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Compensation costs up 3.6 percent in 2024

February 04, 2025

Total compensation costs for private industry workers in the United States rose 3.6 percent from December 2023 to December 2024, compared with a 4.1-percent increase for the year ended in December 2023. In the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA, metropolitan area, compensation costs increased 2.8 percent over the past year, following a 4.2-percent increase from December 2022 to December 2023.

12-month percent change in employee compensation, private industry, selected metropolitan areas, December 2014–December 2024
Month Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI Dallas-Fort Worth, TX Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI Houston-The Woodlands, TX Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie, FL

Dec 2014

3.2 3.2 3.3 2.5 1.0 1.7 2.8 2.1

Mar 2015

3.9 3.6 3.3 2.3 -0.1 1.9 3.3 2.1

Jun 2015

2.0 3.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 2.1 2.7 2.6

Sep 2015

2.0 3.0 1.1 2.0 1.9 2.5 2.2 2.7

Dec 2015

1.7 2.2 0.9 1.7 2.5 2.0 2.5 1.7

Mar 2016

1.7 2.2 1.3 1.6 3.3 2.3 3.3 2.8

Jun 2016

2.4 2.2 1.9 1.7 3.4 1.5 3.7 2.5

Sep 2016

2.2 1.9 2.4 1.9 2.5 1.3 3.3 1.9

Dec 2016

3.5 2.3 2.9 1.4 1.8 1.7 2.6 3.4

Mar 2017

2.8 2.6 2.5 2.2 2.9 1.6 2.5 3.2

Jun 2017

2.2 2.7 2.8 2.4 2.1 2.1 2.9 3.7

Sep 2017

2.2 3.0 2.4 1.4 2.5 2.1 3.6 3.7

Dec 2017

1.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.8 1.7 3.7 2.2

Mar 2018

1.1 2.0 2.9 2.2 2.6 2.1 3.2 2.4

Jun 2018

1.9 1.7 3.1 2.1 3.0 1.8 3.1 2.7

Sep 2018

1.8 2.4 3.5 2.8 2.8 1.9 2.4 2.7

Dec 2018

2.0 2.3 3.2 2.3 2.6 1.8 3.0 2.9

Mar 2019

2.3 2.5 2.6 2.8 1.9 1.4 3.5 2.5

Jun 2019

2.5 2.7 2.3 2.2 2.7 1.4 3.4 1.6

Sep 2019

3.3 2.7 2.3 2.3 2.8 1.7 3.7 2.2

Dec 2019

3.1 3.5 2.4 2.6 2.9 1.9 3.4 2.3

Mar 2020

3.6 3.5 3.2 2.9 2.7 2.8 3.5 1.9

Jun 2020

3.3 4.0 2.8 3.5 2.3 2.7 3.5 1.8

Sep 2020

2.5 3.4 2.4 3.1 2.7 2.2 2.7 1.5

Dec 2020

2.9 3.3 2.8 3.4 3.1 2.7 3.7 1.5

Mar 2021

2.3 2.9 3.1 3.0 3.1 1.1 4.2 3.4

Jun 2021

2.4 3.1 2.7 3.1 2.7 1.7 4.5 2.4

Sep 2021

2.3 3.7 4.0 3.5 2.6 2.3 5.5 4.1

Dec 2021

2.5 4.2 4.0 3.6 3.3 3.5 4.8 5.2

Mar 2022

3.3 5.6 3.9 4.5 4.6 4.5 5.2 4.3

Jun 2022

4.3 5.8 5.3 5.4 4.8 5.5 5.6 6.3

Sep 2022

5.0 5.6 4.8 5.3 5.6 5.4 5.8 6.7

Dec 2022

4.4 5.5 4.4 5.5 4.9 3.1 5.7 6.3

Mar 2023

5.1 3.9 3.8 5.2 4.1 3.5 4.7 6.1

Jun 2023

4.3 3.8 4.1 4.1 4.3 3.3 5.0 5.8

Sep 2023

4.0 4.1 4.2 3.6 3.7 4.3 4.6 5.2

Dec 2023

3.8 3.1 4.1 3.5 3.8 5.2 4.5 5.5

Mar 2024

4.4 3.2 4.3 3.5 3.4 5.7 4.4 6.7

Jun 2024

4.4 3.1 3.7 3.9 5.4 5.2 4.3 5.6

Sep 2024

4.8 1.7 3.1 3.8 5.0 4.6 4.6 2.2

Dec 2024

4.8 2.6 2.7 3.6 4.5 6.0 4.2 2.5
12-month percent change in employee compensation, private industry, selected metropolitan areas, December 2014–December 2024 (continued)
Month Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Seattle-Tacoma, WA Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA

