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How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Genealogist?

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Learn about the cost to hire a genealogist and what to expect. 

cost to hire a professional genealogist

Genealogy research has its ups and downs as you work devotedly to fill out your family tree with accuracy and confidence. It is incredibly rewarding when you are able to easily locate documents and piece together DNA results on your own. However, it can be surprisingly overwhelming and isolating when you hit a brick wall or aren’t quite sure if other family members working on your tree have validated all of their results.

Throughout your family history research journey, it’s valuable to invest in professional guidance and help. Depending on your needs and goals, working with a professional can save you months, even years, of frustration. 

TOP 4 REASONS TO HIRE A PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGIST

• You’ve hit a brick wall in your own personal research

• You want to verify a specific section/line of your family tree

• You don’t have the time to do the research yourself

• You don’t have enough knowledge about how to apply DNA test results to your 

research

Let’s dive into the basics about what you can expect when working with a professional genealogist. 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO WORK WITH A PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGIST?

Typically, professional genealogists charge by the hour. According to the Association of Professional Genealogists, hourly rates for a genealogist can “vary from $30 to $40 per hour to well over $200 per hour, based on experience, location, project types and uses, demand, time constraints, and other factors.”

That’s a significant cost range! How do you know you’re getting a good value for your investment? Here are a few things to consider when hiring a genealogist:

1. WHAT ARE THEIR QUALIFICATIONS?

  • How many years of professional experience do they have?
  • Do they specialize in a region or time period?
  • What level of training or education do they have? Degrees, accreditation, etc.?
  • Do they specialize in DNA and genetic genealogy or another area of expertise?
  • Do they teach or publish in their area of expertise?
  • Do they write clearly on their website and other communications?
  • Do they have positive client reviews and testimonials?

2. CLARIFY THEIR AVAILABILITY

Many professional genealogists are booked months in advance. Depending on your project, it could take several months to complete based on travel needs, record availability, and what documents and information you’ve already provided. Make sure to ask the genealogist if they can meet your timeline expectations. Many professionals and genealogy firms offer rush fees at a higher rate if you need it. 

3. SET EXPECTATIONS AND GET IT IN WRITING

Don’t assume anything. If you have questions or expectations, make sure it’s all been articulated and get it all in writing. Here are a few things to articulate and define:

  • Project goals, hours, timeline, and fees
  • Scope of work–not only what IS included, but what is NOT included
  • Final product
  • Copyright and publication rights
  • Communication and review expectations

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO WORK WITH A PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGY FIRM?

When hiring a genealogist, there are many benefits to working with a  genealogy research firm which has professional genealogists, editors, project managers, and office staff, all working together to complete your project with accuracy and efficiency. 

Factoring in the cost of working with a genealogy firm is important. Typically projects are purchased in hourly blocks and can be as low as $108 per hour for a team of experts working on your project. 

Here are a few things to consider when hiring a professional genealogy research firm. 

1. WHAT ARE THE AREAS OF EXPERTISE?

With a team of experienced professionals, your project will be studied and researched by on-site genealogists, who can access local archives and records, and by in-house genealogists, including DNA specialists,. All of this creates the ability to collaborate with experts in different fields and access records only available to in-person researchers. This team synergy gives your project the highest success in finding answers. 

2. WILL THERE BE FREQUENT COMMUNICATION?

At Legacy Tree and other professional genealogy firms, a personal project manager is assigned to your project to ensure that your research team meets your goals and objectives. Your project manager keeps you updated and communicates with your research team so the project meets deadlines and goals. 

3. HOW ACCURATE IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT?

The peer review and editing process at a genealogy firm like Legacy Tree ensures that your project follows the highest standards of quality. You will be proud of your finished product and able to share it confidently with others, knowing it has been carefully reviewed by professional genealogy editors who check for not only grammatical errors, but also the accuracy of the research methodology and conclusions. 

