Private industry employer costs for employee compensation varied across U.S. regions in June 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The South reported the lowest average cost at $39.94 per hour, while the Northeast recorded the highest at $56.67 per hour. In the Midwest and West, hourly compensation stood at $42.13 and $49.85, respectively.
In addition to regional figures, BLS also provides data for nine smaller geographic divisions. Compensation costs ranged from $33.45 per hour in the East South Central division to $56.72 in the Middle Atlantic division.
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) are derived from the National Compensation Survey and reflect employer spending on wages, salaries, and benefits.
For June 2025 in the Northeast, wages and salaries averaged $39.22 per hour and made up 69.2 percent of total compensation costs; benefits contributed $17.44 or 30.8 percent. Paid leave accounted for $4.70 per hour (8.3 percent), insurance costs were $4.47 (7.9 percent), and legally required benefits averaged $4.04 (7.1 percent).
The West saw wages and salaries at $34.88 per hour—70 percent of all compensation—with benefits at $14.97 (30 percent). Paid leave was $3.82 per hour (7.7 percent), legally required benefits were $3.80 (7.6 percent), and insurance costs averaged $3.52 (7.1 percent).
In the Midwest, average hourly wages and salaries reached $29.24 (69.4 percent of total compensation), with benefits at $12.89 (30.6 percent). Insurance ($3.46), legally required benefits ($3.05), and paid leave ($3.01) were the three largest benefit categories, representing 8.2 percent, 7.3 percent, and 7.1 percent of total compensation costs respectively.
The South’s average wage and salary cost was $28.66 per hour—71.8 percent of overall compensation—while benefits made up the remaining 28.2 percent at $11.28 per hour worked; both paid leave and insurance were each valued at $2.88 (7.2 percent each), with legally required benefits close behind at $2.82 (7.l percent).
Nationwide, private industry employers paid an average of $45.l65 per hour worked in June 2025: wages and salaries represented 70.l2 percent ($32.l07) while benefits comprised 29.l8 percent ($13.l58).
According to BLS methodology, ECEC data exclude self-employed individuals, agricultural workers, and private household workers; approximately 26,l400 occupational observations from about 6,l200 private establishments were used for this survey period.
Data on metropolitan area ECEC estimates can be found at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/bls-introduces-new-employer-costs-for-employee-compensation-data-for-private-industry-workers-in-15-metropolitan-areas.pdf.
Further details on methodology are available in “National Compensation Measures” within the BLS Handbook of Methods: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/ncs/home.htm.
Current and historical ECEC data can be accessed online via www.bls.gov/ecec.
The next national release is scheduled for December l2, 2025.