Dec 2014

2.3 2.8 2.0 1.3 4.8 4.8 1.4

Mar 2015

2.3 2.6 2.5 2.2 2.9 4.4 1.1

Jun 2015

2.9 2.1 2.6 2.3 2.1 4.3 1.8

Sep 2015

2.4 1.6 2.1 2.5 1.5 2.2 2.3

Dec 2015

4.1 1.4 1.6 2.2 1.4 1.9 2.4

Mar 2016

1.9 1.6 1.0 2.2 1.6 2.9 2.3

Jun 2016

1.3 1.5 1.9 2.5 2.1 2.2 2.0

Sep 2016

2.9 2.3 2.3 2.8 2.6 2.4 1.8

Dec 2016

0.7 2.3 2.2 3.0 2.6 2.8 2.4

Mar 2017

2.9 2.9 3.0 2.8 3.0 2.4 2.3

Jun 2017

3.0 3.3 2.3 2.6 3.1 2.7 1.9

Sep 2017

1.1 2.9 2.1 2.8 2.9 7.6 2.5

Dec 2017

1.4 2.4 2.7 2.7 3.4 6.9 2.2

Mar 2018

3.5 2.8 2.7 3.6 4.4 7.2 2.5

Jun 2018

3.2 3.0 3.0 3.5 4.0 7.8 3.1

Sep 2018

4.5 3.1 2.5 3.0 4.0 0.7 2.8

Dec 2018

5.0 3.7 1.9 3.8 3.6 0.6 2.6

Mar 2019

2.7 3.9 1.9 3.1 3.0 -0.2 2.6

Jun 2019

3.0 3.9 1.4 3.4 2.6 -0.4 2.2

Sep 2019

3.1 3.8 1.7 3.6 2.4 2.4 2.4

Dec 2019

2.5 3.8 2.3 3.3 2.6 1.4 2.8

Mar 2020

3.1 2.5 2.3 3.7 3.7 2.1 3.0

Jun 2020

2.6 2.2 2.2 3.7 2.9 2.3 3.6

Sep 2020

1.6 1.9 2.5 3.3 3.5 2.6 3.6

Dec 2020

1.6 1.8 2.8 3.8 3.5 3.1 3.6

Mar 2021

2.1 2.9 2.4 3.6 2.2 2.5 3.9

Jun 2021

2.4 2.3 2.8 3.7 3.1 2.1 3.7

Sep 2021

3.4 3.7 3.3 4.6 3.0 5.2 4.2

Dec 2021

4.4 3.9 3.8 4.9 2.8 6.3 4.0

Mar 2022

5.1 4.0 4.5 5.5 3.6 7.8 3.5

Jun 2022

5.6 5.2 4.0 5.5 4.5 8.7 4.2

Sep 2022

5.7 4.7 4.4 5.5 4.5 3.0 4.4

Dec 2022

4.9 5.1 4.1 4.4 4.6 3.2 4.3

Mar 2023

4.0 4.6 5.7 4.6 4.4 2.6 5.5

Jun 2023

4.0 4.6 5.8 3.9 4.3 1.9 5.2

Sep 2023

3.6 4.7 5.2 3.5 3.3 4.3 5.2

Dec 2023

3.6 4.2 4.4 4.1 2.7 3.8 4.4

Mar 2024

3.8 4.1 2.8 2.7 4.4 3.5 4.5

Jun 2024

4.2 3.8 3.2 3.3 4.8 4.3 4.3

Sep 2024

4.1 3.0 3.2 3.3 5.3 4.4 3.6

Dec 2024

3.7 2.8 3.6 2.8 6.3 5.7 3.7
12-month percent change in employee wages and salaries, private industry, selected metropolitan areas, December 2014–December 2024
Month Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI Dallas-Fort Worth, TX Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI Houston-The Woodlands, TX Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie, FL

