What US growth agencies charge in 2026: seven in ten disclosed rates land between $100 and $199 an hour
Across 1,440 US agencies that publish an hourly-rate band, $150–$199 is the single most common answer — and the premium tail above $300 is far smaller than agency marketing suggests.
Of the 1,738 listings in The Wall's index that carry provider-declared engagement data, 1,440 publish an hourly-rate band. The distribution is tighter than most buyers expect:
| Hourly-rate band | Firms | Share of disclosed |
|---|---|---|
| $150 – $199 / hr | 531 | 36.9% |
| $100 – $149 / hr | 470 | 32.6% |
| $200 – $300 / hr | 163 | 11.3% |
| $50 – $99 / hr | 159 | 11.0% |
| $25 – $49 / hr | 70 | 4.9% |
| < $25 / hr | 25 | 1.7% |
| $300+ / hr | 22 | 1.5% |
Two-thirds of the market prices in a $100 band: 1,001 of 1,440 disclosed rates — 69.5% — fall between $100 and $199 per hour. The tails are thin on both ends. Only 6.6% of disclosing firms price below $50 an hour, and only 1.5% price above $300.
What the compression means for buyers
For a company budgeting an engagement, the practical read is simple: a US agency quoting inside $100–$199 is quoting the market norm, and a quote outside that band should come with a reason — deep specialization and senior-only teams on the high side, offshore delivery or junior-heavy teams on the low side. At the modal band, a 20-hour-per-month retainer prices at roughly $3,000–$4,000 per month before deliverable-based pricing enters the picture.
A further 298 firms in the engagement-data set — 17.1% — publish no rate at all. That group is examined separately in the transparency-gap briefing.
How this was computed. Figures are computed from The Wall's index of 2,286 approved, US-based, machine-verified-live listings as of August 3, 2026. Engagement data (rates, minimum project sizes, team sizes, founding years, ratings) are provider-declared figures published on public Clutch profiles and are present for 1,738 of the 2,286 listings; percentages of "disclosed" values exclude listings that publish no figure. Nothing in this briefing is estimated or modeled. Sourcing standards: editorial policy.