Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

24-2284-CHI
Thursday, November 07, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Changing Compensation Costs in the Minneapolis Metropolitan Area — September 2024

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 4.1 percent in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI Combined Statistical Area (CSA) for the year ended September 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Plamer noted that one year ago, Minneapolis experienced an annual gain of 3.6 percent in compensation costs. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Nationwide, compensation costs rose 3.6 percent in September 2024.


Locally, wages and salaries, the largest component of compensation costs, advanced at a 4.2-percent pace for the 12-month period ended September 2024. (See chart 2.) Nationwide, wages and salaries rose 3.8 percent over the same period.


Minneapolis is 1 of 15 metropolitan areas in the United States and 1 of 3 areas in the Midwest 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 5.3 percent in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland to 1.7 percent in Boston-Worcester-Providence in September 2024; for wages and salaries, Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs registered the largest increase (5.6 percent), and Boston registered the smallest (1.6 percent). (See chart 3.)


The annual increase in compensation costs in Minneapolis was 4.1 percent in September 2024, compared to 5.0 percent in Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor and 3.1 percent in Chicago-Naperville, the two other metropolitan areas in the Midwest. Minneapolis’ 4.2-percent gain in wages and salaries over this 12-month period compared to 3.1 percent in Chicago and 4.3 percent in Detroit. (See table 2.)

The Employment Cost Index for December 2024 is scheduled to be released on Friday, January 31, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Changes to ECI Index Rounding

Effective with the release of the June 2025 ECI, BLS plans to publish index levels to three decimal places. Percent changes based on these more precise indexes will continue to be published to one decimal place, see www.bls.gov/eci/notices/2024/changes-to-index-rounding.htm.


Technical Note

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 Midwest 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.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI CSA includes Anoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Goodhue, Hennepin, Isanti, Le Sueur, McLeod, Mille Lacs, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Stearns, Washington, and Wright Counties in Minnesota and Pierce and St. Croix Counties in Wisconsin.

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.

Table 1. Employment Cost Index for total compensation and for wages and salaries, private industry workers, United States, Midwest Census region, and the Minneapolis area, not seasonally adjusted
Area Total compensation Wages and salaries
12-month percent changes for period ended- 12-month percent changes for period ended-
Mar. Jun. Sep. Dec. Mar. Jun. Sep. Dec.

United States

2020

2.8 2.7 2.4 2.6 3.3 2.9 2.7 2.8

2021

2.8 3.1 4.1 4.4 3.0 3.5 4.6 5.0

2022

4.8 5.5 5.2 5.1 5.0 5.7 5.2 5.1

2023

4.8 4.5 4.3 4.1 5.1 4.6 4.5 4.3

2024

4.1 3.9 3.6 4.3 4.1 3.8

Midwest

2020

3.0 2.6 2.4 2.5 3.5 2.9 2.7 2.6

2021

2.3 3.1 3.8 4.6 2.2 3.3 4.1 5.1

2022

5.1 5.7 5.8 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.0 5.0

2023

4.5 4.3 3.8 3.7 4.6 4.4 3.9 4.0

2024

3.9 3.6 3.6 4.2 3.7 3.7

Minneapolis-St. Paul

2020

3.1 2.6 1.6 1.6 3.6 3.1 2.1 1.8

2021

2.1 2.4 3.4 4.4 2.4 2.4 3.4 4.5

2022

5.1 5.6 5.7 4.9 5.0 5.8 5.9 5.3

2023

4.0 4.0 3.6 3.6 4.3 4.1 3.6 3.7

2024

3.8 4.2 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.2
Table 2. Employment Cost Index for total compensation and for wages and salaries, private industry workers, United States, Census regions, and localities, not seasonally adjusted
Area Total compensation Wages and salaries
12-month percent changes for period ended- 12-month percent changes for period ended-
Sep. 2023 Jun. 2024 Sep. 2024 Sep. 2023 Jun. 2024 Sep. 2024

United States

4.3 3.9 3.6 4.5 4.1 3.8

Northeast

4.3 3.5 3.2 4.4 3.7 3.4

Boston-Worcester-Providence

4.1 3.1 1.7 4.7 3.3 1.6

New York-Newark

4.7 3.8 3.0 4.8 4.0 3.0

Philadelphia-Reading-Camden

5.2 3.2 3.2 5.5 3.2 3.4

South

4.6 3.7 3.3 4.8 3.9 3.4

Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs

4.0 4.4 4.8 4.6 5.4 5.6

Dallas-Fort Worth

3.6 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.9 3.7

Houston-The Woodlands

4.3 5.2 4.6 3.9 5.1 4.4

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie

5.2 5.6 2.2 4.9 6.6 2.4

Washington-Baltimore-Arlington

5.2 4.3 3.6 5.5 4.9 4.0

Midwest

3.8 3.6 3.6 3.9 3.7 3.7

Chicago-Naperville

4.2 3.7 3.1 4.1 3.5 3.1

Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor

3.7 5.4 5.0 4.1 4.6 4.3

Minneapolis-St. Paul

3.6 4.2 4.1 3.6 4.3 4.2

West

4.4 4.6 4.4 4.7 4.9 4.6

Los Angeles-Long Beach

4.6 4.3 4.6 4.9 4.5 4.8

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale

3.5 3.3 3.3 3.8 3.3 3.4

San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland

3.3 4.8 5.3 3.5 5.2 5.4

Seattle-Tacoma

4.3 4.3 4.4 4.9 4.6 4.7

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, November 07, 2024