Dec 2014

1.6 3.5 1.9 2.3 0.2 2.1 2.4 2.5

Mar 2015

1.8 3.9 2.4 2.3 0.2 2.1 3.4 1.9

Jun 2015

2.0 3.0 1.8 2.1 1.7 2.0 3.1 2.4

Sep 2015

2.2 3.6 1.8 3.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6

Dec 2015

2.1 2.5 1.9 2.9 2.9 1.6 2.7 1.8

Mar 2016

3.2 2.9 2.0 2.5 3.5 2.1 3.7 3.5

Jun 2016

3.2 2.9 2.0 1.8 3.6 2.1 4.0 2.9

Sep 2016

2.7 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.6 1.7 3.8 2.1

Dec 2016

4.2 2.9 3.0 1.5 2.3 2.3 3.1 3.6

Mar 2017

3.0 3.0 2.7 2.8 3.5 2.2 2.7 3.1

Jun 2017

2.6 2.9 2.8 3.1 2.2 2.5 2.7 3.9

Sep 2017

2.7 2.8 2.3 1.9 2.8 2.6 3.2 3.9

Dec 2017

1.5 2.2 2.6 3.2 3.2 2.0 3.3 2.3

Mar 2018

1.7 1.7 2.9 2.2 2.8 2.3 3.1 2.7

Jun 2018

2.0 1.1 3.1 1.8 3.4 1.9 3.3 3.1

Sep 2018

2.1 2.0 3.5 2.5 3.2 2.0 3.0 3.0

Dec 2018

2.2 2.0 3.0 2.0 2.7 1.9 3.7 3.1

Mar 2019

2.5 2.4 2.7 2.9 1.8 1.4 4.5 2.9

Jun 2019

3.0 3.0 2.4 2.7 2.8 1.5 4.3 1.7

Sep 2019

3.9 2.9 2.3 3.0 3.0 1.5 4.2 2.5

Dec 2019

3.8 3.9 2.6 3.4 3.7 1.6 4.0 2.6

Mar 2020

4.3 4.0 3.8 3.7 3.7 2.8 4.1 2.0

Jun 2020

3.6 4.3 3.4 3.7 3.0 2.6 4.0 1.8

Sep 2020

2.6 3.7 2.8 2.4 3.0 2.2 3.1 1.6

Dec 2020

3.4 3.2 3.2 2.8 2.9 3.0 4.5 1.5

Mar 2021

2.9 2.9 3.3 2.3 2.5 1.1 4.8 4.0

Jun 2021

3.4 3.6 3.0 3.0 2.8 2.1 5.4 2.9

Sep 2021

3.0 4.2 4.4 4.3 2.7 2.7 6.5 4.7

Dec 2021

3.1 4.8 4.1 4.6 3.7 3.9 5.5 6.0

Mar 2022

3.4 6.1 3.8 5.4 5.1 5.2 5.6 4.6

Jun 2022

4.4 5.8 5.1 5.9 4.9 6.1 5.7 6.8

Sep 2022

5.2 5.7 4.6 5.7 5.0 5.9 6.1 7.1

Dec 2022

4.8 5.8 4.4 5.5 4.1 3.3 5.9 6.8

Mar 2023

5.6 4.0 3.5 5.1 3.8 3.4 4.9 6.0

Jun 2023

4.6 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.1 2.6 5.3 5.5

Sep 2023

4.6 4.7 4.1 3.8 4.1 3.9 4.9 4.9

Dec 2023

4.4 3.4 4.1 3.7 4.3 4.9 5.0 5.1

Mar 2024

5.1 3.5 4.4 3.8 3.6 5.3 4.5 7.1

Jun 2024

5.4 3.3 3.5 3.9 4.6 5.1 4.5 6.6

Sep 2024

5.6 1.6 3.1 3.7 4.3 4.4 4.8 2.4

Dec 2024

5.4 2.6 2.7 3.4 3.8 5.2 4.3 2.9
12-month percent change in employee wages and salaries, private industry, selected metropolitan areas, December 2014–December 2024 (continued)
Month Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Seattle-Tacoma, WA Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA

