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Metropolitan Area Estimates: the cost of compensation in American cities

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) estimates were first published in 1987 covering March 1986 costs. Two years later, with the March 1988 ECEC data, estimates covering the four geographic regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West) were introduced. In March 2004 the ECEC began publishing estimates for nine census divisions. The nine census divisions are groupings of the fifty states as well as the District of Columbia which compose the four census regions.

Chart 1 data table

Table 1. Private industry employer costs per hour worked by census region and division, in dollars, 2026
Area	Wages and salaries	Benefits
Northeast census region	37.43	17.19
New England census division	37.76	16.81
Middle Atlantic census division	37.30	17.33
South census region	29.77	11.82
South Atlantic census division	30.92	12.37
East South Central census division	27.20	10.09
West South Central census division	28.97	11.67
Midwest census region	30.34	13.48
East North Central census division	30.02	13.51
West North Central census division	31.02	13.41
West census region	35.62	15.55
Mountain census division	31.78	12.33
Pacific census division	37.78	17.36
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC).

In September 2009 the BLS introduced estimates for the 15 largest metropolitan areas, see BLS Introduces New Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Data for Private Industry Workers in 15 Metropolitan Areas. Using employment data from the 2000 Census of Population, the 15 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs) in the United States were identified. The 15 metropolitan areas were then evaluated to determine whether data for each of these areas met BLS publication standards.

Metropolitan estimates were first included in the March 2010 ECEC news release. While estimates by census region and division are published with each ECEC (March, June, September, and December), metropolitan area estimates are only published for the March reference period.

Chart 2 data table

Table 2. Private industry employer costs per hour worked by metropolitan area, in dollars, 2026
Area	Wages and salaries	Benefits
Northeast
Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA	37.57	17.67
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA	38.73	19.14
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA	43.91	20.73
South
Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA-AL CSA	28.45	11.40
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA	27.48	11.57
Houston-Pasadena, TX CSA	34.81	15.01
Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, FL CSA	27.71	10.13
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA CSA	44.65	18.37
Midwest
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI CSA	33.81	15.56
Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI CSA	34.64	17.29
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI CSA	35.45	15.65
West
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA CSA	35.00	16.38
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ CSA	33.14	12.79
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA	50.83	24.29
Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA	38.89	16.38
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC).

The metropolitan area estimates are calculated in a similar fashion as the national estimates. The current employment counts as well as the size class from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) are both used to weight the data so that it can represent the areas, industries, and occupations of the sampled area. For more information on sampling, see the design section of the Handbook of Methods.

Historical Timeline of Changes to Area Definitions

Area definitions are periodically updated to ensure ECEC estimates remain representative of the economy.

History of Metropolitan Area Classification Updates
Area Definitions	Published Estimates
Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 04-03	March 2009 – March 2018
Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 13-01	March 2019 – March 2025
Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 23-01	March 2026 – Present

What changed with each update?

OMB establishes the Combined and Metropolitan Statistical Areas to provide nationally consistent delineations for statistical purposes. OMB periodically updates these areas to represent current geographic population density. You may expand or collapse all categories using the buttons below. To expand categories without moving the cursor, you may press tab until "Expand All" is selected, then press enter.

Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 04-03 ▸
- In September 2009 the BLS introduced estimates for the 15 largest metropolitan areas, see BLS Introduces New Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Data for Private Industry Workers in 15 Metropolitan Areas. Metropolitan area estimates were then included with the March 2010 news release. Area definitions were based on the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No.04-03, dated February 18, 2004. For complete descriptions of the classification definitions, see the MSA Bulletin Attachment.

Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 13-01 ▸

Beginning with the March 2019 news release, area definitions were updated based on the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 13-01, dated February 28, 2013. Estimates were deemed continuous between previous and updated area definitions.

Changes to Area Definitions
March 2009 – March 2018	March 2019 – March 2025
Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH CSA	Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT CSA
New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA	New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA	Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL CSA	Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA CSA
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CSA	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX CSA	Houston-The Woodlands, TX CSA
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie, FL CSA
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA	Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA CSA
Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA	Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI CSA
Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI CSA	Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI CSA
Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI CSA	Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI CSA
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA	Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA CSA
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA	San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA
Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA CSA	Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA

Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 23-01 ▸

Beginning with the March 2026 news release, area definitions were updated based on the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 23-01, dated July 21, 2023. Estimates were deemed continuous between previous and updated area definitions.

More Information

ECEC private industry estimates for the 15 largest metropolitan areas are available since March 2009 and are produced annually for the March reference period. Relative standard errors are also published so that users can assess the reliability of these estimates, see Measures of Reliability: Relative Standard Errors. Metropolitan area estimates and their relative standard errors are available through the ECEC database. The complete dataset is also available in spreadsheet format.

ECEC estimates are point in time estimates since the employment weights are not held constant. As such the BLS does not publish percent changes for the ECEC, only compensation cost and percent of total compensation. If data users want to measure the change over time for the metropolitan areas, the Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in compensation costs over time, see Tracking Wage Growth in American Cities.

Last Modified Date: June 12, 2026