PRINT:

Compensation costs in private industry averaged $37.24 per hour worked in September 2021

December 27, 2021

Employer costs for employee compensation for private industry workers averaged $37.24 per hour worked in September 2021. Wages and salaries averaged $26.36 per hour worked and accounted for 70.8 percent of these costs. Benefit costs averaged $10.88 and accounted for the remaining 29.2 percent. In the utilities industry, total compensation costs averaged $69.20 per hour worked in September; benefits averaged $26.57 per hour worked in the industry.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Private industry employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation by industry, September 2021
Industry	Total compensation	Wages and salaries	Benefits
All workers	$37.24	$26.36	$10.88
Construction	41.40	28.95	12.45
Educational services	50.27	36.44	13.83
Financial activities	54.04	36.73	17.30
Healthcare and social assistance	37.09	26.10	10.99
Information	58.89	39.34	19.56
Leisure and hospitality	16.91	13.66	3.25
Manufacturing	41.25	27.44	13.81
Other	30.77	22.91	7.86
Professional and business services	45.36	32.66	12.70
Retail trade	22.51	17.19	5.32
Transportation and warehousing	40.77	26.97	13.80
Utilities	69.20	42.63	26.57
Wholesale trade	42.92	30.52	12.40

Total employer compensation costs in leisure and hospitality averaged $16.91 per hour worked in September. Benefits accounted for $3.25 or 19.2 percent of this total.

These data are from the Employment Cost Trends program. To learn more, see "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — September 2021." We also have more charts on employer costs for employee compensation.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Compensation costs in private industry averaged $37.24 per hour worked in September 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/compensation-costs-in-private-industry-averaged-37-24-per-hour-worked-in-september-2021.htm (visited March 12, 2026).

OF INTEREST