Paychex price to free cash flow PAYX

Market value divided by free cash flow over the last twelve months, since 2010.

Today, Oct 23, 2026: 20.8×
10-year median: 25.5×
Against its 10-year history: 12th; percentile: 0 is its lowest day, 100 its highest
10-year range: 14.7× to 39.1×
Peer median: 29.2×

Paychex's price to free cash flow is 20.8× as of Oct 23, 2026.

That is below its ten-year median of 25.5×, lower than on 88% of days in the last ten years.

Over that time it ranged from 14.7× in Apr 2026 to 39.1× in Dec 2021.

The median for 10 industrial stocks of a similar size is 29.2×.

Price to free cash flow over time

median 25.5×

The dashed line is the 10-year median and the shaded band the middle half of its days.

Open the interactive chart, with overlays and comparisons

Year by year

Year	End of year	Low	High
2026 so far	20.8×	14.7×	20.8×
2025	20.5×	20.5×	35.8×
2024	32.4×	22.0×	32.8×
2023	23.0×	21.5×	29.3×
2022	27.7×	27.7×	36.9×
2021	39.1×	26.4×	39.1×
2020	28.4×	15.3×	28.8×
2019	25.1×	20.9×	27.1×
2018	20.5×	20.5×	27.2×
2017	26.5×	22.5×	27.3×
2016	23.9×	20.7×	24.7×
2015	23.7×	20.2×	24.2×
2014	21.4×	18.7×	25.0×
2013	25.2×	18.2×	26.0×
2012	17.7×	16.6×	20.3×
2011	18.4×	14.9×	21.4×
2010	19.7×	16.4×	20.4×

Against its peers

Companies in Industrials nearest Paychex's size, closest first, today.

Company	Price to free cash flow
PAYXPaychex	20.8×
HEIHEICO	40.3×
FIXComfort Systems USA	18.9×
FERGFerguson	n/m
WABWestinghouse Air Brake Technologies	26.8×
CARRCarrier Global	24.0×
ODFLOld Dominion Freight Line	34.0×
WCNWaste Connections	38.2×
LHXL3Harris Technologies	16.8×
ROKRockwell Automation	31.5×
DALDelta Air Lines	n/m
Peer median	29.2×

What the price to free cash flow tells you

Market value divided by free cash flow: the cash left after running the business and paying for equipment. Cash is harder to manage than accounting earnings, so many investors trust this more than PE.

Lumpy: a big year of building factories drops cash flow and inflates the ratio without the business getting worse.

More on Paychex

Valuation data, not investment advice. Prices as of Oct 23, 2026. Reported figures come from the company's filings with the SEC.