Trends: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employer Costs: Wages and Benefits
In June 2026, employer compensation costs averaged $49.46 per hour worked for civilian workers, of which wages and salaries were 68.4 percent and benefits 31.6 percent; private industry employers paid $46.89 an hour (wages 70.0 percent) and state and local government employers $66.45 (wages 61.2 percent). Table 1 of the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release itemises every benefit.
Cost per hour worked and percent of compensation, June 2026
| Civilian workers(1) | Private industry workers | State and local government workers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation component | Cost ($) | Percent of compensation | Cost ($) | Percent of compensation | Cost ($) | Percent of compensation |
| Total compensation (2) | 49.46 | 100.0 | 46.89 | 100.0 | 66.45 | 100.0 |
| Wages and salaries | 33.85 | 68.4 | 32.82 | 70.0 | 40.67 | 61.2 |
| Total benefits | 15.61 | 31.6 | 14.07 | 30.0 | 25.78 | 38.8 |
| Paid leave | 3.71 | 7.5 | 3.54 | 7.5 | 4.90 | 7.4 |
| Vacation | 1.77 | 3.6 | 1.76 | 3.8 | 1.83 | 2.8 |
| Holiday | 1.09 | 2.2 | 1.05 | 2.2 | 1.42 | 2.1 |
| Sick | 0.60 | 1.2 | 0.50 | 1.1 | 1.25 | 1.9 |
| Personal | 0.25 | 0.5 | 0.23 | 0.5 | 0.40 | 0.6 |
| Supplemental pay | 1.73 | 3.5 | 1.88 | 4.0 | 0.71 | 1.1 |
| Overtime and premium (3) | 0.44 | 0.9 | 0.45 | 1.0 | 0.35 | 0.5 |
| Shift differentials | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.07 | 0.1 |
| Nonproduction bonuses | 1.20 | 2.4 | 1.33 | 2.8 | 0.30 | 0.4 |
| Insurance | 4.23 | 8.5 | 3.69 | 7.9 | 7.79 | 11.7 |
| Life | 0.06 | 0.1 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 0.08 | 0.1 |
| Health | 4.02 | 8.1 | 3.48 | 7.4 | 7.61 | 11.4 |
| Short-term disability | 0.09 | 0.2 | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.04 | 0.1 |
| Long-term disability | 0.06 | 0.1 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 0.06 | 0.1 |
| Retirement and savings | 2.53 | 5.1 | 1.57 | 3.3 | 8.85 | 13.3 |
| Defined benefit | 1.44 | 2.9 | 0.40 | 0.9 | 8.26 | 12.4 |
| Defined contribution | 1.09 | 2.2 | 1.17 | 2.5 | 0.59 | 0.9 |
| Legally Required benefits | 3.41 | 6.9 | 3.40 | 7.2 | 3.53 | 5.3 |
| Social Security and Medicare | 2.80 | 5.7 | 2.79 | 6.0 | 2.81 | 4.2 |
| Social Security (4) | 2.23 | 4.5 | 2.24 | 4.8 | 2.14 | 3.2 |
| Medicare | 0.57 | 1.1 | 0.55 | 1.2 | 0.67 | 1.0 |
| Federal unemployment insurance (5, 6) | 0.03 | 0.1 | 0.03 | 0.1 | - | - |
| State unemployment insurance | 0.13 | 0.3 | 0.14 | 0.3 | 0.06 | 0.1 |
| Workers' compensation | 0.46 | 0.9 | 0.43 | 0.9 | 0.65 | 1.0 |
- (2) Includes costs for wages and salaries and benefits.
- (3) Includes premium pay for work (such as overtime, weekends, and holidays) in addition to the regular work schedule.
- (4) Social Security refers to the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program.
- (5) Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
- (6) Less than .05 percent.
Reading this table
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) measures what employers pay per hour an employee works, from the same National Compensation Survey that produces the Employment Cost Index. Total compensation is wages and salaries plus benefits. Wages and salaries are straight-time pay before deductions, including production bonuses and commissions but excluding premium pay, which the table counts under supplemental pay (overtime and premium, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses). The other benefit groups are paid leave (vacation, holiday, sick, personal), insurance (life, health, disability), retirement and savings (defined benefit and defined contribution plans) and legally required benefits (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation).
The Cost ($) column is dollars per hour worked, so a benefit that is paid per employee regardless of hours, such as health insurance, costs more per hour for a part-time workforce. Percent of compensation is each component's share of total compensation in that ownership group and sums to 100 down the column. Civilian workers are private industry plus state and local government; the federal government, agriculture, private households and the self-employed are outside the survey. A dash means the cost rounds to zero or the category does not apply, as the footnotes state. These are averages across jobs, so they move with the mix of occupations as well as with pay; the occupation and industry page gives the private-industry breakdown, and the ECI benefits page the change over time for the same jobs.
Source, release and next release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (USDL-26-1494), released ; reference period June 2026.
- Next release: (September 2026), per the BLS release calendar.
- Table: Table 1. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by ownership, fetched (SHA-256 1395f3dd0a7a…).
- Figures are shown as published; this site does not seasonally adjust, deflate, interpolate or extend any series.