4. CAN YOU ADD HOURS OR ADDITIONAL RESEARCH EASILY?

Genealogy is a lifelong pursuit, and one project typically does not answer all of the questions you may have about an ancestor or family line. We can pick up additional research goals and projects right where we left off to save you time and resources when continuing genealogy research after a pause. 

5. WHAT IS THE COMPANY'S REPUTATION AND LONGEVITY? 

Since it isn’t uncommon to see private genealogists come and go, it can be helpful to work with an established genealogy firm, one that you can trust will be around for years and provide a high level of service based on experience and prior service to thousands of clients. 

6. WHAT DOES IT COST TO HIRE A PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGY FIRM?

While no genealogist can promise results, a quality and experienced genealogy firm can promise an effective use of time and resources in the search for your ancestors. Many firms provide their services in project packages with set hour amounts. 

For example, at Legacy Tree you can purchase packages from 25 hours up to 100 hours depending on your research needs, with pricing as low as $108 per hour. The client solutions team can assist you in selecting the right package size. 

7. WHAT DO YOU RECEIVE WHEN THE RESEARCH IS DONE?

Family history is designed to be shared. To best share research results, both digital and paper copies are ideal. At Legacy Tree, you receive a website with links to your research results and scans of original documents. You will also receive a high-quality binder with all the research printed and organized in an easy-to-share format. 

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH A FIRM LIKE LEGACY TREE?

To truly understand what it is like to work with Legacy Tree, click here.

To explore working with Legacy Tree, click here to request a free quote or call us at 1-800-818-1476.

Comments

  1. Raymond J. Tompkins says

    Is there a package deal for your research include multiple family members?
    For instance, I have three names that require research.
    1. A family from Northern Ireland born about 1795. I want to know if and when they left Scotland. Spouse of No. 2, my grandmother.
    2. A male family from New York/Michigan born in 1750 New York. This family did marry well researched and documented females. Husband of No. 1, my grandfather.
    3. A female family from New York born about 1824. This family also married into a well researched and documented male family. My mother’s family.
    Does the amount of my proven research accepted and does it reduce the cost?
    What documentation is accepted by your researchers? Birth? Marriage? Death? Census?
    Do you research local documentation media sites or will the researcher travel to different locations?
    How do I verify your researchers qualifications and experience?

    Reply

  3. bob pisani says

    I have a son or daughter who, if still alive, likely lives in Europe. Is there a way to find him or her? Can you do this? Or can you recommend another firm that could? Cost is no problem.

    Reply

  4. Marcus Tullius says

    Hallo there.

    Let’ get to the point. My maternal grandmother died one day after my mother’s birth. She did not reveal the name of her daughter’s father. She was a newcomer in the place she died. My grandmother was accompanied by two boys. Before dying, however, she said she had left a daughter behind in the place she had come from. The boys “vanished” or returned to their town of origin. My mother was adopted by a local family. She never met or heard anything about any member of her biological family. She is now 82 years old. Most probably, I think, her three siblings must have died by now, since they were obviously older than she. Yet there is a strong probability that some of them must have got married and perhaps started a family, is there not? Otherwise, how should I explain the myriad of third-fourth-fifth genetic cousins (mainly from the Iberian Peninsula and Ireland) that keep cropping up in our genealogical DNA research page?

    I have had my mother’s and my own DNA analysed, but the ‘closest’ autosomal DNA link we could find had only 1,5% (104,8‎ cM) of common DNA, 4 common segments, and a longest segment of 54,1‎ cM (a second cousin’s grandson). He had no type of DNA connection with me. There are some 2nd cousin’s granddaughter/3rd cousin’s granddaughter as well, but most people do not even try to reply to a request for more information.

    We also found two other matches, but they shared 34.3 centiMorgans of autosomal DNA, and another match with 23.7 centiMorgans (X-DNA).
    All matches we have common across so far are very distant genetic (third to fifth) cousins, folk that do not know and therefore cannot say anything about such event.

