Compensation costs for private industry workers in the Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, FL Combined Statistical Area (CSA) increased by 5.7 percent over the year ending September 2025, according to a report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marks a notable rise compared to the previous year’s annual gain of 2.2 percent.
Victoria G. Lee, Regional Commissioner, stated, “One year ago, Miami experienced an annual gain of 2.2 percent in compensation costs.”
On a national level, compensation costs rose by 3.5 percent during the same period.
Within the Miami area, wages and salaries—the largest component of compensation—grew at a rate of 5.9 percent over the twelve months ending September 2025. Nationally, wages and salaries increased by 3.6 percent during this time.
Miami is one of fifteen metropolitan areas across the United States where locality compensation cost data are available and one of five such areas in the South region. Among these major metropolitan areas, Miami recorded both the highest increase in overall compensation costs (5.7 percent) and in wages and salaries (5.9 percent). The lowest increases were observed in Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor for compensation costs (2.1 percent) and Washington-Baltimore-Arlington for wages and salaries (1.9 percent).
Compared with other southern metropolitan areas—Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Pasadena, and Washington—Miami’s annual increase in compensation was higher than advances that ranged from 4.5 percent to 2.2 percent in those cities during September 2025.
The Employment Cost Index (ECI), which includes these locality figures, tracks quarterly changes in compensation without being affected by employment shifts among different occupations or industries.
Additional details about methodology can be found through resources such as the National Compensation Measures Handbook of Methods and technical notes on the ECI website.
The Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale CSA covers Broward, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie Counties in Florida.
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