How Much Does a Background Check Cost?
Dave Moore - April 16, 2025
Background checks are conducted for many reasons, from determining if a candidate is suitable for a job to screening potential tenants to ensure they are financially responsible.
These checks typically require paying a consumer reporting agency or another background check service provider to screen the individual for the party requesting it. Since various details go into a background check and not all are the same, depending on its purpose and scope, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact costs.
Nonetheless, you can get an estimated price of a background check by reviewing different types and factors that determine how much a background check costs. Read on to get answers to how much a background check costs.
What Is a Background Check?
A background check is the process of gathering and verifying an individual’s information from a wide range of resources for various purposes. These checks are most commonly utilized for employment to verify the candidate’s identity, employment history, education, and other relevant details.
While this is the most common ground to conduct a background check, it can be necessary for other reasons, including but not limited to screening tenants, security clearances, credit applications, adoption, and immigration.
The reason for conducting a background check is to determine the components that go into it and, consequently, how much it costs. For instance, running a background check on someone for a loan application will have limited components compared to a comprehensive pre-employment background screening.
With this in mind, let’s look at the different types of background checks to get a better understanding of how much these screenings cost.
Types of Background Checks and How Much They Cost
Since there isn’t a standard background check process that service providers run on everyone, we can only cover different types of background checks and the average cost of each. Below, you’ll learn about the common types of background checks and how much they cost.
Criminal Background Check
Criminal background checks are a staple component in background checks. The cost of a criminal background check mainly depends on the scope of the check. If a background check only looks at the criminal records at the county level, it will be less costly than a national criminal background check.
Depending on the scope of the criminal background check, it can cost anywhere between $15 and $80. Some criminal background checks may also include other details about individuals, such as whether they are registered sex offenders, which can increase the overall cost and duration it takes to process.
Identity Verification
As the name suggests, identity verification is the process of verifying the individual’s identity before conducting further checks. It confirms the identity of the individual, and in doing so, it ensures the validity of the subsequent checks.
Since it is a straightforward process, identity verification is usually inexpensive, often costing less than $10.
Employment Background Check
Employment background checks, or pre-employment screening, are the most common type of background check. Businesses conduct an employment background check on candidates to assess if they would be a good fit.
Pre-employment background checks typically include employment history, verifying professional licenses, criminal records, education verification, and reference checks. However, depending on the position and hiring policies, an employer may add more details to a candidate’s background check.
With all the components that can go into a pre-employment background check, it can cost between $25 to $300.
Social Media Screening
Social media screening is a relatively newer component of background checks that reviews public social media activity for red flags. It is most commonly added to employment background checks to get insights into the candidate’s online behavior. These checks also list private social media profiles but don’t display the activity.
A comprehensive social media screening, whether it is for employment or another purpose, usually costs $40 to $100.
Motor Vehicle Records Check
Motor Vehicle Records are essential for jobs that require operating a vehicle. It lists the motor vehicle events the individual had, including accidents, citations, license suspensions, DUIs, and so on. MVR checks also verify the type of driver’s license the individual holds.
This type of background check doesn’t cost much and is usually between $10 and $20. On top of the cost of conducting a motor vehicle records check, the background check service provider may also charge associated state fees.
Sex Offender Registry Check
Sex offender registry checks are often included in a criminal background check. Most background check service providers add it to their standard service. Besides, anyone can look up if someone is a registered sex offender for free through their state’s online database.
Even if the background check service provider you’re working with charges extra for a sex offender registry check, the cost shouldn’t be anything significant.
Child Abuse/Neglect Registry Check
Similar to sex offender registries, there are child abuse/neglect registries. These databases help industries that provide assistance to vulnerable individuals, such as children and the elderly, to hire the right candidates. It is also a helpful resource for parents looking for a babysitter for their kids.
Similar to a sex offender registry check, these checks are often conducted as part of the criminal background check. Therefore, background check service providers usually don’t charge extra for conducting a child abuse/neglect registry lookup, though it can be anywhere between $10 and $20 per check.
Credit Check
Credit checks are another common type of background check utilized by employers in finance, landlords, insurance companies, and lenders. These checks provide the individual’s credit score, along with debts, recent credit inquiries, and payment history.
Credit checks are comprehensive reports that assess whether an individual is financially responsible and reliable. Depending on the scope of the credit check, it can cost $25 to $100.
Social Security Number Trace
Social Security number trace, SSN trace for short, is a standard component of background checks that provides information about the individual’s Social Security number. It is usually conducted as part of the identity verification to reveal aliases and maiden names to ensure no information about the person is missed during the background check.
A Social Security number trace, for example, can cost as little as $5 to $30 per check.
Assessing How Much a Background Check Will Cost for You
Now that you know how much different types of background checks cost, you can get an estimate to plan your budget. However, before you add up the cost of all the components you need, note that background check service providers typically offer packages where you can add and remove components to better suit your needs.
Therefore, you rarely find a background check service provider that requires you to pay separately for each of the requested components. With this in mind, expect to pay anywhere between $50 and $300 for a background check, depending on its scope.
What About Free Background Checks?
There isn’t an entirely free background check service, but tools that can scan public records on federal, state, and local levels can help you gather enough information about an individual that will be similar to running a background check.
For this, all you need to do is run a public records check on someone. It will detail a wide range of publicly available information about the individual you’re searching for, including criminal records, birth records, addresses, marriage records, bankruptcy information, and more.
Although not entirely free, you can also run a background check on someone, as well as yourself, on our website. Head over to our background checks search to conduct a comprehensive screening on someone. Unlike paying for a consumer reporting agency, which can cost several hundred, independently running a background check this way is much more cost-effective.
However, before you conduct a check on someone, know how you can use our online tools as per the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by reading our do’s and don’ts page.
How Much Does a Background Check Cost for You?
With everything we’ve covered throughout the article, you should have a solid understanding of how much background checks cost. Depending on your needs for conducting a background check, the cost can vary significantly.
While Information.com can help you discover many details about individuals by checking public records and web pages, you must adhere to the guidelines set by the FCRA. For instance, you cannot use Information.com to screen potential employees, but running a background check on someone around your children or neighbors is perfectly fine.
If your basis for conducting a background check falls within legal guidelines, you shouldn’t worry about the costs, as the expense of using our background check search will be insignificant next to how much you would pay to a reporting agency for the same.
