Most background checks cost between $10 and $100. A single-county criminal records search runs $20 to $50, a national criminal database check is $20 to $30, and a comprehensive package bundling criminal history with employment verification, education verification, and a credit report can push past $100. What you actually pay depends on how wide you search, what information you’re pulling, how fast you need it, and how many checks you run in a year.
What Moves the Price
Scope is the biggest driver. A search limited to one county courthouse is cheaper than a 50-state search, and both are cheaper than adding federal court records. Every additional database or jurisdiction adds its own access fee and processing time.
The type of information matters just as much. A basic criminal check is the cheapest component. Employment verification, education verification, credit history, driving records, and professional license checks each carry a separate fee, and screening packages let you stack them.
Turnaround is another lever. Expedited reports that return in hours cost more than reports that take days. Court access fees passed through from local jurisdictions also vary widely: some counties charge a few dollars for electronic records while others charge $40 or more for a clerk-assisted search.
Volume changes everything for employers. Companies running fewer than 50 checks a year pay retail per-report prices. Employers running hundreds or thousands annually negotiate custom pricing that drops the per-report cost substantially. A small business running a handful of checks should expect listed rates.
Background Check Prices by Type
Criminal Records
A single-county or single-city criminal search typically costs $20 to $50. National criminal database searches, which aggregate reported records into one query, generally run $20 to $30. They’re fast but not exhaustive, because not every jurisdiction reports consistently. More comprehensive checks that include federal court records run $75 to $150. State-level searches through official repositories vary widely, from roughly $7 to $75 depending on the state.
Employment and Education Verification
Bundles that combine criminal history with employment and education verification usually cost $30 to $100. Verifying three to five years of work history adds around $15 to $25. Confirming one or two degrees runs about $12 to $19. These take longer than database pulls because someone has to contact former employers and schools directly.
Professional License Verification
Confirming an active professional license or certification, such as nursing, law, engineering, or accounting, typically costs around $12 per license. It’s a common add-on for healthcare and financial services hiring.
Tenant Screening
Tenant background checks that include credit, eviction records, and criminal records generally run $20 to $75 per applicant. Some states cap what landlords can charge tenants for application or screening fees, so check your state’s rules before setting a fee or paying one.
Driving Records
Motor vehicle record checks pull a driver’s history from the relevant state DMV. These typically cost under $15, with the exact fee varying by state. Employers hiring drivers almost always include one.
Credit Checks
Credit reports used in employment or tenant screening typically cost $20 to $50. For employment purposes, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires written permission from the applicant before the report is pulled, and the report can only be used for a legitimate business purpose.
Volunteer Checks
Organizations screening volunteers often pay less than commercial employers. Basic volunteer packages start around $9 to $14. The FBI charges $10 per fingerprint-based submission for volunteer checks, compared with $12 for standard noncriminal-justice submissions.1Federal Register. FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division User Fee Schedule
Where to Order One and What It Costs
Online Screening Services
Commercial screening companies offer tiered packages. A basic package with a Social Security number trace and national criminal database search typically starts around $30. Mid-tier packages that add county-level criminal searches, employment verification, and sex offender registry checks run $50 to $60. Comprehensive packages with unlimited county and state criminal searches, education verification, and credit checks can reach $90 or more. Part of what you pay covers the compliance paperwork these companies handle for employers.
Government Agencies Directly
You can request records straight from government sources, often for less than a commercial service charges. State police departments and state criminal record repositories issue official criminal history transcripts, with fees typically between $10 and $75 depending on the state. Local courthouses provide case records, though fees and access vary by jurisdiction. State DMVs sell their own driving records at state-specific fees.
FBI Identity History Summary
An FBI Identity History Summary, sometimes called a rap sheet, is a national criminal history based on fingerprints. The FBI’s fee for a standard fingerprint-based check is $12 per submission as of January 2025, and $10 for volunteer submissions.1Federal Register. FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division User Fee Schedule That’s just the FBI’s processing fee. You’ll also pay a separate fee to the fingerprint collection vendor that takes and submits your prints, which varies by location and provider. Total out-of-pocket for the appointment plus the FBI fee usually runs $40 to $60.
Private Investigators
Private investigators handle work that database searches can’t do, like locating hard-to-find records, interviewing references, or investigating suspected fraud. Hourly rates often fall between $75 and $125. Flat-rate packages start around $100 for a basic records check and climb past $1,000 for deep-dive investigations. For a standard pre-hire or tenant check, a PI is usually overkill.
Who Pays
In most employment situations, the employer pays. No federal law flatly prohibits passing the cost to applicants, but several states, including California and Kentucky, restrict or prohibit charging job applicants for background checks or the records needed to complete them. Even where it’s legal, charging applicants is uncommon in competitive hiring because it drives candidates away.
For tenant screening, landlords frequently pass the cost to applicants through an application fee. Some states cap those fees. If you’re a renter, you can ask whether the application fee covers the actual screening cost or includes additional charges, and in states with caps you have a right to know what the fee covers.
Free and Low-Cost Options
Some background information is available at no cost through public records. Online court record portals, sex offender registries, and some state arrest databases can be searched for free. These give you a starting point, but coverage is inconsistent across jurisdictions, records may be stale, and the information is usually less detailed than what a commercial service compiles.
Free searches are generally not suitable for formal employment or housing decisions. The FCRA requires that consumer reports used for those purposes come from a consumer reporting agency that follows specific accuracy and dispute procedures.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports A do-it-yourself public records search doesn’t meet that standard.
Compliance Costs That Aren’t on the Price Sheet
If you’re an employer or landlord using a third-party screening company, the FCRA governs the process, and the cost of getting it wrong dwarfs the cost of the check itself. Before ordering a report for employment purposes, you must give the applicant a standalone written disclosure and get written authorization.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Courts have ruled against employers who buried the disclosure inside application materials or added extraneous language, and this is one of the most common sources of FCRA class-action litigation.
If you decide against hiring or renting based on the report, federal law requires a two-step adverse action process: a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, then a final adverse action notice after a reasonable waiting period.3Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports What Employers Need to Know4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports Pulling a report without a recognized permissible purpose, such as extending credit, employment screening, tenant screening, or insurance underwriting, can create civil liability. Timing rules matter too: the federal Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act bars federal agencies and contractors from requesting criminal history before a conditional offer, and many states and cities extend similar restrictions to other employers.5U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Fair Chance to Compete Act For employers in covered jurisdictions, that changes when you can spend money on a check, not what it costs.