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Database Name	Special Notice	Top Picks	Data Finder	One Screen	Multi- Screen	Tables	Text Files
Benefit Incidence & Provisions
Employee Benefits Survey (1985 to 2006)
National Compensation Survey - Benefits (Beginning with 2010 data)*
*2007 to 2009 benefits data are not available in the National Compensation Survey data base. For data during these years, see the NCS publication archive.

More Tools

• Series Report —Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.
• Download 2010—2019 Excel dataset (XLSX)

• Flat files (FTP) —For those who want it all. Download a flat file of the entire database or large subset of the database.
  • Employee Benefits Survey
  • National Compensation Survey - Benefits (Beginning with 2010 data)

• Benefits Search--allows you to search through all the benefits publications that are currently available electronically.

National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2019

September 2019
Bulletin 2791
Download entire bulletin (PDF)
Download 2010 – 2019 Excel dataset (XLSX)

Overview

Tables organized by ownership

Employee benefits data tables: United States, March 2019 (Tab view)

• Civilian (includes private industry and state and local government establishments)
• Private industry (excludes agricultural establishments, private households, and the self-employed)
• State and local government (excludes Federal employees)
• View all by ownership group

Tables organized by benefit

Employee benefits data tables: United States, March 2019 (Tab view)

• Retirement benefits
• Healthcare benefits
• Life, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance benefits
• Leave benefits
• Other benefits (Quality of life, financial, health-related, nonproduction bonuses, and unmarried domestic partner)
• Benefit combinations (Retirement, medical care, and paid leave)
• Establishment data (Retirement and healthcare)
• View all benefits

Technical note

Glossary

Appendix table 1

Appendix table 2

Retirement Plan Provisions for Private Industry Workers in the United States, 2019

April 2020
Bulletin 2792

Download entire bulletin (PDF)
Download Excel dataset (XLSX)

Overview

Tables

Retirement

• Defined benefit plans
• Cash balance
• Traditional

• Defined contribution plans
• Deferred-profit sharing
• Money purchase pension
• Savings and thrift

Glossary

Technical note

Appendix table 1 (PDF)

Appendix table 2 (PDF)

Factsheets

• What statistics does the BLS provide on frozen defined benefit plans? (PDF)
• Paid sick leave: What is available to workers? (PDF)
• Flexible benefits in the workplace (PDF)
• Flexible work schedule and student loan repayment
• Medical care premiums in the United States
• Family Leave Benefits
• Unmarried Domestic Partners Benefit, March 2013 (PDF)
• Holiday profiles

Other Publications

• Standard errors - Latest News Release
• National Compensation Measures, Handbook of Methods (PDF)
• Definition of health care benefits terms
• Latest Glossary of Employee Benefit Terms (PDF)
• Your compensation companion: a practical guide to BLS data (PDF)

All NCS Publications (including benefits, compensation costs, and wages) »

Frequently Asked Questions

    Affordable Care Act (ACA)

1. How will implementation of the ACA change NCS health care data? Will NCS data collection be any different from pre-ACA?
2. What are grandfathered health care plans and how prevalent are they?
3. Does the BLS have any information on the prevalence of the Essential Health benefits that are mentioned in the ACA?

General employee benefit information

4. What types of benefit data does the BLS provide?
5. For what worker and establishment characteristics are benefit data available?
6. How much has the cost of employer-provided benefits changed in the last 5 years?

Retirement benefits information

7. What are frozen retirement plans and how prevalent are they?
8. How prevalent are cash account (cash balance) pension plans?

Health benefits information

9. What are high deductible health plans and how do they differ from traditional health plans?
10. How much do employees pay for health care?
11. What information does the NCS collect about Flexible Spending Accounts? Does the NCS capture data regarding the details of how an employer reimburses their employees for valid transactions?

All EBS FAQs »

Other BLS Resources

• Compensation Costs and Trends—indexes measuring change over time in labor costs and data measuring level of average costs per employee hour worked.
• Compensation Research and Program Development Group—carries out research that addresses methodological, conceptual, and technical issues of concern to the National Compensation Survey, Occupational Requirements Survey, and the Workplace Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities Programs.
• Guide for Evaluating Your Firm's Jobs and Pay (PDF)—explains how the Bureau determines the work level of an occupation in the National Compensation Survey.
• Information Guide (PDF)—provides descriptions of the information and data produced by BLS, as well as descriptions of the publications in which they appear.
• Modeled Wage Estimates—annual estimates of average hourly wages for occupations by job characteristics and within geographical location.
• Occupational Requirements Survey—provides job-related information regarding physical demands; environmental conditions; education, training, and experience; as well as cognitive and mental requirements for jobs in the U.S. economy.
• Work Stoppages—monthly and annual data and analysis of major work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers.

Other Useful Links

• Compendium of Federal Datasets Addressing Health Disparities (PDF)—is a free resource of publicly available data relevant to research and programs aiming to reduce health disparities by exploring the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the social determinants of health.
• Employee Benefits Security Administration—provides participant and compliance assistance in the areas of retirement, health and other employee benefits.
• Healthcare.gov Glossary—provides terms and definitions used on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' HealthCare.gov website.
• Health Insurance Definitions (PDF)—provides terms and definitions approved by the Federal Government's Interdepartmental Committee on Employment-based Health Insurance Surveys for use in Federal surveys collecting employer-based health insurance data.
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs—responsible for ensuring employers doing business with the federal government comply with the laws and regulations requiring equal employment opportunity.
• Wage and Hour Division—responsible for enforcing federal labor laws including minimum wage and hour standards.

Contacts

The Office of Compensation Levels and Trends, Branch of Survey Information and Publications, will be glad to assist you with questions about any of the components of the National Compensation Survey.

Email: Contact us

Telephone: (202) 691-6199 (Monday - Friday, 8:30 A.M. - 4:30 P.M.)

Information and assistance is also available from any BLS regional office.

Information voice phone: (202) 691-5200 The Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339

Write or Personal Visit

Federal Depository Libraries provide free access to government documents. Many of these libraries receive BLS publications. Check with a location near you.