Guide · Hiring · November 9, 2026 · 3 min read
How to post a job on Craigslist in multiple cities
Craigslist charges $10 to $75 per job post depending on the city, makes you post each city separately, and expires every post after 30 days. Here's how to plan a multi-city hiring push, and what it really costs.
Craigslist is still one of the cheapest places to hire hourly workers: drivers, warehouse staff, CNAs, cleaners, retail and trades. The catch is that it's built one city at a time. If you're hiring in eight markets, you're making eight separate posts, paying eight separate fees, and doing it again in 30 days.
The three rules that shape everything
- One post goes to one city. Craigslist doesn't let you post to more than one site at once, and you can't change a post's city after it's created. Each market is its own post.
- Every job post costs money, and the price depends on the city. Craigslist's fee page lists jobs at "$10–75, fee varies by area." The exact figure only shows at checkout.
- Job posts expire after 30 days. Jobs is a paid section, and paid posts run 30 days in every city. They can't be renewed; bringing one back to the top means reposting and paying again.
What it costs, city by city
The fee is tiered by market size. These are the tiers we see when we post:
| Craigslist jobs fee | Typical metros |
|---|---|
| $75 | SF Bay Area |
| $45 | New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, Minneapolis, South Florida |
| $35 | Atlanta, Houston, Austin, Detroit, Charlotte, Tampa, Kansas City, Columbus, Baltimore, Inland Empire |
| $25 | Most other metros: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Boise, Albuquerque, Fresno, Jacksonville |
| $15–20 | Smaller metros and college towns |
| $10 | Rural and micro markets |
The exact fee for any city is on its city page.
Example: hiring delivery drivers in Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, Tampa and Columbus is five posts at $35, or $175 in Craigslist fees for 30 days. Add Dallas and Phoenix at $45 each and it's $265. Run it for three months and it's $795.
Is it gigs or jobs?
Craigslist has a separate gigs section for short-term, one-off and per-task work, and it's much cheaper ($3 to $10). The difference matters, because posts in the wrong section get flagged and removed.
- Jobs: ongoing employment, W-2 or regular 1099 work, a schedule, a role.
- Gigs: a single task or event, paid per job: help moving on Saturday, a one-day promo shift, a weekend crew.
If you're filling a position, post in jobs. Posting a real job in gigs to save on the fee is the most common reason hiring ads disappear.
Writing the post
Craigslist's jobs form asks for things other sections don't, and incomplete posts are weaker:
- Compensation. State the pay rate or range. Posts with real numbers get more and better replies.
- Employment type. Full-time, part-time, contract or employee's choice.
- A specific title. "CDL-A Driver, Home Daily, $28/hr" beats "Drivers Needed!!!"
- The actual city or area the job is in, not just the metro.
- How to apply. Craigslist relays email replies; you can also add a phone number.
Keep each city's post honest about that city. A Houston post for a Houston job is fine; a Houston post for a job somewhere else is "nonlocal content," one of the things on Craigslist's prohibited list. So are miscategorized, overposted and cross-posted ads.
Doing it at scale
The work isn't writing the ad. It's the posting: eight posting flows, eight checkouts, eight confirmations, eight links to check, every 30 days.
That's what Scale Classifieds does. You write the job ad once, pick the cities, and see the exact total (Craigslist's fee for each city plus $15 per post, less at volume) before you pay. A person on our team posts each one and emails you every live link within 24 to 48 hours. Set the order to repeat monthly and the posts go back up before they expire. Price your hiring push.
Sources
Post it once. We'll put it everywhere.
Craigslist's fee + $15 per post, any of 413 cities, live within 24–48 hours.
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