Compensation costs for private industry workers in the Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs, GA-AL Combined Statistical Area increased by 2.9 percent for the year ending September 2025, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This represents a slowdown compared to the previous year’s increase of 4.8 percent.
Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee stated, “Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 2.9 percent in the Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs, GA-AL Combined Statistical Area (CSA) for the year ending in September 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.” She added that “one year ago, Atlanta experienced an annual gain of 4.8 percent in compensation costs.”
Nationally, compensation costs rose by 3.5 percent over the same period.
Wages and salaries in Atlanta advanced at a rate of 2.8 percent over twelve months ending September 2025, while nationally wages and salaries increased by 3.6 percent during this time.
Atlanta is one of fifteen metropolitan areas across the United States—and one of five areas in the South—for which locality-specific compensation cost data are available from BLS surveys. In these major metropolitan areas, yearly changes in compensation costs ranged from a high of 5.7 percent in Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale to a low of 2.1 percent in Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor as of September 2025; wage and salary increases were highest in Miami (5.9 percent) and lowest in Washington-Baltimore-Arlington (1.9 percent).
Among southern metropolitan areas—Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Pasadena, Miami, Washington-Baltimore-Arlington—the change in compensation costs ranged from Miami’s high at 5.7 percent to Washington’s low at 2.2 percent during this period; wage and salary growth similarly varied from Miami’s leading rate down to Washington’s smaller increase.
The Employment Cost Index (ECI), which tracks quarterly changes in wages, salaries and employer-paid benefits without being affected by employment shifts among occupations or industries, provides these locality figures as part of its broader national survey efforts.
Additional details on methodology can be found through resources such as the National Compensation Measures Handbook of Methods and technical notes provided on official BLS websites including their Employment Cost Index page and Southeast Information Office homepage.
The defined area covered includes numerous counties throughout Georgia—such as Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb—and Chambers County in Alabama.
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