Employer Costs for Employee Compensation News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Friday, March 20, 2026					    USDL-26-0505

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


                       EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION - DECEMBER 2025

Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $48.78 per hour worked in 
December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $33.45, 
while benefit costs averaged $15.33. (See tables 1 and 2.) 

Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $46.15 per hour worked in 
December 2025. Wages and salaries averaged $32.36 per hour worked and accounted for 70.1 percent of 
employer costs, while benefit costs averaged $13.79 per hour worked and accounted for the remaining 
29.9 percent. (See tables 1 and 4.)

Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $65.68 per hour 
worked in December 2025. Wages and salaries averaged $40.49 per hour worked and accounted for 61.7 
percent of employer costs, while benefit costs averaged $25.19 per hour worked and accounted for the 
remaining 38.3 percent. (See tables 1 and 3.)

Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers in the wholesale trade industry 
averaged $53.03 per hour worked in December 2025. Wholesale trade wages and salaries averaged $37.52, 
while benefit costs averaged $15.51. Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers in 
the retail trade industry averaged $26.41 per hour worked. Retail trade wages and salaries averaged 
$20.27, while benefit costs averaged $6.14. (See table 4.) 

Wholesale trade and retail trade industries in the private sector

In wholesale trade industries, employer costs for paid leave averaged $4.18 per hour worked and 
accounted for 7.9 percent of employer costs. Costs for legally required benefits averaged $3.77 per 
hour worked and accounted for 7.1 percent of employer costs. In retail trade industries, employer costs 
for paid leave averaged $1.34 per hour worked and accounted for 5.1 percent of employer costs. Costs 
for legally required benefits averaged $2.19 per hour worked and accounted for 8.3 percent of employer 
costs. (See table 4.) 

In wholesale trade industries, wages and salaries for sales and office occupations averaged $38.91 per 
hour worked. Wages and salaries for production, transportation, and material moving occupations 
averaged $23.63 per hour worked. In retail trade industries, wages and salaries for sales and office 
occupations averaged $18.70 per hour worked. Wages and salaries for production, transportation, and 
material moving occupations averaged $18.33 per hour worked. (See table 4.)

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation for March 2026 is scheduled to be released on 
Friday, June 12, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

                                          
                                          TECHNICAL NOTE
                                          
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey,
(NCS) provides the average employer cost for wages and salaries as well as benefits per hour 
worked. The ECEC covers the civilian economy, which includes data from both private industry 
and state and local government. Federal government workers are excluded. Additionally, the 
self-employed, private household workers, and the agricultural sector are excluded from the 
private industry.

Total benefit costs consist of five major categories and include 18 benefit costs:
* Paid leave - vacation, holiday, sick, and personal leave; 
* Supplemental pay - overtime and premium, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses; 
* Insurance - life, health, short-term disability, and long-term disability; 
* Retirement and savings - defined benefit and defined contribution; and 
* Legally required benefits - Social Security [refers to Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability
  Insurance (OASDI) program], Medicare, federal and state unemployment insurance, and workers’
  compensation.

All workers are included in the benefit cost estimates including those that do not have plan access
or do not participate. Costs are also affected by other factors such as cost sharing between
employers and employees, plan features, and plan generosity. For the latest information on the
percentage of workers with access to and participating in employer-sponsored benefit plans,
including health care and retirement and savings plans, see www.bls.gov/ebs.

The Handbook of Methods provides additional details on the sample design, calculation
methodology, and resources explaining changes over time, see www.bls.gov/opub/hom/ecec/home.htm. 

Sample size
Data for this reference period were collected from a probability sample of approximately 28,700 
occupational observations selected from a sample of about 6,700 private industry establishments
and approximately 7,300 occupational observations selected from a sample of about 1,400 state and
local government establishments that provided data at the initial interview. 

Measures of reliability
Relative standard errors (RSEs) provide users a tool to ascertain the quality of an estimate to
ensure that it is within an acceptable range for their intended purpose. RSEs are available at
www.bls.gov/web/ecec/ecec-rse.htm and the database query tool at www.bls.gov/ecec/data.htm.

Comparisons
Compensation cost levels in state and local government should not be directly compared with levels
in the private industry. Differences between these sectors stem from factors such as variation in 
work activities and occupational structures.

Classification systems
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. 

Additional information
Additional and historical ECEC estimates are available in the ECEC database query tool at 
www.bls.gov/ecec/data.htm and in XLSX format at www.bls.gov/ecec/tables.htm. The ECEC release
schedule is available at www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/ecec.htm. Subscribe to receive the BLS
Economic News Release email at public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOLBLS/subscriber/new. 

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