Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 3.2 percent in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ, Combined Statistical Area (CSA) for the year ended June 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that one year ago, Philadelphia experienced an annual gain of 5.8 percent in compensation costs.  (See chart 1 and table 1.) Nationwide, compensation costs rose 3.9 percent in June 2024.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Twelve-month percent changes in total compensation for private industry workers in the United States and Philadelphia, not seasonally adjusted

Quarter	United States	Philadelphia
Jun 2022	5.5	4.0
Sep	5.2	4.4
Dec	5.1	4.1
Mar	4.8	5.7
Jun 2023	4.5	5.8
Sep	4.3	5.2
Dec	4.1	4.4
Mar	4.1	2.8
Jun 2024	3.9	3.2

Locally, wages and salaries, the largest component of compensation costs, also advanced at a 3.2-percent pace for the 12-month period ended June 2024. (See chart 2.) Nationwide, wages and salaries rose 4.1 percent over the same period.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 2. Twelve-month percent changes in wages and salaries for private industry workers in the United States and Philadelphia, not seasonally adjusted

Quarter	United States	Philadelphia
Jun 2022	5.7	3.9
Sep	5.2	4.9
Dec	5.1	4.4
Mar	5.1	6.5
Jun 2023	4.6	6.6
Sep	4.5	5.5
Dec	4.3	4.7
Mar	4.3	3.0
Jun 2024	4.1	3.2

Philadelphia is 1 of 15 metropolitan areas in the United States and 1 of 3 areas in the Northeast region of the country for which locality compensation cost data are available. Among these 15 largest areas, over-the-year percentage changes in compensation costs ranged from 5.6 percent in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie to 3.1 percent in Boston-Worcester-Providence in June 2024; for wages and salaries, Miami registered the largest increase (6.6 percent), and Philadelphia registered the smallest (3.2 percent). (See chart 3.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 3. Twelve-month percent changes in total compensation and wages and salaries for private industry workers by area, not seasonally adjusted, June 2024

Area	Total compensation	Wages and salaries
Boston	3.1	3.3
Philadelphia	3.2	3.2
Phoenix	3.3	3.3
Chicago	3.7	3.5
New York	3.8	4.0
United States	3.9	4.1
Dallas	3.9	3.9
Minneapolis	4.2	4.3
Los Angeles	4.3	4.5
Seattle	4.3	4.6
Washington	4.3	4.9
Atlanta	4.4	5.4
San Jose	4.8	5.2
Houston	5.2	5.1
Detroit	5.4	4.6
Miami	5.6	6.6

The annual increase in compensation costs in Philadelphia was 3.2 percent in June 2024, compared to a 3.1-percent advance in Boston-Worcester-Providence and a 3.8-percent rise in New York-Newark. Philadelphia’s 3.2-percent gain in wages and salaries over this 12-month period compared to a 3.3-percent increase in Boston and a 4.0-percent rise in New York. (See table 2.)

The Employment Cost Index for September 2024 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 31, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Locality compensation costs are part of the national Employment Cost Index (ECI), which measures quarterly changes in compensation costs (wages and salaries and employer costs for employee benefits) free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. More information can be found in the national Employment Cost Index Technical Note. For information on survey concepts, coverage, methods, nonresponse adjustment, and imputation see the National Compensation Measures Handbook of Methods.

In addition to the data presented here, ECI national data by industry, occupational group, and union status, as well as data for civilian, private, and state and local government employees, are available on the Employment Cost Index website. The national Employment Cost Index Summary is also available online. Additional information for regions, states, and local areas may be accessed via our Mid-Atlantic Information Office regional homepage.

The substate area data published in this news release reflect the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 13-01, dated February 28, 2013. See the Classification Systems Used by the National Compensation Survey for more information on available geographies.

Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA includes Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; Kent and New Castle Counties in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.