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.
Compensation costs (in dollars) per hour worked for private industry workers by combined statistical area, March 2026 AreaWages and salariesBenefitsTotal compensation
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA
50.8324.2975.12
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD
43.9120.7364.64
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA
44.6518.3763.02
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA
38.7319.1457.87
Seattle-Tacoma, WA
38.8916.3855.28
Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH
37.5717.6755.24
Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI
34.6417.2951.93
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
35.0016.3851.38
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI
35.4515.6551.11
Houston-Pasadena, TX
34.8115.0149.82
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
33.8115.5649.37
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
33.1412.7945.93
Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA-AL
28.4511.4039.85
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK
27.4811.5739.05
Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, FL
27.7110.1337.84
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.
OF INTEREST
