Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $43.26 per hour worked in June 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries cost employers $29.86 while benefit costs were $13.39. (See chart 1 and tables 1 and 2.)
Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $41.03 per hour worked in June 2023. Wages and salaries averaged $28.97 per hour worked and accounted for 70.6 percent of employer costs, while benefit costs averaged $12.06 per hour worked and accounted for the remaining 29.4 percent. (See chart 1 and tables 1 and 4.)
Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $58.25 per hour worked in June 2023. Wages and salaries averaged $35.90 and accounted for 61.6 percent of employer costs, while benefit costs averaged $22.35 and accounted for 38.4 percent. (See chart 1 and tables 1 and 3.)
Employer costs for legally required benefits for private industry workers averaged $3.08 per hour worked and accounted for 7.5 percent of total compensation. Employer costs for legally required benefits for state and local government workers averaged $3.14 and accounted for 5.4 percent of total compensation. (See chart 2 and table 1).
Legally required benefit costs for private industry workers
Among occupational groups, legally required benefit costs ranged from $4.53 per hour worked for management, professional, and related occupations to $1.89 for service occupations. Legally required benefit costs accounted for 6.6 percent of total compensation in management, professional, and related occupations and accounted for 9.2 percent of total compensation in service occupations. Social Security costs averaged $3.21 and accounted for 4.6 percent of total compensation for management, professional, and related occupations. Social Security costs averaged $1.12 and accounted for 5.4 percent of total compensation for service occupations. (See chart 3 and table 4).
In establishments with 1-49 workers, employer costs for legally required benefits averaged $2.69 per hour worked and accounted for 8.1 percent of total compensation. In establishments with 500 workers or more, employer costs for legally required benefits averaged $3.99 and accounted for 6.7 percent of total compensation. (See charts 4 and 5, and table 6).
