How much does a genealogist cost? Hourly rates and project fees explained

How much a genealogist costs depends less on the genealogist than on the question. One clear question about an American family, such as where a grandfather was naturalized, may take a few hours. Three generations across Poland and Ukraine, with registers in Russian and files held by archives that answer only by letter, can take a hundred. This guide sets out what genealogists charge by the hour and by the package, the costs billed on top, what pushes a bill up, and how to budget so that the hours go where they count.

The prices below are as each firm publishes them, checked in October 2026. Writing a book from the research is a separate cost, covered in what a family history book costs.

What genealogists charge by the hour

Most professional genealogists charge an hourly rate. The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), whose directory lists genealogists who work for hire, says rates run from $30 or $40 an hour to well over $200. ICAPGen, which tests and accredits genealogists, says on its page about costs that many professionals charge between $50 and $200 an hour.

Where a genealogist sits in that range depends on a few things:

• Experience and credentials. ICAPGen names both as reasons one researcher charges more than another.
• The region and its languages. A researcher who reads Russian or the old German script, and knows how a Polish or Lithuanian archive works, is rarer than one who works only in American records.
• The difficulty of the question. A common name, an unknown parent or a town that changed its name several times takes more hours to settle.

Some genealogists quote a flat fee for a well-defined task, such as finding one record. Most ask for a retainer before they begin, the APG says, and bill further hours as the project goes on.

Research packages from the large firms

Firms with many researchers sell research in blocks of hours, and the hourly rate falls as the block grows. Each block is set against a stated research goal, and the result is a written report with copies of the records found. The table sets the published packages beside the hourly ranges.

Prices as each firm or association publishes them, checked October 2026. Per-hour figures for the packages are the price divided by the hours. Legacy Tree Genealogists says most projects take four to six months, and its packages can be paid in three monthly installments. Confirm on each firm's own site before deciding.

Legacy Tree sets 25 hours against one research goal and 100 hours against up to four, so a family with one clear question can expect a bill in the low thousands, and a family that wants several lines traced back through archives abroad should expect five figures. How a genealogist differs from a personal historian covers the credentials to ask about and how to choose one.

Expenses billed on top of the hours

An hourly rate pays for the researcher's time. The records themselves often cost money too, and most genealogists pass those costs on. The APG lists photocopies, postage and some travel expenses as the usual extras. ICAPGen adds the fees for obtaining vital records, census pages and immigration files, and airfare, lodging and meals when a researcher has to go to an archive.

Some of those fees are set by the institutions that hold the records, and they show the scale:

Fees from the US National Archives, USCIS and GOV.UK, checked October 2026. USCIS says it tries to answer genealogy requests within 90 days.

What makes one family's research cost more than another's

Two families can hire the same genealogist at the same rate and receive very different bills, because the hours change with four things.

The languages of the records

American, British and Irish records are in English, and most of them are indexed. From 1868 the Jewish registers of Russian Poland were kept in Russian, and the older ones in Polish. German registers are often written in the old German script called Kurrent, and the letters home are often in Yiddish. A genealogist who reads these languages needs no translator for most entries, and one who does not adds a translator's fee to each record that matters. Ask whether a translation will be in full or a summary, since a summary can leave out the detail that identifies a family.

Archives abroad that answer by letter

Many registers and files in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Germany were never put online. Reaching them from home means a written request, ideally in the archive's own language, a search fee paid abroad, and a reply that can take many months. Each letter costs the researcher's time to write and follow up, and each fee is passed on. How to write to a European archive explains the letter for families who want to try it themselves.

How far back, and how many lines

Each generation back doubles the number of ancestors, and each line is a search of its own. The large firms' packages are priced by research goals for the same reason. A question about one immigrant is small, and research into both sides of a family over four or five generations is large.

What the family already has

A family that hands over certificates, letters and the names relatives remember saves hours of finding what is already known. The census and the passenger lists cost nothing to search at home, and the full hourly rate when a genealogist searches them. Doing it yourself or commissioning it sets out which parts a family can take on.

