Data Requests

The National Compensation Survey (NCS) is used to produce labor cost changes through the Employment Cost Index (ECI) and the average costs per hour worked through the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC). The NCS also provides estimates on the incidence and provisions of benefits by the percentage of workers with access to and participating in employer-sponsored benefit plans through the Employee Benefits in the United States. The survey covers a broad range of benefits including holidays and vacations, sick leave, health and life insurance, and retirement plans. Benefit plan details of employer-provided health and retirement plan provisions are also available.

The latest data can be accessed from the:

• Databases and
• News releases.

In some circumstances, BLS can provide estimates not available through NCS publications. When requests for unpublished data are received, they are evaluated and processed based on resource availability and the complexity of the request. The NCS is not designed to produce estimates for individual states. All tabulations of data are reviewed for reliability and confidentiality prior to release, which may limit the data provided. The NCS can be used to produce estimates by aggregate occupational and industry groups, census regions and divisions, the fifteen largest combined statistical areas and metropolitan statistical areas, and by various worker characteristics (such as work status, bargaining status, and basis of pay).

When making a data request, users should provide a detailed explanation of the scope that includes ownership (civilian, private, and state and local government), industry group(s) or industry, occupational group(s) or occupation, worker and establishment characteristics, and reference period. This detailed explanation will expedite the evaluation. Once we receive the request, we will evaluate it and contact you regarding an expected timeframe for tabulation, review, and clearance. All estimates are evaluated to ensure respondent confidentiality and estimate reliability. In cases where the level of detail requested does not meet publication criteria, BLS staff will contact you with possible alternatives including on-site microdata access. Access to restricted microdata requires a well-defined research proposal that will be thoroughly reviewed as explained on the BLS Restricted Data Access page.

Please review the list of fulfilled requests prior to submitting a tabulation data request. To submit a request, complete the NCS online form, enter “data request” in the subject line and indicate the scope of the request. BLS staff evaluating the request will respond and ask for clarification, if necessary. These tabulations can take anywhere from four to eight weeks to produce, review, and fulfill.

For an explanation of survey design, calculation and weighting methodology, and history of the NCS see the National Compensation Measures in the Handbook of Methods.

Examples of previously fulfilled requests are listed below, in order to demonstrate the level of detail that can be provided outside of the NCS publications. All data tables on this page are unpublished except by special request.

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National Compensation Survey (NCS)

• Average leveling points for six-digit occupations ▸

  • This table provides the average leveling points for 2010 SOC based six-digit occupations in the National Compensation Survey, which gives an idea of the work level of the duties and responsibilities of the job. It was created by totaling up and averaging the leveling points from the four leveling factors for jobs in the March 2021 reference period.

    (2018 XLSX table)

    (2021 XLSX table)

    Average total number of leveling points by occupation, March 2021

    SOC	Occupation (click on a cell below to see its full text above)	Total Level Points		Knowledge		Job Controls and Complexity		Contacts		Physical Environment
    		Mean	%RSE[1]	Mean	%RSE[1]	Mean	%RSE[1]	Mean	%RSE[1]	Mean	%RSE[1]
    000000	All Levelable Occupations	1003	1.1	477	1.2	451	1.1	53	0.7	23	0.7
    111021	General and operations managers	2131	2.9	1038	2.7	1006	3.6	74	2.5	14	6.8
    112021	Marketing managers	2667	4.0	1281	4.4	1283	4.1	92	8.2	11	4.8
    112022	Sales managers	2310	4.9	1145	5.1	1082	5.2	72	4.5	11	5.4
    113011	Administrative services managers	2186	6.0	1061	6.0	1029	5.7	84	12.7	12	10.2
    113021	Computer and information systems managers	2699	3.9	1363	3.1	1239	5.9	85	13.1	12	10.1
    113031	Financial managers	2154	2.4	1070	2.3	997	3.0	77	1.9	10	1.7
    119021	Construction managers	2213	3.2	1073	3.9	1036	3.4	85	10.5	18	7.2
    119032	Education administrators, elementary and secondary school	2446	2.9	1252	1.2	1104	5.8	79	4.4	11	5.9
    Footnotes: [1] The %RSE is the percent relative standard error, which is the standard error of the mean, expressed as a percent of the mean. [-] A dash means the cell failed to meet publication criteria.
    Note: The sum of the means of the four factors may not equal the mean of the total level points, due to rounding. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, unpublished data.

