A low cost force sensor package and a method of forming such a package. The force sensor has a housing or package, such as a surface mount technology package (SMT), and a piezo resistive silicon die, or other force sensing element, carried on the housing or package. An actuator is operably coupled to the force sensing element for transferring force to the sensing element in response to receiving a force from an external source. The force sensing element is configured to sense the external force and generate an output signal representing the force. A signal conditioner is also carried on the housing for receiving the output signal. When the signal conditioner is electrically coupled to the force sensing element, the signal conditioner can condition the output signal and generate a conditioned output.