DALLAS, Tex. – The Southwest Office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has released Employer Costs for Employee Compensation for the Regions – March 2023. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that among the four regions, private industry employer costs for total compensation ranged from $35.98 per hour in the South to $47.04 in the Northeast. (See chart 1.)
The Midwest region recorded an hourly wage and salary average of $27.22 in March 2023, representing 68.9 percent of all compensation costs. Total benefits averaged $12.29 and accounted for the remaining 31.1 percent of total compensation costs. Insurance benefits ($3.29 per hour worked) represented 8.3 percent of compensation costs. Legally required benefits ($2.89), and paid leave ($2.88) each were responsible for 7.3 percent of total employment compensation costs in the Midwest.
Overall, compensation costs among private industry employers in the United States averaged $40.79 per hour worked in March 2023. Wages and salaries, at $28.76 per hour, accounted for 70.5 percent of these costs, while benefits, at $12.02, made up the remaining 29.5 percent.
Employer costs for nine smaller geographic divisions are also available. Within these smaller divisions, total compensation costs ranged from $32.01 per hour in the East South Central division to $47.58 in the Pacific division.