Employment Cost Index (ECI)

• Wages and salaries for state and local government excluding the educational services industry group (XLSX) ▸

  • This table is used by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the preparation of the state and local government consumption expenditures and the gross investment components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs). The ECI data are an input into the formula that calculates the GDP and NIPA estimates.

     Wages and salaries for state and local government workers excluding the educational services industry, 2017 - 2022

    Month	Year	Index	3-month percent changes	12-month percent changes
    March	2017	126.7	0.7	2.3
    June	2017	127.0	0.2	2.3
    September	2017	128.0	0.8	2.3
    December	2017	128.7	0.5	2.3
    March	2018	129.3	0.5	2.1
    June	2018	129.7	0.3	2.1
    September	2018	130.9	0.9	2.3
    December	2018	131.8	0.7	2.4
    March	2019	132.6	0.6	2.6
    June	2019	133.1	0.4	2.6
    September	2019	134.3	0.9	2.6
    December	2019	135.2	0.7	2.6
    March	2020	136.2	0.7	2.7
    June	2020	136.5	0.2	2.6
    September	2020	137.0	0.4	2.0
    December	2020	137.7	0.5	1.8
    March	2021	138.5	0.6	1.7
    June	2021	139.0	0.4	1.8
    September	2021	141.0	1.4	2.9
    December	2021	142.3	0.9	3.3
    March	2022	144.0	1.2	4.0
    June	2022	145.0	0.7	4.3
    September	2022	148.5	2.4	5.3
    December	2022	149.9	0.9	5.3
    Footnotes: This table is periodically updated to include newer estimates.
    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, unpublished data.

     

• ECI for junior colleges, colleges, universities, and professional schools, not seasonally adjusted (XLSX) ▸
  • Civilian industry ▸

    • Employment Cost Index, not seasonally adjusted, for civilian workers^[1] in junior colleges, colleges, universities, and professional schools, March 2019 - March 2021

      Year	Month	Total compensation Index(2)	Wages and salaries Index	Total benefits Index	Total compensation(2) 3-month percent change	Total compensation(2) 3-month percent change SE (3)	Wages and salaries 3-month percent change	Wages and salaries 3-month percent change SE (3)	Total benefits 3-month percent change	Total benefits 3-month percent change SE(3)	Total compensation(2) 12-month percent change	Total compensation(2) 12-month percent change SE (3)	Wages and salaries 12-month percent change	Wages and salaries 12-month percent change SE (3)	Total benefits 12-month percent change	Total benefits 12-month percent change SE(3)
      2019	March	136.3	131.6	148.0	0.4	0.1	0.4	0.2	0.7	0.1	2.6	0.2	2.5	0.2	2.8	0.2
      2019	June	136.9	132.1	148.8	0.4	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.5	0.1	2.7	0.2	2.6	0.2	2.8	0.2
      2019	September	138.6	133.7	150.8	1.2	0.2	1.2	0.2	1.3	0.1	2.9	0.2	2.7	0.2	3.3	0.1
      2019	December	139.3	134.3	151.5	0.5	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.5	0.1	2.7	0.2	2.4	0.2	3.1	0.1
      2020	March	139.9	134.7	152.6	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.7	0.1	2.6	0.2	2.4	0.3	3.1	0.2
      2020	June	140.3	135.1	153.2	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.1	2.5	0.2	2.3	0.2	3.0	0.2
      2020	September	140.6	135.2	153.9	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.5	0.1	1.4	0.2	1.1	0.2	2.1	0.1
      2020	December	141.1	135.6	154.6	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.5	0.2	1.3	0.2	1.0	0.2	2.0	0.2
      2021	March	141.2	135.8	154.7	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.9	0.2	0.8	0.1	1.4	0.3
      Footnotes: (1) Includes private industry and state and local government. (2) Includes costs for wages and salaries and benefits. (3) Standard errors (SE) are a measure of precision (reliability) of estimates expressed as a percentage.
      Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, unpublished data.

