Private industry employers in the United States paid an average of $45.65 per hour in employee compensation in June 2025, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Wages and salaries accounted for $32.07, or 70.2 percent, while benefits made up $13.58, or 29.8 percent.
Regional differences were notable across the country. The Northeast had the highest employer costs at $56.67 per hour, followed by the West at $49.85 and the Midwest at $42.13. The South reported the lowest average cost at $39.94 per hour.
Within these regions, wage and benefit breakdowns varied:
In the Northeast, wages and salaries averaged $39.22 per hour (69.2 percent), with benefits at $17.44 (30.8 percent). Paid leave was $4.70 per hour worked (8.3 percent), insurance averaged $4.47 (7.9 percent), and legally required benefits such as Social Security and Medicare totaled $4.04 (7.1 percent).
The West region saw hourly wages and salaries averaging $34.88 (70 percent) and benefits averaging $14.97 (30 percent). Paid leave amounted to $3.82 per hour (7.7 percent), legally required benefits were $3.80 (7.6 percent), and insurance costs stood at $3.52 (7.1 percent).
In the Midwest, employers paid an average wage of $29.24 per hour (69.4 percent) with benefits averaging $12.89 (30.6 percent). Insurance ($3.46), legally required benefits ($3.05), and paid leave ($3.01) represented 8.2, 7.3, and 7.l percent respectively.
Employers in the South provided average wages of $28.l66 per hour (71 .8 percent) with benefits totaling S11 .28 {28 .2 perc ent). Both paid leave and insurance cost S2 .88 per hour worked {each accounting for 7 .2 perc ent}, while legally required benef its averaged S2 .82 {7 .1 perc ent}.
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation are based on data from about 26,400 occupational observations from a sample of approximately 6,200 private industry establishments across four survey months each year: March, June, September, and December.
The BLS also provides compensation estimates for nine smaller geographic divisions within these regions; division-level costs ranged from a low of S33 .45 per hour in East South Central to a high of S56 .72 in Middle Atlantic.
Data exclude self-employed individuals, agricultural workers, and private household workers.
More information about metropolitan area ECEC estimates is available on the BLS website: www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/bls-introduces-new-employer-costs-for-employee-compensation-data-for-private-industry-workers-in-15-metropolitan-areas.pdf
Detailed methodology can be found in “National Compensation Measures” within the BLS Handbook of Methods: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/ncs/home.htm
The next national release on Employer Costs for Employee Compensation is scheduled for Friday, December 12, 2025.
“Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data in this release cover private industry.”
“Excluded from private industry are the self-employed, agricultural workers, and private household workers.”
“Data for this reference period were collected from a probability sample of approximately 26,400 occupational observations selected from a sample of about 6,200 private industry establishments.”
“The private industry sample is rotated over approximately three years, which makes the sample more representative of the economy and reduces respondent burden.”
“Data are collected for the pay period including the 12th day of the survey months of March, June, September, and December.”
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