How the country of the records changes the cost

American records cost the least to research. The census is open every ten years from 1790 to 1950, and passenger lists and naturalization files at the US National Archives are often indexed and free to search on FamilySearch, so a genealogist's hours go to the hard cases, such as two men of the same name. Irish civil registration of births from 1864 is free to view on the Irish government's civil records site, and registration in England and Wales runs from July 1837. German registers in Kurrent, many held by regional archives that answer by letter, take more hours, and records in Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine add a language as well, which is why quotes for Eastern European families tend to run higher.

How much genealogy costs when you do it yourself

Much of it is free. FamilySearch, the US National Archives, JewishGen and JRI-Poland cost nothing to search, and between them they hold most American records and many from abroad. Ancestry and MyHeritage charge a subscription, and FamilySearch centers and many public libraries let their visitors use several subscription sites free. The costs a family meets at home are the same record fees a genealogist passes on: certificates, files ordered from archives, and translations.

The cheapest way to get professional help is to do this part first and hire a genealogist only for the question that is beyond you. How to trace your ancestry takes the free steps in order.

What a genealogist costs in the UK

In Britain each genealogist sets a rate of their own. Neither the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA), whose members in England and Wales agree to its code of practice, nor the Register of Qualified Genealogists publishes a scale of fees; both list researchers. The Society of Genealogists advises that fees are usually an hourly rate plus disbursements, such as certified copies, search fees and photocopies, and that open-ended work be limited at first to one or two days.

A certificate from the General Register Office for England and Wales costs £12.50 and is sent four days after the order, or £38.50 by the priority service. Without the reference number from the GRO's own index, each search costs £3.50 more, so a family that finds the reference itself saves both the fee and the researcher's time.

How to budget for a genealogist

A budget for research covers the hours and the expenses, and it should look ahead to what the family will do with the report. These steps keep each part in view.

1. Gather what the family has and search the free collections first, so that no one is paid to find what is already in a drawer.
2. Write the question down, one per goal: who were my grandfather's parents, and which town did they come from?
3. Ask two or three genealogists for a written estimate of the rate, the hours they expect, the retainer, the likely expenses and what you will receive.
4. Start with a set block of hours, such as twenty or twenty-five, with a ceiling the researcher will not pass without asking.
5. Set aside a separate sum for expenses, and ask which record fees and translations it will cover.
6. Read the report before buying more hours. A good report says what was searched and found, and what to search next.
7. Decide what the research is for. If the family wants a book, budget for the writing and the printing as well, or for a firm that does all of it together.

The APG suggests a written agreement before any retainer is paid. It should set out the goals, the hours, the fees and the timeframe, what will be delivered, and who holds the copyright and publication rights in the work. That last point matters when a family later wants a book written from the report.

What the hours buy, and what comes after

A genealogist's report answers the question it was set, with a citation for each finding and copies of the records; family history book examples shows how it differs from a book. A family that wants a book has a second project ahead, the writing and the printing, usually with a second firm. Companies that write family histories sets out who does which part, and hiring help, and what it costs compares every other kind of help.

Zichronos takes the research and the book as one commission. We read the family's papers, interview relatives, search the public collections and write to the archives that hold the rest. The originals are read and translated in full, and the history is written, designed and printed as a hardcover, with five copies and a PDF in a standard commission. Archive, copy and translation fees are included, so no second bill arrives when an archive charges for a search. Records are requested in writing, and we work from the copies the archives send. How we work sets out the steps.

Sources: the Association of Professional Genealogists, how to hire a professional genealogist; ICAPGen, what will it cost; Legacy Tree Genealogists, published packages; the US National Archives, on military service records; USCIS, on its genealogy program; GOV.UK, on certificates from the General Register Office; AGRA; the Register of Qualified Genealogists; the Society of Genealogists; the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. Checked October 2026.