Compensation costs for private industry workers in the Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, Florida Combined Statistical Area increased by 5.7 percent for the year ending September 2025, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee stated that one year ago, compensation costs in Miami rose by 2.2 percent over the same period.
The BLS reported that wages and salaries, which make up the largest share of compensation costs, grew by 5.9 percent locally during this time frame. Across the United States, compensation costs went up by 3.5 percent while wages and salaries increased by 3.6 percent.
Miami is among 15 metropolitan areas nationwide where locality compensation cost data are available and one of five such areas in the South region. The BLS noted that among these large metro areas, Miami experienced the highest annual increase in both overall compensation costs and wages and salaries—at 5.7 percent and 5.9 percent respectively—while Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor saw a 2.1 percent increase in total compensation and Washington-Baltimore-Arlington had a 1.9 percent rise in wages and salaries.
In comparison with other southern metropolitan regions—Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Pasadena, and Washington—Miami’s increases were also higher; other southern localities recorded annual gains ranging from 4.5 to 2.2 percent for compensation costs and between 5.0 to 1.9 percent for wages and salaries.
Locality-specific data are derived from the national Employment Cost Index (ECI), which tracks quarterly changes in labor expenses independently of shifts in employment across occupations or industries.
Additional details about ECI methodology can be found through resources such as the Employment Cost Index Technical Note and National Compensation Measures Handbook of Methods on the BLS website.
The Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale CSA includes Broward, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties.
