Compensation costs for private industry averaged $45.38 per hour worked in March 2025

Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $45.38 per hour worked in March 2025. Wages and salaries averaged $31.89 per hour worked and accounted for 70.3 percent of employer costs, while benefit costs averaged $13.49 per hour worked and accounted for the remaining 29.7 percent.

Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $47.92 per hour worked in March 2025. Wages and salaries averaged $32.92, while benefit costs averaged $15.00.

Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $64.00 per hour worked in March. Wages and salaries averaged $39.42 and accounted for 61.6 percent of employer costs, while benefit costs averaged $24.58 and accounted for 38.4 percent.

These data are from the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation program. To learn more, see "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — March 2025." We also have more charts on the latest Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data. Civilian workers include workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal government.