Dec 2014

2.6 2.6 2.0 1.4 4.9 2.7 1.2

Mar 2015

2.3 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.9 0.7

Jun 2015

3.2 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.2 3.2 1.5

Sep 2015

2.4 1.7 2.2 2.7 1.8 2.9 1.8

Dec 2015

4.9 1.4 1.5 2.3 1.6 2.8 2.2

Mar 2016

1.7 2.1 1.0 1.9 2.1 3.5 2.5

Jun 2016

1.0 2.1 2.0 2.4 2.3 2.9 2.5

Sep 2016

2.8 3.2 2.3 2.6 3.0 3.6 2.1

Dec 2016

-0.2 3.3 2.4 2.8 2.9 3.7 2.8

Mar 2017

2.9 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.3 3.6 2.8

Jun 2017

3.0 3.5 2.0 2.9 3.1 3.6 2.5

Sep 2017

1.0 3.2 1.8 3.0 2.9 3.8 3.3

Dec 2017

1.1 2.4 2.4 3.1 3.6 3.4 3.0

Mar 2018

3.9 3.1 2.7 4.0 4.9 3.6 2.8

Jun 2018

3.1 2.8 2.8 3.6 4.5 3.9 3.5

Sep 2018

4.7 2.8 2.9 3.4 4.5 3.7 3.0

Dec 2018

5.2 3.6 2.0 4.1 3.8 3.7 2.6

Mar 2019

2.2 3.5 1.9 3.1 3.3 2.9 2.4

Jun 2019

2.8 3.9 1.9 3.8 3.0 2.9 2.1

Sep 2019

2.8 4.0 1.8 4.0 2.9 2.4 2.4

Dec 2019

2.2 4.0 2.5 3.7 3.2 1.3 2.9

Mar 2020

3.6 2.9 2.9 4.4 4.4 3.3 3.5

Jun 2020

3.1 2.6 2.5 4.4 3.3 3.4 3.9

Sep 2020

2.1 1.9 2.8 3.8 4.0 3.6 3.9

Dec 2020

1.8 1.8 3.7 4.2 3.7 4.1 3.9

Mar 2021

2.4 3.1 3.0 3.4 2.1 2.6 4.0

Jun 2021

2.4 2.3 3.8 3.5 3.4 2.4 4.3

Sep 2021

3.4 4.3 4.2 4.4 3.3 2.5 4.7

Dec 2021

4.5 4.6 4.1 5.3 3.2 3.8 4.2

Mar 2022

5.0 4.2 4.7 6.4 3.8 4.5 3.5

Jun 2022

5.8 5.3 3.9 6.5 4.5 5.4 3.8

Sep 2022

5.9 4.6 4.9 6.6 4.4 5.9 4.1

Dec 2022

5.3 5.0 4.4 5.0 4.5 6.2 4.3

Mar 2023

4.3 4.3 6.5 5.2 4.7 5.9 5.7

Jun 2023

4.1 4.6 6.6 4.3 4.4 5.4 5.7

Sep 2023

3.6 4.8 5.5 3.8 3.5 4.9 5.5

Dec 2023

3.7 4.3 4.7 4.4 2.8 4.3 4.9

Mar 2024

4.2 4.2 3.0 2.8 4.7 3.9 5.1

Jun 2024

4.3 4.0 3.2 3.3 5.2 4.6 4.9

Sep 2024

4.2 3.0 3.4 3.4 5.4 4.7 4.0

Dec 2024

3.7 3.0 4.0 2.8 6.6 5.7 3.9

Among the nation's 15 largest metropolitan areas, over-the-year compensation costs increased 6.3 percent in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California; 6.0 percent in Houston-The Woodlands, Texas; and 5.7 percent in Seattle-Tacoma, Washington. Compensation costs in Los Angeles-Long Beach, California rose 4.2 percent.

Costs for wages and salaries were up 3.7 percent over the past 12 months. Wages and salaries increased 6.6 percent in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California; 5.7 percent in Seattle-Tacoma, Washington; and 5.4 percent in Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, Georgia.

New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA, had a 3.0-percent increase in wages and salaries, while Los Angeles-Long Beach, California had a 4.3-percent increase.

These data are from the Employment Cost Index program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Employment Cost Index — December 2024." We also have more charts on the Employment Cost Index. Total compensation costs are the sum of wages and salaries plus benefits costs.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Compensation costs up 3.6 percent in 2024 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/compensation-costs-up-3-6-percent-in-2024.htm (visited February 11, 2025).

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