If you have ordered an employment verification and gotten an unexpected fee later on you may have gotten a charge from The Work Number. For many employers, that one lookup now costs more than the rest of the background check combined. So why is The Work Number so expensive?
What Is The Work Number?
The Work Number is a large employment and income database owned by Equifax. It started in 1994 under a company called TALX, which Equifax bought in 2007. Payroll providers send employee records to the database after each pay cycle. Employers and workers pay nothing to be included. Instead, the “verifier,” such as a lender, landlord, or background screening company, pays a fee every time it pulls a record. Because so many employers send their data there, many companies will no longer answer verification calls and simply point you back to The Work Number.
How The Work Number Compares to Other Verification Providers
The Work Number is one of many services that employers use to answer verification requests, and it is by far the most expensive. The fee you pay depends on which service your candidate’s past employer has chosen, so it can change from one job to the next. Here are the pass-through fees as of August 19, 2026:
- EmployCheck: $39
- True Confirm: $39
- Clear Verify: $45
- CCC Verify: $47
- Verify Job History: $49
- Quick Confirm: $56
- EmpInfo: $60
- Truework: $60
- Thomas & Company: $64
- Verify Fast: $70
- Verification Manager: $70
- Experian: $75
- Verify Today: $90
- Verisafe Jobs: varies by employer
- The Work Number: $139.89
How The Work Number Cost Reached $140
The price has risen almost every year. According to a 2024 lawsuit, a single verification cost $17.85 in 2012 and $66.45 by 2024, an increase of about 272 percent, and records with more work history could run as high as $200, as HousingWire reported. Equifax raised prices again on January 1, 2026. Screening companies passed that increase along to clients. The fee can also be higher when a candidate has several past employers in the database, since each one may trigger a separate charge.
How The Work Number Compares to Other Verification Providers
The Work Number is one of many services that employers use to answer verification requests, and it is by far the most expensive. The fee you pay depends on which service your candidate’s past employer has chosen, so it can change from one job to the next. As of August 19, 2026, the lowest pass-through fees came from EmployCheck and True Confirm at $39 each, followed by Clear Verify at $45, CCC Verify at $47, and Verify Job History at $49. In the middle range, Quick Confirm charged $56, EmpInfo and Truework each charged $60, and Thomas & Company charged $64. Verify Fast and Verification Manager each charged $70, Experian charged $75, and Verify Today charged $90. Verisafe Jobs sets its fee based on the employer, so its price varies. At $139.89, The Work Number costs more than three times what the lowest-priced services charge and about $50 more than the next most expensive option.
The Lawsuit Behind the Price
In May 2024, two mortgage lenders, Greystone Mortgage and First Financial Lending, filed a proposed class action against Equifax in federal court in Pennsylvania. They claim Equifax broke the Sherman Antitrust Act by signing long, exclusive data deals with payroll companies and by buying competitors, which left buyers with no real alternative and allowed prices to keep climbing, according to ClassAction.org. In February 2025, Judge John F. Murphy refused to throw the case out, finding the lenders had plausibly claimed that Equifax’s deals blocked rivals from at least 40 percent of the market, Bloomberg Law reported. The judge later rejected Equifax’s attempt to move the case into private arbitration after noting that the company added an arbitration clause to its user agreements two months after the suit was filed, per National Mortgage News. Equifax disputes the claims and says in its 2026 SEC filing that it will defend itself. The case is still open, so prices have not changed as a result.
What This Means for Employers
Equifax sets The Work Number fee, so every screening company pays the same base price. What you can control is how often you use it. When a past employer uses only The Work Number, you can ask our customer service team to verify employment with documents from the candidate instead. Right now, that is the only way around the fee, and we will share an update if more options become available. Ask your screening provider whether it calls past employers directly before turning to The Work Number, since manual verification usually costs less but can take longer. You can also limit employment verification to the roles where work history matters most. If you want help finding the right balance of cost and coverage for your hiring, the team at Sure Check is happy to talk it through. You can also learn how long a background check takes and what shows up on a background check.