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Benefits, retirement and savings make up larger percentage of government employee compensation
December 16, 2015
Over the last 10 years, state and local government employer costs for employee benefits have increased as a share of total compensation. This can be mostly attributed to increases in retirement and savings, specifically defined benefit plans. Retirement and savings as a share of total compensation increased from 6.6 percent in March 2005 to 10.4 percent in September 2015.
Percent of employer costs for employee compensation by component, state and local government
Date
Wages and salaries
Paid leave
Supplemental pay
Insurance
Retirement and savings
Legally required benefits
Mar 2005
68.3
7.6
0.9
10.6
6.6
5.9
Jun 2005
68.2
7.6
0.9
10.7
6.6
5.9
Sep 2005
67.8
7.5
0.9
10.9
6.9
5.9
Dec 2005
67.9
7.4
0.9
10.9
6.9
5.9
Mar 2006
67.6
7.8
0.9
10.9
6.9
5.9
Jun 2006
67.4
7.9
0.9
11.0
6.9
5.9
Sep 2006
67.3
7.8
0.9
11.0
7.1
5.9
Dec 2006
67.3
7.8
0.8
11.0
7.2
5.8
Mar 2007
67.0
7.8
0.9
11.3
7.3
5.8
Jun 2007
66.6
7.9
0.9
11.4
7.4
5.8
Sep 2007
66.5
7.8
0.9
11.4
7.7
5.8
Dec 2007
66.4
7.9
0.9
11.3
7.6
6.0
Mar 2008
65.9
8.2
0.9
11.4
7.6
6.0
Jun 2008
65.8
8.3
0.9
11.3
7.7
6.0
Sep 2008
65.8
8.3
0.9
11.2
7.9
5.9
Dec 2008
65.9
8.2
0.9
11.3
7.8
5.9
Mar 2009
65.7
8.2
0.9
11.3
8.0
5.9
Jun 2009
65.6
8.2
0.9
11.4
8.0
6.0
Sep 2009
65.9
7.6
0.9
11.5
8.1
6.0
Dec 2009
65.9
7.6
0.8
11.6
8.1
6.0
Mar 2010
65.9
7.5
0.8
11.8
7.9
6.0
Jun 2010
65.7
7.6
0.9
11.8
8.0
6.0
Sep 2010
65.5
7.6
0.8
12.0
8.1
6.0
Dec 2010
65.6
7.5
0.8
11.9
8.1
6.0
Mar 2011
65.5
7.5
0.8
12.0
8.2
6.0
Jun 2011
65.4
7.5
0.8
12.0
8.2
6.1
Sep 2011
65.2
7.4
0.8
12.0
8.4
6.1
Dec 2011
65.4
7.4
0.8
11.9
8.3
6.1
Mar 2012
65.2
7.3
0.8
12.0
8.5
6.1
Jun 2012
65.0
7.4
0.8
12.1
8.5
6.2
Sep 2012
64.7
7.4
0.8
12.1
8.9
6.1
Dec 2012
65.0
7.4
0.8
12.0
8.8
6.1
Mar 2013
64.8
7.3
0.8
12.1
9.0
6.0
Jun 2013
64.5
7.4
0.8
12.2
9.0
6.1
Sep 2013
64.4
7.3
0.8
12.1
9.3
6.0
Dec 2013
64.5
7.3
0.8
12.0
9.4
6.0
Mar 2014
64.4
7.3
0.8
11.9
9.6
6.0
Jun 2014
64.0
7.3
0.8
12.0
9.9
5.9
Sep 2014
64.0
7.3
0.8
12.0
10.0
5.9
Dec 2014
64.1
7.3
0.8
11.9
10.1
5.9
Mar 2015
64.0
7.3
0.8
11.9
10.2
5.9
Jun 2015
63.8
7.3
0.8
11.9
10.2
5.9
Sep 2015
63.7
7.3
0.8
12.0
10.4
5.9
State and local government employers spent an average of $44.66 per hour worked for employee compensation in September 2015. Wages and salaries averaged $28.45 per hour and accounted for 63.7 percent of compensation costs, while benefits averaged $16.21 per hour worked and accounted for the remaining 36.3 percent. In March 2005, employee benefits as a share of total compensation were $11.24 an hour or 31.7 percent.
In March 2005, state and local government employers spent an average of $35.50 per hour worked for employee compensation; $24.26 or 68.3 percent of this was spent on wages and salaries.
These data are from the Employment Cost Trends program. To learn more, see “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — September 2015” (HTML) (PDF).
United States Department of Labor
