Changing Compensation Costs in the Chicago Metropolitan Area — March 2026

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 4.1 percent in the Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI Combined Statistical Area (CSA) for the year ending in March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that one year ago, Chicago experienced an annual gain of 3.2 percent in compensation costs. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Nationwide, compensation costs rose 3.4 percent in March 2026.

Locally, wages and salaries, the largest component of compensation costs, advanced at a 4.1-percent pace for the 12-month period ended March 2026. (See chart 2.) Nationwide, wages and salaries rose 3.4 percent over the same period.

Chicago is 1 of 15 metropolitan areas in the United States and 1 of 3 areas in the Midwest region of the country for which locality compensation cost data are available. Among these 15 largest areas, over-the-year percentage changes in compensation costs ranged from 4.7 percent in Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale to 0.3 percent in Houston-Pasadena in March 2026; for wages and salaries, Miami registered the largest increase (4.6 percent), and Minneapolis-St. Paul registered the smallest (1.0 percent). (See chart 3.)

The annual increase in compensation costs in Chicago was 4.1 percent in March 2026, compared to 2.3 percent in Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor and 1.4 percent in Minneapolis, the two other metropolitan areas in the Midwest. Chicago's 4.1-percent gain in wages and salaries over this 12-month period compared to 3.5 percent in Detroit and 1.0 percent in Minneapolis. (See table 2.)

The Employment Cost Index for June 2026 is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 31, 2026 , at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

Locality compensation costs are part of the national Employment Cost Index (ECI), which measures quarterly changes in compensation costs (wages and salaries and employer costs for employee benefits) free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. More information can be found in the national Employment Cost Index Technical Note. For information on survey concepts, coverage, methods, nonresponse adjustment, and imputation see the Employment Cost Index Handbook of Methods.

In addition to the data presented here, ECI national data by industry, occupational group, and union status, as well as data for civilian, private, and state and local government employees, are available on the Employment Cost Index website. The national Employment Cost Index Summary is also available online. Additional information for regions, states, and local areas may be accessed via our Midwest Information Office regional homepage.

The substate area data published in this news release reflect the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 23-01, dated July 21, 2023. See the Tracking Wage Growth in American Cities page for more information on available geographies and their historical timelines.

The Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI Combined Statistical Area (CSA) includes Bureau, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry, Putnam, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment Cost Index 12-month percent changes for total compensation and for wages and salaries, private industry workers, United States, Midwest Census region, and the Chicago area, not seasonally adjusted

Area	Total compensation (%)				Wages and salaries (%)
	Mar.	Jun.	Sep.	Dec.	Mar.	Jun.	Sep.	Dec.
United States
2022	4.8	5.5	5.2	5.1	5.0	5.7	5.2	5.1
2023	4.8	4.5	4.3	4.1	5.1	4.6	4.5	4.3
2024	4.1	3.9	3.6	3.6	4.3	4.1	3.8	3.7
2025	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.6	3.3
2026	3.4				3.4
Midwest
2022	5.1	5.7	5.8	5.0	5.5	6.0	6.0	5.0
2023	4.5	4.3	3.8	3.7	4.6	4.4	3.9	4.0
2024	3.9	3.6	3.6	3.3	4.2	3.7	3.7	3.3
2025	3.3	3.5	3.4	3.4	3.2	3.7	3.5	3.4
2026	3.3				3.4
Chicago-Naperville
2022	3.9	5.3	4.8	4.4	3.8	5.1	4.6	4.4
2023	3.8	4.1	4.2	4.1	3.5	4.2	4.1	4.1
2024	4.3	3.7	3.1	2.7	4.4	3.5	3.1	2.7
2025	3.2	3.6	4.0	4.9	3.1	3.6	3.9	4.8
2026	4.1				4.1

Table 2. Employment Cost Index 12-month percent changes for total compensation and for wages and salaries, private industry workers, United States, Census regions, and localities, not seasonally adjusted

Area	Total compensation (%)			Wages and salaries (%)
	Mar. 2025	Dec. 2025	Mar. 2026	Mar. 2025	Dec. 2025	Mar. 2026
United States	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.3	3.4
Northeast	3.3	3.5	3.4	3.6	3.4	3.2
Boston-Worcester-Providence	3.6	3.6	2.8	3.7	3.6	2.4
New York-Newark	3.0	3.4	3.4	3.2	3.3	3.2
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden	3.3	3.1	3.1	3.4	2.6	2.7
South	3.3	3.5	3.4	3.3	3.6	3.5
Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs	3.6	3.1	2.5	3.7	3.1	2.5
Dallas-Fort Worth	4.4	3.4	2.3	4.5	3.1	1.8
Houston-Pasadena	7.5	2.8	0.3	4.8	3.9	3.4
Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale	1.1	4.7	4.7	1.2	4.7	4.6
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington	2.6	2.7	3.7	2.5	2.4	3.8
Midwest	3.3	3.4	3.3	3.2	3.4	3.4
Chicago-Naperville	3.2	4.9	4.1	3.1	4.8	4.1
Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor	4.6	1.9	2.3	3.8	3.1	3.5
Minneapolis-St. Paul	5.7	3.8	1.4	5.7	3.7	1.0
West	3.7	3.2	3.6	3.5	3.0	3.3
Los Angeles-Long Beach	4.1	3.3	3.5	4.4	3.2	3.1
Phoenix-Mesa	3.4	3.2	4.3	3.2	2.8	4.2
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland	3.8	2.6	3.8	3.5	2.6	4.0
Seattle-Tacoma	5.8	3.5	3.3	5.6	3.6	2.8