{"schemaVersion":"1.0","id":"rs-2026-011","slug":"hourly-compensation-costs-by-establishment-size-march-2026","title":"Hourly Compensation Costs by Private-Industry Establishment Size — March 2026","headline":"Hourly Compensation Costs Were 82% Higher at the Largest Private Establishments","summary":"Private establishments with 500 or more workers averaged $68.03 in compensation costs per employee hour in March 2026. That was 82.1% above the $37.36 average at establishments with 1 to 49 workers. Benefit costs were 147.4% higher.","published":"2026-08-14","modified":"2026-08-14","status":"published","supersedes":null,"supersededBy":null,"topic":{"slug":"operating-economics","label":"Operating economics"},"subtopics":["employee compensation","wages and salaries","employee benefits","establishment size"],"country":"United States","geographyLevel":"National","geographies":["United States"],"period":"March 2026","metric":"Employer compensation cost per employee hour worked","provenance":{"primarySources":[{"agency":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics","dataset":"Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — March 2026, Table 6","period":"March 2026","role":"Hourly total compensation, wage and salary, and benefit costs by establishment size","releaseUrl":"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf","dataUrl":"https://www.bls.gov/charts/employer-costs-for-employee-compensation/costs-by-establishment-size.htm"},{"agency":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics","dataset":"Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Relative Standard Errors","period":"March 2026","role":"Sampling-error information for ECEC estimates","url":"https://www.bls.gov/web/ecec/ecec-rse.htm"}],"contextSources":[]},"transformation":{"calculationType":"calculated","formula":"(500-plus estimate − 1–49 estimate) ÷ 1–49 estimate × 100","filters":["Private industry","All workers","March 2026","Establishments with 1 to 49 workers","Establishments with 500 or more workers"],"transformations":["Extract total compensation, wage and salary, and benefit costs from Table 6.","Subtract the 1–49 worker estimate from the 500-plus worker estimate to calculate each dollar gap.","Divide each dollar gap by the 1–49 worker estimate and multiply by 100.","Round table percentage gaps to one decimal place and headline values to whole numbers."]},"findings":[{"claim":"Hourly total compensation at establishments with 1 to 49 workers","value":37.36,"unit":"USD per employee hour","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Hourly total compensation at establishments with 500 or more workers","value":68.03,"unit":"USD per employee hour","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Total compensation gap for the 500-plus group","value":82.093148,"unit":"percent higher","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Wage and salary gap for the 500-plus group","value":59.212428,"unit":"percent higher","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Benefit cost gap for the 500-plus group","value":147.417355,"unit":"percent higher","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Benefit share gap between the two groups","value":9.3,"unit":"percentage points","geography":"United States"}],"limitations":["An establishment is one work site, and a company may own several sites, so the figures do not show company size.","These group averages do not compare the same job at a small and large establishment.","The analysis does not adjust for industry, occupation, region, hours, union status, or staff mix.","The descriptive data do not prove that establishment size caused the cost gaps.","BLS produces the estimates from a sample, so the estimates are subject to sampling error.","Benefit costs cover all workers in each group, including workers without access to a plan and workers who do not participate."],"keywords":["hourly compensation costs by establishment size","employer costs for employee compensation","ECEC March 2026","employee benefit costs","wages and salaries","large establishments","small establishments","BLS compensation data"],"aliases":["ECEC","employer compensation costs","compensation costs by site size","employee compensation by establishment size"],"citation":"RecurSave. “Hourly Compensation Costs Were 82% Higher at the Largest Private Establishments.” RecurSave Research, August 14, 2026.","canonicalUrl":"https://www.recursave.com/research/hourly-compensation-costs-by-establishment-size-march-2026","hasDataset":false,"metaDescription":"Hourly compensation costs were 82% higher at private establishments with 500+ workers than at those with 1–49 workers in March 2026."}