Employee Benefits Cost Statistics 2026: Cost per Hour and per Employee

Employee benefits cost US employers $15.61 per hour worked in June 2026, 31.6% of total compensation, or about $32,469 a year for a full-time employee. Private companies paid $14.07 an hour (about $29,266 a year), and state and local governments $25.78 (about $53,622). Health insurance is the single largest benefit, and KFF puts the 2026 family premium at $28,303.

Hourly figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) survey for June 2026, read on its BLS data series pages on October 28, 2026. Premiums come from the KFF 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey, published October 22, 2026. Every annual figure is our arithmetic: the BLS hourly cost times 2,080 hours, a 40-hour week for 52 weeks.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluates 34 HRIS tools as of October 28, 2026, and only 4 of its 10 top picks publish a paid price (Toolradar HRIS ranking). Most of the top-ranked systems that run enrollment for a $32,000-a-year benefit package are priced by quote, so get that number before you build the budget around it.

Key employee benefits cost statistics for 2026

1. Benefits are 31.6% of what an employer spends on a worker. Civilian employers paid $49.46 an hour in total compensation in June 2026, of which $33.85 was wages and $15.61 benefits (BLS ECEC).
2. A private-sector full-time employee carries about $29,266 a year in benefits. That is $14.07 an hour, 30.0% of private compensation, our annualization at 2,080 hours.
3. Health insurance is the largest single benefit. It cost civilian employers $4.02 per hour worked, about $8,362 a year, ahead of paid leave and legally required payroll taxes.
4. Private health insurance cost rose 7.7% in a year. It went from $3.23 an hour in June 2025 to $3.48 in June 2026 (our arithmetic on the BLS series), faster than total civilian compensation, which grew 2.9% over the same year.
5. The 2026 family health premium is $28,303, and employers pay about $20,832 of it. Workers contributed $7,471 on average, per KFF; the employer share is our subtraction.
6. Benefits cost 45% more per hour in the Northeast than in the South. Private employers paid $17.26 an hour in the Northeast and $11.88 in the South, our arithmetic on the BLS regional series.

What benefits cost per hour and per employee

The table splits the June 2026 benefit bill by ownership. Hourly figures are BLS; the annual column multiplies by 2,080 hours.

Employer group	Total compensation per hour	Benefits per hour	Benefits share	Benefits per full-time employee, per year
All civilian employers	$49.46	$15.61	31.6%	$32,468.80
Private industry	$46.89	$14.07	30.0%	$29,265.60
State and local government	$66.45	$25.78	38.8%	$53,622.40

Source: BLS ECEC, June 2026, series CMU1030000000000D, CMU2030000000000D and CMU3030000000000D, read October 28, 2026.

Government employers spend almost twice as much per hour on benefits as private ones. The gap is mostly retirement: state and local governments paid $8.85 an hour for retirement and savings, against $1.57 in private industry, where pensions cost only $0.40 an hour. A private employer benchmarking against a city or school district should compare wages and benefits separately, or the package will look out of reach.

Two cautions apply to every annual figure on this page. ECEC measures cost per hour worked, so paid leave is already spread over the hours an employee is at work, and a full-time worker who takes vacation works fewer than 2,080 hours. ECEC averages also include part-time workers, who receive fewer benefits, so a full-time employee's real package is usually richer than the average suggests. Use the annual column to size a budget, then check it against your own payroll and plan invoices.

Which benefits cost the most?

Insurance, paid leave and legally required taxes make up about three quarters of the benefit bill. The breakdown below uses private industry, the figures most HR teams budget against, with the civilian average beside it.

Benefit	Private industry, per hour	Private, per year (our arithmetic)	All civilian, per hour
Insurance (health, life, disability)	$3.69	$7,675.20	$4.23
Of which health insurance	$3.48	$7,238.40	$4.02
Paid leave	$3.54	$7,363.20	$3.71
Legally required benefits	$3.40	$7,072.00	$3.41
Supplemental pay	$1.88	$3,910.40	$1.73
Retirement and savings	$1.57	$3,265.60	$2.53
Of which defined contribution (401(k)-type)	$1.17	$2,433.60	$1.09
Of which defined benefit (pension)	$0.40	$832.00	$1.44

Source: BLS ECEC, June 2026, private industry and civilian series for each benefit, for example paid leave, retirement and savings and legally required benefits, read October 28, 2026.

