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Employer costs for employee compensation in San Jose area averaged $75.12 in March 2026

September 28, 2026

Of the 15 largest areas, San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California, had among the highest average compensation costs for private industry workers in March 2026 at $75.12 per hour worked. Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had among the lowest average compensation costs at $37.84 per hour.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Compensation costs (in dollars) per hour worked for private industry workers by combined statistical area, March 2026
Area	Wages and salaries	Benefits	Total compensation
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA	50.83	24.29	75.12
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD	43.91	20.73	64.64
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA	44.65	18.37	63.02
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA	38.73	19.14	57.87
Seattle-Tacoma, WA	38.89	16.38	55.28
Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH	37.57	17.67	55.24
Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI	34.64	17.29	51.93
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA	35.00	16.38	51.38
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI	35.45	15.65	51.11
Houston-Pasadena, TX	34.81	15.01	49.82
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI	33.81	15.56	49.37
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ	33.14	12.79	45.93
Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA-AL	28.45	11.40	39.85
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK	27.48	11.57	39.05
Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, FL	27.71	10.13	37.84
Note: Data are not seasonally adjusted and may not sum to totals due to rounding.

In the San Jose area, wages and salaries accounted for $50.83 or 67.7 percent of the hourly total, while the remaining $24.29 (32.3 percent) reflected employer costs for benefits. For the Miami area, wages and salaries accounted for $27.71 or 73.2 percent of the hourly total, while the remaining $10.13 (26.8 percent) reflected employer costs for benefits.

These data are from the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — March 2026” and “Metropolitan Area Estimates: the cost of compensation in American cities.” 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, Employer costs for employee compensation in San Jose area averaged $75.12 in March 2026 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/employer-costs-for-employee-compensation-in-san-jose-area-averaged-75-12-in-march-2026.htm (visited September 28, 2026).

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