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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Employment Cost Index > Home

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.

Employment Cost Index published MSA/CSAs
Census Region	Metropolitan Statistical Area / Combined Statistical Area
Northeast	Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH 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-AL CSA
	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA
	Houston-Pasadena, TX CSA
	Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, 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, AZ CSA
	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.

History of Metropolitan Area Classification Updates
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 – March 2025
Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 20-01	June 2025 – 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 – 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. 20-01▸

Beginning with the June 2025 news release, area definitions were updated based on the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 20-01, dated March 6, 2020. 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: July 2, 2025