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Employment Cost Index
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Tracking Wage Growth in American Cities
The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in compensation costs among occupations, industries, worker characteristics, and geographic areas. Geographic estimates are available by Census regions, Census divisions, and the 15 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs).
Metropolitan Area Data Available through the ECI
For each locality, two estimates are provided: 12-month percent change for total compensation and 12-month percent change for wages and salaries for private industry workers. These estimates can be found in Table 13 of the news release. Historical estimates are available in the database and historical nonseasonal spreadsheet.
| Census Region | Metropolitan Statistical Area / Combined Statistical Area |
|---|---|
|
Northeast |
Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT CSA |
| New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA | |
| Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA | |
|
South |
Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA CSA |
| Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA | |
| Houston-The Woodlands, TX CSA | |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie, FL CSA | |
| Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA CSA | |
|
Midwest |
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI CSA |
| Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI CSA | |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI CSA | |
|
West |
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA CSA |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA | |
| San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA | |
| Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA | |
Historical Timeline of Changes to Area Definitions
Area definitions are periodically updated to ensure ECI estimates remain representative of the economy.
| Area Definitions | Published Estimates |
|---|---|
|
Metropolitan-Nonmetropolitan Aggregates |
March 1976 – September 2008 |
|
Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 04-03 |
December 2008 – September 2018 |
|
Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 13-01 |
December 2018 – Present |
What changed with each update?
- Metropolitan-Nonmetropolitan Aggregates▸
- From the first publication of the ECI in March 1976 through September 2008, locality estimates were published as two aggregate series for metropolitan areas and nonmetropolitan areas. Microdata was defined as an MSA estimate if the majority of employment for all establishments covered by the sample unit was located within an MSA.
- The Office of Management and Budget has provided the official metropolitan areas since they were first introduced. However, they were provided by the Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards, Department of Commerce from 1977 to 1981.
- Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 04-03▸
- Beginning with the December 2008 news release, ECI estimates were published for 14 selected metropolitan areas for the first time. Historical estimates were provided back to December 2006. In 2009, the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA CSA was added as a 15th metropolitan area. The metropolitan/nonmetropolitan aggregate estimates were discontinued.
- 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 MSA Bulletin Attachment. For more information, see “BLS Introduces New Employment Cost Indexes for 14 Metropolitan Areas”.
- Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 13-01▸
- Beginning with the December 2018 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 December 2006 – September 2018 December 2018 – Present 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
- Beginning with the December 2018 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.
For More Information
For more information on the classification systems used in the ECI, see Classification systems used by the National Compensation Survey (NCS).
Last Modified Date: May 16, 2024