Employee Benefits in the United States News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, September 25, 2025                                        USDL-25-1464

Technical information:  (202) 691-6199  *  ncsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/ebs
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  pressoffice@bls.gov

                        EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN THE UNITED STATES – MARCH 2025
                        
Retirement benefits were available to 72 percent of private industry workers in March 2025, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. Seventy percent of private industry workers had access to defined
contribution plans and 14 percent had access to defined benefit plans. Among private industry workers, 59
percent of workers in establishments with less than 100 workers, 86 percent of workers in establishments
with 100-499 workers, and 90 percent of workers in establishments with 500 workers or more had access to
retirement benefits. Six percent of workers in establishments with less than 100 workers, 13 percent of
workers in establishments with 100-499 workers, and 36 percent of workers in establishments with 500
workers or more had access to defined benefit plans. (See table 1.)

Thirty-one percent of private industry workers in establishments with less than 100 workers had access to
short-term disability plans. Fifty-three percent of private industry workers in establishments with 100-499
workers and 68 percent of private industry workers in establishments with 500 workers or more had access to
short-term disability plans. Forty-two percent of private industry workers in establishments with less than
100 workers had access to life insurance plans. Seventy-two percent of workers in establishments with
100-499 workers and 87 percent of workers in establishments with 500 workers or more had access to life
insurance plans. (See table 5.)

Among private industry workers, childcare benefits were available to 13 percent of workers. Eight percent
of workers in establishments with less than 100 workers, 10 percent of workers in establishments with
100-499 workers, and 30 percent of workers in establishments with 500 workers or more had access to
childcare. Twenty-eight percent of workers in establishments with less than 100 workers had access to
wellness programs. Employee assistance programs were available to 40 percent of workers in establishments
with less than 100 workers. Six percent of workers in establishments with less than 100 workers had access
to subsidized commuting.
   
Seventy-two percent of private industry workers had access to medical care plans and 45 percent of workers
participated. Dental care was available to 30 percent of private industry workers in establishments with
less than 100 workers, 50 percent of private industry workers in establishments with 100-499 workers, and
70 percent of private industry workers in establishments with 500 workers or more. Vision care benefits
were available for 21 percent of workers in establishments with less than 100 workers, 34 percent of
private industry workers in establishments with 100-499 workers, and 44 percent of private industry workers
in establishments with 500 workers or more. (See table 2.)

Highlights of employer-sponsored benefits

Occupational group
	* Access to nonproduction bonuses ranged from 37 percent for service occupations to 58 percent for
	  management, professional, and related occupations among private industry workers
	* Six percent of state and local government teachers had access to subsidized commuting and 60
	  percent had access to wellness programs.

Work status
	* Eighty-nine percent of full-time civilian workers and 25 percent of part-time workers had access 
	  to medical care benefits. The take-up rate was 67 percent for full-time workers and 44 percent for
	  part-time workers.
	* Ninety-nine percent of full-time state and local government workers had access to retirement
	  benefits and 88 percent participated, while 44 percent of part-time workers had access to
	  retirement benefits and 38 percent participated.
	* In the private industry, 87 percent of full-time workers had access to medical care benefits and
	  the take-up rate was 65 percent. Twenty-five percent of part-time workers had access to these
	  benefits and the take-up rate was 42 percent.

Industry group
	* Access to paid sick leave for private industry workers ranged from 55 percent for the leisure and
	  hospitality industry to 97 percent for both the information industry and finance and insurance 
	  industry.
	* Employers paid 89 percent of premiums for single coverage and 78 percent for family coverage 
	  among state and local government workers with medical care plans in public administration. 
	  The average flat monthly premium paid by employers was $748.60 for single coverage and $1,719.45
	  for family coverage.

Average wage category
	* Access to student loan repayment assistance ranged from 3 percent for the lowest 25 percent 
	  average wage category to 13 percent for the highest 25 percent average wage category among 
	  private industry workers. 
	* Access to healthcare flexible spending accounts for state and local government workers ranged
	  from 62 percent for the lowest 25 percent average wage category to 74 percent for the highest 25
	  percent average wage category.

Census area
	* Life insurance access among state and local government workers was 81 percent in the West census
	  area and 86 percent in the South census area. The take-up rate was 99 percent for West census 
	  area workers and 97 percent for South census area workers.
	* Access to short-term disability plans was available to 35 percent of civilian workers in the 
	  South census area with a participation rate of 34 percent. Sixty-seven percent of civilian 
	  workers in the Northeast census area had access with a participation rate of 67 percent.
	  
	  

                                              TECHNICAL NOTE

Estimates in this release are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), conducted by the U.S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The NCS provides comprehensive measures of
compensation cost levels and trends and also provides benefits incidence estimates on the percentage of
workers with access to and participating in employer-provided benefit plans.

