2024, and so on. The figures below are drawn from ATD's free public announcements and press releases plus independent aggregator coverage of the full reports.
| ATD edition | Data year | Direct spend / employee | Formal learning hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 SOIR | 2025 | $846 | 16.7 hrs |
| 2025 SOIR | 2024 | $1,254 | 13.7 hrs |
| 2024 SOIR | 2023 | $1,283 | 17.4 hrs |
| 2023 SOIR | 2022 | $1,220 | N/A |
The 2023 SOIR (2022 data) reported $1,220 per employee; ATD did not headline a single cost-per-hour figure in its free 2023 summary, so those cells read N/A here. Per-employee spend rose to a three-year peak of $1,283 for 2023, eased to $1,254 for 2024, then fell to $846 for 2025.
“ATD 2024 State of the Industry” — which number is that?
This is the single most common point of confusion, because the report's name and its data year differ by one. If you are searching for the ATD figure and see a year attached, read it this way:
- “ATD 2024 State of the Industry” = the report published in 2024 = the 2023 data year = $1,283 per employee, 17.4 hours, $123 per hour.
- “training expenditure per employee for 2024” (the 2024 data year) = the ATD 2025 report = $1,254 per employee, 13.7 hours, $165 per hour.
- “ATD 2026 State of the Industry” = published 2026 = the 2025 data year = $846 per employee, 16.7 hours.
When a source cites “the ATD 2024 report” without a dollar figure, it almost always means the $1,283 (2023 data) number. When a source cites “per-employee spend in 2024,” it means $1,254.
The $1,054 vs $1,254 discrepancy
For the 2024 data year, ATD's 2025 press release printed $1,054 per employee. The full report and ATD's updated research summary state $1,254. We use $1,254 for two reasons: it is the figure in the report itself, and it is the only one that reconciles with ATD's own reported year-over-year change. ATD said 2024 was a $29 decrease from 2023's $1,283, and $1,283 minus $29 is $1,254, not $1,054. Independent coverage of the full report (for example Absorb LMS's report takeaways) also cites $1,254.
If you have quoted $1,054 in a budget deck sourced from the press release, it is worth correcting to $1,254.
What the ATD figure does — and does not — include
ATD's direct learning expenditure per employee counts content licences, facilitator fees, LMS and platform cost, and materials. It deliberately excludes indirect cost: employee time away from productive work at loaded salary, replacement coverage during training, and productivity ramp-up afterward. Every vendor blog that cites the ATD anchor and stops there is quoting less than half of the real number.
For most programs, indirect cost adds 40 to 60 percent on top of the direct figure. For senior technical roles and executive leadership programs, indirect cost routinely exceeds direct cost outright, because a week of a highly-paid employee's time dwarfs the course fee.
Turning the ATD anchor into a percentage of payroll
ATD's free summaries do not publish a single “percentage of payroll” figure, and the commonly-quoted “2 to 4 percent, 11 percent best-in-class” number is not in the public releases. Derive your own from the per-employee anchor and your loaded-salary figures. At an average loaded salary of $90,000, the 2025-data anchor of $846 is roughly 0.9 percent of payroll; the 2024-data anchor of $1,254 was roughly 1.4 percent. Companies investing 3 to 5 percent sit well above the market average; anything under 1 percent is at or below it.
Frequently asked questions
What did the ATD State of the Industry report say about direct learning expenditure per employee in 2024?
It depends which edition you mean, because ATD names each report for the year it is published, not the data year. The report titled 'ATD 2024 State of the Industry' covers the 2023 data year and reported $1,283 direct learning expenditure per employee. The report covering the 2024 data year is the 'ATD 2025 State of the Industry', which reported $1,254 per employee (its press release erroneously printed $1,054; the full report and ATD's updated research summary state $1,254). Both cover direct cost only: content, facilitator, platform, and materials, excluding employee time off the job.
What is the latest ATD State of the Industry figure (2026 report)?
The ATD 2026 State of the Industry Report, released May 2026 and covering the 2025 data year, reported US average direct learning expenditure of $846 per employee per year with 16.7 formal learning hours used. This is down sharply from $1,254 per employee for 2024, while hours used rose from 13.7. ATD's 2026 sample of 340 organizations means year-over-year swings partly reflect sample composition.
What is the ATD direct learning expenditure per employee for each recent year?
By data year: 2022 was $1,220 per employee (ATD 2023 SOIR); 2023 was $1,283 (ATD 2024 SOIR); 2024 was $1,254 (ATD 2025 SOIR); 2025 was $846 (ATD 2026 SOIR). Direct expenditure covers content, facilitator, platform, and materials, and excludes indirect cost such as employee time away from work.
Why does the ATD 2025 report show $1,254 when the press release said $1,054?
ATD's 2025 State of the Industry press release printed $1,054 per employee for the 2024 data year, but the full report and ATD's updated research summary state $1,254. The $1,254 figure is internally consistent with the reported $29 year-over-year decrease from 2023's $1,283 ($1,283 minus $29 equals $1,254), whereas $1,054 is not. Independent aggregator coverage of the full report (for example Absorb LMS) also cites $1,254. We use $1,254.
How many formal learning hours does ATD report per employee?
ATD's State of the Industry tracks formal learning hours used per employee alongside dollar spend. For 2025 data (2026 report) the average was 16.7 hours, up from 13.7 hours for 2024 (2025 report) and following 17.4 hours for 2023 (2024 report). Hours and dollars move independently: 2024 had the fewest hours (13.7) at the highest cost per hour ($165), while 2025 hours rebounded to 16.7 even as direct spend fell to $846. These are formal, tracked hours and exclude informal or on-the-job learning.
What is the cost per learning hour in the ATD State of the Industry report?
The latest published cost per learning hour used is $165, from the ATD 2025 report (2024 data), up 34 percent from $123 in the 2024 report (2023 data). The rise reflects fewer formal hours used at a higher unit cost, not a spending increase. The free 2026 release (2025 data) does not state a cost-per-hour figure.
Does the ATD figure include the full cost of training?
No. ATD's direct learning expenditure per employee counts content licences, facilitator fees, LMS and platform cost, and materials. It excludes indirect cost: employee time away from productive work at loaded salary, replacement coverage, and productivity ramp-up. For most programs indirect cost adds 40 to 60 percent on top of the direct figure, and for senior technical or executive roles it can exceed the direct cost outright.
Sources: ATD 2026 State of the Industry announcement (td.org); ATD 2025 SOIR press release (td.org) (release printed $1,054; full report states $1,254); ATD 2024 SOIR press release (td.org); ATD 2023 SOIR (2022 data, $1,220 per employee); Absorb LMS full-report takeaways (2024 data, $1,254). Formal-learning-hours and cost-per-hour figures as published per edition.
Last verified June 2026. Found an error or an out-of-date figure? Report an error.