Metropolitan area costs in private industry
Total compensation costs for 15 metropolitan areas ranged from $38.62 for the Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH CSA and $38.52 for the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA, to $24.00 in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA. Employer costs for wages and salaries in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA were $27.10 per hour worked. Employer costs for benefits in the Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH CSA were $12.36 per hour.
Civilian
Civilian employer costs, which include private industry and State and local government workers, averaged $2.62 per hour worked for insurance benefits (life, health, and disability insurance), or 8.8 percent of total compensation. In addition to insurance, the other benefit categories were: paid leave (vacation, holiday, sick leave, and personal leave); which averaged $2.06 (6.9 percent of total compensation); supplemental pay (overtime and premium, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses); which averaged 73 cents per hour worked (2.5 percent); retirement and savings (defined benefit and defined contribution plans), which averaged $1.32 per hour (4.5 percent); and legally required benefits (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation), which averaged $2.30 per hour worked (7.7 percent).
Private industry
Private industry employer costs for paid leave averaged $1.88 per hour worked (6.8 percent of total compensation), supplemental pay averaged 81 cents (2.9 percent), insurance benefits averaged $2.22 (8.0 percent), retirement and savings averaged 96 cents (3.5 percent), and legally required benefits averaged $2.28 (8.2 percent) per hour worked.
Health insurance costs in private industry
The average cost for health insurance benefits was $2.08 per hour worked in private industry (7.5 percent of total compensation) in March 2010. In March 2000, employer costs for health benefits averaged $1.09, or 5.5 percent of total compensation.
Among occupational groups, employer costs for health insurance benefits ranged from 92 cents per hour and 6.7 percent of total compensation for service workers, to $3.03 and 6.2 percent of total compensation for management, professional, and related occupations. Among other occupational categories, employer costs for health benefits averaged $1.87 (8.6 percent) for sales and office occupations, lower than $2.49 (8.0 percent) for natural resources, construction,and maintenance occupations, and $2.34 (9.9 percent) for production, transportation, and material moving occupations.
Employer costs for health insurance benefits were significantly higher for union workers, averaging $4.38 per hour (11.8 percent), than for nonunion workers, averaging $1.82 (6.8 percent).
In goods-producing industries, health insurance benefit costs were higher, at $2.88 per hour (8.9 percent of total compensation), than in service-providing industries, at $1.92 per hour (7.2 percent of total compensation).
Among the four regions, costs for health insurance benefits ranged from $1.78 per hour in the South to $2.40 in the Northeast. Health care costs were $2.21 in the Midwest and $2.11 in the West. Within census divisions, hourly health benefit costs ranged from $1.68 in the West South Central division to $2.40 in the New England and Middle Atlantic divisions.
Health insurance benefit costs increased, both in average hourly dollar amount and as a proportion of total compensation, with establishment size. Establishments with fewer than 50 workers averaged $1.34 (6.0 percent); those with 50-99 workers averaged $1.82 (7.2 percent); those with 100-499 employees averaged $2.36 (8.3 percent); and those with 500 or more employees averaged $3.38 (8.5 percent).