       

  • Private industry ▸

    • Employment Cost Index, not seasonally adjusted, for private industry workers in junior colleges, colleges, universities, and professional schools, March 2019 - March 2021

      Year	Month	Total compensation Index(1)	Wages and salaries Index	Total benefits Index	Total compensation(1) 3-month percent change	Total compensation(1) 3-month percent change SE (2)	Wages and salaries 3-month percent change	Wages and salaries 3-month percent change SE (2)	Total benefits 3-month percent change	Total benefits 3-month percent change SE(2)	Total compensation(1) 12-month percent change	Total compensation(1) 12-month percent change SE (2)	Wages and salaries 12-month percent change	Wages and salaries 12-month percent change SE (2)	Total benefits 12-month percent change	Total benefits 12-month percent change SE(2)
      2019	March	136.8	134.3	143.0	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.8	0.1	2.9	0.3	2.6	0.2	3.2	0.4
      2019	June	137.3	134.8	143.7	0.4	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.5	0.1	2.6	0.3	2.5	0.3	2.8	0.3
      2019	September	138.9	136.5	144.9	1.2	0.2	1.3	0.2	0.8	0.1	2.5	0.2	2.4	0.2	2.7	0.2
      2019	December	139.5	137.2	145.3	0.4	0.1	0.5	0.1	0.3	0.1	2.4	0.2	2.4	0.2	2.5	0.2
      2020	March	140.4	138.0	146.6	0.6	0.2	0.6	0.2	0.9	0.2	2.6	0.2	2.8	0.3	2.5	0.3
      2020	June	140.7	138.2	147.3	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.5	0.2	2.5	0.2	2.5	0.3	2.5	0.3
      2020	September	140.4	137.8	147.0	-0.2	0.2	-0.3	0.2	-0.2	0.2	1.1	0.3	1.0	0.3	1.4	0.3
      2020	December	140.8	138.2	147.3	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.9	0.3	0.7	0.3	1.4	0.3
      2021	March	141.0	138.4	147.4	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.5	0.4
      Footnotes: (1) Includes costs for wages and salaries and benefits. (2) Standard errors (SE) are a measure of precision (reliability) of estimates expressed as a percentage.
      Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, unpublished data.

       

  • State and local government ▸

    • Employment Cost Index, not seasonally adjusted, for state and local government workers in junior colleges, colleges, universities, and professional schools, March 2019 - March 2021

      Year	Month	Total compensation Index(1)	Wages and salaries Index	Total benefits Index	Total compensation(1) 3-month percent change	Total compensation(1) 3-month percent change SE (2)	Wages and salaries 3-month percent change	Wages and salaries 3-month percent change SE (2)	Total benefits 3-month percent change	Total benefits 3-month percent change SE(2)	Total compensation(1) 12-month percent change	Total compensation(1) 12-month percent change SE (2)	Wages and salaries 12-month percent change	Wages and salaries 12-month percent change SE (2)	Total benefits 12-month percent change	Total benefits 12-month percent change SE(2)
      2019	March	136.1	130.4	150.2	0.4	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.6	0.1	2.5	0.3	2.4	0.3	2.7	0.2
      2019	June	136.8	131.0	151.0	0.5	0.1	0.5	0.1	0.5	0.1	2.8	0.3	2.7	0.4	2.9	0.2
      2019	September	138.6	132.6	153.5	1.3	0.2	1.2	0.2	1.7	0.2	3.0	0.2	2.9	0.3	3.6	0.2
      2019	December	139.3	133.1	154.3	0.5	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.5	0.1	2.8	0.2	2.5	0.3	3.3	0.2
      2020	March	139.7	133.3	155.2	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.6	0.1	2.6	0.2	2.2	0.3	3.3	0.2
      2020	June	140.1	133.7	155.8	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.4	0.1	2.4	0.2	2.1	0.3	3.2	0.2
      2020	September	140.8	134.2	157.1	0.5	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.8	0.1	1.6	0.2	1.2	0.2	2.3	0.2
      2020	December	141.4	134.6	157.9	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.5	0.2	1.5	0.2	1.1	0.2	2.3	0.2
      2021	March	141.5	134.8	158.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.3	0.2	1.1	0.2	1.8	0.3
      Footnotes: (1) Includes costs for wages and salaries and benefits. (2) Standard errors (SE) are a measure of precision (reliability) of estimates expressed as a percentage.
      Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, unpublished data.

       

• Survey establishment response by establishment size groupings▸

  • Survey establishment response by ownership (1) and establishment size groupings, March 2022

    Establishment size groups	Civilian industry	Private industry	State and local government
    Less than 50 workers	3330	3150	180
    50-99 workers	1070	890	690
    100-499 workers	2290	1920	380
    500 workers or more	2180	1490	180
    Footnotes: (1) The number of establishments are rounded to the nearest 10. (2) More information is available at Establishment survey response rates webpage.
    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, unpublished data.

     

Employee Benefits

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC)

Last Modified Date: August 23, 2023