The legally required line is the part of the package an employer cannot design away. It covers the employer share of Social Security and Medicare, federal and state unemployment insurance and workers' compensation, and in private industry it costs almost as much as health insurance. The rates behind it are in our payroll tax rates for 2026.

Retirement is where private employers have the most room to choose. Defined contribution plans cost private employers nearly three times what pensions do, so the main lever is the 401(k) match formula.

How much does health insurance cost an employer in 2026?

A family plan costs $28,303 a year in 2026, and the employer pays roughly three quarters of it. KFF's 2026 survey of 1,937 public and private firms with 10 or more workers puts the single premium at $9,804. Covered workers contribute 18% of the single premium and 27% of the family premium on average.

Health coverage, 2026	Total annual premium	Worker contribution	Employer share (our arithmetic)
Single coverage	$9,804	18% of premium	About $8,039 (82%)
Family coverage	$28,303	$7,471 (27%)	$20,832
Family coverage, firms with 10 to 199 workers	$27,288	Not used here	Not used here
Family coverage, firms with 200 or more workers	$28,592	Not used here	Not used here

Source: KFF 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey, published October 22, 2026.

Premiums rose 5% for both single and family coverage in 2026, while KFF reports wages up 3.7% and inflation at 2.7%. That gap is why health insurance takes a growing share of each compensation dollar. KFF also finds 67% of firms with 10 or more workers offer health benefits in 2026, up from 61% a year earlier.

The KFF per-plan figures and the BLS per-hour figure measure different things. KFF prices one enrolled employee's plan, while BLS averages the cost across every worker, including those who decline coverage or work part time. That is why the BLS private average, about $7,238 a year, sits below KFF's single premium. For budgeting an offer, use KFF's employer share for each enrolled employee; for benchmarking total spend, use BLS.

Employee benefits cost by industry

Utilities and finance spend the most on benefits; restaurants and hotels the least. The spread runs from $3.85 to $31.83 an hour across the industries below, all private sector.

Private industry	Benefits per hour	Share of compensation	Per full-time employee, per year (our arithmetic)
Utilities	$31.83	36.5%	$66,206.40
Finance and insurance	$26.18	35.4%	$54,454.40
Professional and technical services	$24.10	31.7%	$50,128.00
Manufacturing	$16.12	33.1%	$33,529.60
Construction	$15.84	30.5%	$32,947.20
Educational services	$15.70	28.1%	$32,656.00
Health care and social assistance	$14.80	29.6%	$30,784.00
Accommodation and food services	$3.85	19.2%	$8,008.00

Source: BLS ECEC, June 2026, private industry benefits series by industry (for example manufacturing and health care and social assistance), read October 28, 2026.

Manufacturing is the useful outlier. Its benefits share, 33.1%, is higher than construction's even though the hourly cost is almost the same, so benefits take a bigger slice of each manufacturing compensation dollar. Accommodation and food services sits far below every other industry, and because BLS averages include part-time workers, its low figure partly reflects who is on the payroll rather than a thin package for full-time staff. A restaurant group should not budget from the national average, and a hospital system should not budget from the restaurant figure.

Employee benefits cost by region

Region moves the benefit bill by about $5 an hour. The Northeast is the most expensive census region and the South the cheapest, in dollars and as a share of pay.

Census region (private industry)	Wages per hour	Benefits per hour	Benefits share	Benefits per full-time employee, per year (our arithmetic)
Northeast	$37.50	$17.26	31.5%	$35,900.80
West	$36.02	$15.64	30.3%	$32,531.20
Midwest	$30.52	$13.51	30.7%	$28,100.80
South	$29.97	$11.88	28.4%	$24,710.40

Source: BLS ECEC, June 2026, private industry series for the Northeast, South, Midwest and West census regions, read October 28, 2026.

