Compensation costs for private industry workers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach Combined Statistical Area increased by 3.4 percent over the year ending September 2025, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund stated that “one year ago, Los Angeles experienced an annual gain of 4.6 percent in compensation costs.” Nationally, compensation costs rose by 3.5 percent during the same period.
Wages and salaries in Los Angeles, which make up the largest part of compensation costs, also grew by 3.4 percent for the year ending September 2025. Across the United States, wages and salaries increased by 3.6 percent.
Los Angeles is one of fifteen metropolitan areas in the country where locality compensation cost data are available and one of four such areas in the western region. Among these major metropolitan areas, annual changes in compensation costs ranged from a high of 5.7 percent in Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale to a low of 2.1 percent in Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor as of September 2025. For wage and salary growth specifically, Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale saw the largest increase at 5.9 percent, while Washington-Baltimore-Arlington recorded the smallest at 1.9 percent.
In comparison with other large western metropolitan areas—Phoenix-Mesa, San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, and Seattle-Tacoma—the annual increase in compensation costs for Los Angeles was within a range from 4.7 percent to 3.1 percent among these cities for September 2025. Wage and salary gains in Los Angeles were also comparable to rates between 4.3 percent and 2.6 percent observed across these other western localities.
The Employment Cost Index (ECI), which includes this locality data, tracks quarterly changes in employer expenses for wages, salaries, and benefits while controlling for employment shifts across different jobs or industries.
Additional information about national ECI data broken down by industry sector or occupational group is available on the Employment Cost Index website (https://www.bls.gov/eci/). The Western Information Office regional homepage (https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/) provides further details for regions and localities.
The Los Angeles-Long Beach Combined Statistical Area covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties.
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