Compensation costs for private industry workers in the Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs, GA-AL Combined Statistical Area increased by 2.9 percent for the year ending September 2025, according to a report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that this growth is lower than the previous year’s annual gain of 4.8 percent. Nationally, compensation costs rose by 3.5 percent over the same period.
Wages and salaries, which make up the largest part of compensation costs, grew at a rate of 2.8 percent in Atlanta during this period. Across the United States, wages and salaries saw an increase of 3.6 percent.
Atlanta is one of fifteen metropolitan areas nationwide and one of five in the South region where locality compensation cost data are collected. Among these large metropolitan areas, changes in compensation costs over the past year 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 wages and salaries specifically, Miami experienced the highest increase at 5.9 percent, while Washington-Baltimore-Arlington had the smallest at 1.9 percent.
Within southern metropolitan areas—including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Pasadena, Miami, and Washington—Atlanta’s annual rise in compensation costs was mid-range compared to advances between 5.7 percent and 2.2 percent reported elsewhere in the region.
The data on local compensation costs are drawn from the national Employment Cost Index (ECI), which tracks quarterly changes in wages, salaries, and employer benefit expenses without being affected by employment shifts across different jobs or industries.
Further details about ECI data by industry sector, occupational groupings, union status, as well as for civilian and government employees can be found on the Employment Cost Index website and through resources provided by the Southeast Information Office regional homepage.
The counties included within this combined statistical area span much of northern Georgia along with Chambers County in Alabama.
“Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request,” according to BLS contact information.