The Midwest pays wages close to the South's but spends more on benefits, so its share of compensation is higher than the West's. For a company hiring across regions, that means a single benefits budget per head will overspend in the South and underspend in the Northeast. State minimum wages shift the wage side too; see our minimum wage by state for 2026.

What a benefits budget looks like for a small company

A 10-person private company at the national average carries about $292,656 a year in benefits, our arithmetic: 10 employees times the private annual figure. The same team in the South would cost about $247,104, and in the Northeast about $359,008. Those are averages that include part-time staff and lower-cost industries, so a 10-person professional services firm should budget from its industry row in the table above instead.

Three moves change that number more than any other. The first is health plan design, since health insurance is the largest single cost and the employer's share of a family plan alone exceeds $20,000. The second is the retirement match formula, which private employers fund mostly through defined contribution plans. The third is joining a PEO, which can give a small employer access to a larger group health plan; our guide to how much a PEO costs and the best PEO services cover the fee models.

The administration cost sits on top. Benefits administration software and an HRIS handle enrollment and deductions, and our HRIS cost guide prices that layer. For the payroll side of the same budget, see how much payroll costs a small business, and for software list prices across categories, our HR software pricing index. Profiles of common platforms are on Toolradar, including Gusto, BambooHR and GoCo.

FAQ

How much do employee benefits cost an employer per employee in 2026?

About $32,469 a year for a full-time employee across all civilian employers, and about $29,266 in private industry, our arithmetic at 2,080 hours on BLS June 2026 data. Per hour worked, benefits cost $15.61 for civilian employers and $14.07 for private ones. State and local governments pay far more because of pension costs.

What percentage of total compensation are benefits?

Benefits were 31.6% of total compensation for civilian workers in June 2026, per BLS. The share was 30.0% in private industry and 38.8% in state and local government. In other words, wages make up roughly 70 cents of each private compensation dollar and benefits about 30 cents.

What is the most expensive employee benefit?

Health insurance. It cost civilian employers $4.02 per hour worked in June 2026, more than paid leave or legally required payroll taxes. In private industry it cost $3.48 an hour, up 7.7% from a year earlier, our arithmetic on BLS data.

How much does an employer pay for family health insurance in 2026?

KFF's 2026 survey puts the average family premium at $28,303, of which covered workers pay $7,471. The employer share is therefore about $20,832 a year, our subtraction. For single coverage the premium is $9,804, and workers contribute 18% on average.

Which industries spend the most on employee benefits?

Utilities spend the most, $31.83 per hour worked in June 2026, followed by finance and insurance at $26.18, per BLS private industry data. Accommodation and food services spends the least, $3.85, or 19.2% of compensation.

Do benefit costs vary by region?

Yes. Private employers in the Northeast paid $17.26 an hour in benefits in June 2026, against $11.88 in the South, a 45% gap (our arithmetic). The West paid $15.64 and the Midwest $13.51, per BLS census region data.

How do you calculate benefits cost per employee per year?

Multiply the BLS hourly benefit cost by annual hours: 2,080 for a 40-hour, 52-week schedule. At the June 2026 private industry figure of $14.07, that gives about $29,266. Because BLS measures cost per hour worked and includes part-time staff, treat the result as a planning estimate.

Methodology and sources

Hourly costs are from the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation survey for June 2026, read from the BLS data series pages on October 28, 2026; each table names its series. Health premiums and contribution rates are from the KFF 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey, published October 22, 2026. Annual figures, employer shares, growth rates and regional gaps are our arithmetic on those published numbers and are labeled as such. We will update this page when BLS publishes the September 2026 ECEC figures. See how we work in our editorial policy, and for the wider labor-cost picture read our HR statistics for 2026.

Cite this: HRpresso, "Employee Benefits Cost Statistics 2026: Cost per Hour and per Employee", November 2026.

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