Employee Benefits data: The Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2025 includes additional
details on the coverage, costs, and provisions of employer-sponsored benefits, and will be published
shortly after this news release. See www.bls.gov/ebs/publications/annual-benefits-summary.htm for the
latest benefits publications. Historical estimates are also accessible in XLSX format at
www.bls.gov/ebs/publications/xlsx/employee-benefits-in-the-united-states-dataset.xlsx and through the
database query tool at www.bls.gov/ebs/data.htm.

Standard errors: Measures of reliability are available for published estimates, which provide users a
measure of the precision of an estimate to ensure that it is within an acceptable range for their intended
purpose. For further information see www.bls.gov/ebs/technical-notes/standard-errors.htm.

Comparing private and public sector data: Incidence of employee benefits in state and local
government should not be directly compared to private industry. Differences between these sectors stem
from factors such as variation in work activities and occupational structures. Manufacturing and sales,
for example, make up a large part of private industry work activities but are rare in state and local
government.

Civilian workers: Statistics for private industry and state and local government are published separately
and then combined to measure the civilian economy. Excluded from the civilian economy are workers
employed in federal government and quasi-federal agencies, military personnel, agricultural workers,
volunteers, unpaid workers, individuals receiving long-term disability compensation, and those working
overseas. In addition, private industry excludes workers in private households, the self-employed,
workers who set their own pay (e.g., proprietors, owners, major stockholders, and partners in
unincorporated firms), and family members paid token wages.

Leave benefits for teachers: Primary, secondary, and special education teachers typically have a
contracted work schedule of 37 or 38 weeks per year. Because of this work schedule, they are generally
not offered vacations or holidays. In many cases, the time off during winter and spring breaks during the
school year are not considered vacation days for the purposes of this survey.

Medical care premiums: The estimates for medical care premiums are not based on actual decisions
regarding medical coverage made by employees; instead, it is assumed that all employees in the
occupation can opt for single or family coverage. Monthly premiums are collected when possible.
Annual premiums are converted to monthly premiums by dividing by 12 months.

Sample rotation: One-third of the private industry sample is rotated each year except in years when the
government sample is replaced. The government sample is replaced less frequently than the private industry
sample. The state and local government sample was replaced in its entirety for the March 2017 reference
period.

Classification system: The National Compensation Survey publishes estimates of compensation costs
and trends as well as benefit coverage by ownership, industry group, occupational group, and
geographic areas, see www.bls.gov/eci/factsheets/national-compensation-survey-classification-systems-
mapping-files.htm.


Sample size:

Survey scope:

Average hourly wage percentiles: Estimates by worker average wage are grouped into six wage
categories- the lowest 10 percent, the lowest 25 percent, the second 25 percent, the third 25 percent, the
highest 25 percent, and the highest 10 percent. The categories use percentile values based on
unpublished March 2025 wages and salaries from the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
publication at www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_06132025.pdf.

The percentiles are computed using hourly wages and salaries along with scheduled hours of work
reported for individual workers in sampled establishments. Establishments in the survey are asked to
report only individual worker wages and salaries for each sampled job. For the calculation of the
percentile values, the individual worker hourly wages and salaries are weighted and arrayed from lowest
to highest. The values corresponding to the percentiles are:

The lowest 10- and 25-percent wage categories include those occupations with an average hourly rate
less than the 10th percentile value and 25th percentile value, respectively. The second 25-percent
category includes those occupations with rates at or above the 25th percentile value but less than the
50th percentile value. The third 25-percent category includes those occupations with rates at or above
the 50th percentile value but less than the 75th percentile value. Finally, the highest 25- and 10-percent
wage categories include those occupations with an average hourly wage greater than or equal to the 75th
percentile value and 90th percentile value, respectively.

Individual workers can fall into a wage category different from the average for the occupation into
which they are classified because average hourly wages for the occupation are used to produce the
benefit estimates.

Obtaining information: For articles on employee benefits, see the Monthly Labor Review benefits
section at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/subject/b.htm and Beyond the Numbers: Pay and Benefits at
www.bls.gov/opub/btn/archive/home.htm. The Economics Daily articles archive is available at
www.bls.gov/opub/ted/employee-benefits-survey.htm. For technical information, see "National
Compensation Measures," in the BLS Handbook of Methods at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/ncs/home.htm.

Benefit publications from 1980 to the present are also available at www.bls.gov/ebs/publications/annual-
benefits-summary.htm. The latest glossary of benefit terms is available at
www.bls.gov/ebs/publications/national-compensation-survey-glossary-of-employee-benefit-terms.htm.
In addition, the public databases may also be used to obtain data from 1985 to 2006 and 2010 to the
present, see www.bls.gov/ebs/data.htm.

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