    The challenge around this narrative is that there is no written document about my grandmother, just the names of the two boys, of the daughter left behind in another town and her own name. They all were a city called Juiz de Fora, which is situated near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event described above took place in 1941.

    Do you think it would be realistically possible to find any real close relative just analysing DNA matches from two DNA major companies based in the USA?

    If so, how much would such a service approximately cost?

    All we dearly wish to achieve is to learn exactly where we come from in order to make better sense of our family history, our trajectory as human beings.

    I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

    Reply

  5. Cathy says

    Hi, I am adopted and after years of searching, found my natural birth mother who lives only up the road from me, and at times, been in some way in my life. Unfortunately for reasons, any information on or about my natural birth father she will not give to me.
    With my inability to understand the process from my DNA results and the information that’s then given from several sites, I continually get confused and lost and tend to put it to the side and leave it (as I have done this from the past 20 years).
    What I would like to know is, who is my natural birth father, am I a child from incest?

    Reply

  6. Danielle Usselmann says

    Bonjour, mon père a été abandonne a l’age de 5ans, jai fait la recherche de son histoire que j’ai trouve en grande partie mais il me manque de détails sur sa mère née en 1897

    Je voudrais savoir si sa mère a eu d’autres enfants et ou elle à finit sa vie avec qui
    Dans ma recherche je perds sa trace à Mulhouse dans un commissariat de police ou elle avait été convoquée
    Mon père est décédé mais j’ai besoin de savoir

    Reply

  7. Shannon Saulnier says

    I have been wondering about my extended family for a long time. Everything from do I have brothers or sisters from my biological fathers side because there is rumours that he cheated on my mon while they were married, my grandmother said she was originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma and her family was apart or associated with the mafia and she had a brother who was placed in a asylum and my grandfather was adopted in North York, Ontario. Apparently he is related to a german or Russian ballerina who disappeared a very long time ago.

    I dont know where to start or how to do it.

    Reply

  8. Hope Gaines says

    Danish researchers have found several addresses in Copenhagen for my father’s mother, who apparently did not marry his father, and whose own father was “alleged”. She died when my father was six. She may have been German – that’s what my father told me. In the time available, they did not find a death certificate or any other information. I would like to know more about her.

    Reply

  9. mike dance says

    I’m looking to go back farther in family tree. I have some members of family tree dating back to the 1700’s that my aunt found in family Bible. I need to find out how much it would cost to finish looking back. my family is from the Richmond, petersburg va. area

    Reply

  10. Rick says

    My paternal grandfather joined the army in 1942 to fight in world war 2. He passed away a few years after the war ended, and rarely talked about his experience. We have a record of his joining the service, but when we requested his service records, we were told the were probably destroyed in a large fire at the location where the records were kept. As a result, we have no idea where he was stationed or where he may have fought. Is there any reasonable chance that this information can be found? And if it can’t, how much might it cost me to find out it’s impossible?

    Reply

  11. Susanne Simms says

    Finding information is not my issue. My problem is everytime I find information the surname is different it is frustrating to say the least. This pertains to my mother’s father’s side. I know thier migration path, PA, OH WV. If surname changes how to verify correct surname is my question?

    Reply

  12. Maria says

    Hello,
    On my mothers side of the family I am looking to find my grandparents records and information. For example birth certificates, citizenship ect. They left Germany after WW2, that’s the only time frame I really have. My Oma is from Düsseldorf and my Opa is from a part of Germany that is now Poland. Would this be information you could find? This is all pretty new to me. Thank you.

    Reply

  13. Charles says

    I need documents to apply for Greek citizenship (birth, emigration, marriage, and death certificates) for my paternal grandfather. I’ll need the same for my father who was us born to show lineage. My grandfather was born in 1892 on the Greek island of Corfu and documents may be hard to come by. Both have passed away. Can you provide a narrowly define request like this? How long would such a request take?

    Reply

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