Quick answer
The most useful employee benefits statistics come from two BLS programs: Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (what employers pay) and the National Compensation Survey (who has access). In June 2026, benefits were 30.0% of private industry compensation, or $14.07 of $46.89 per hour worked.
Employee benefits statistics describe two different things: how much employers spend on benefits, and how many workers can actually get them. On cost, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in its Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release of September 9, 2026 that benefits were 30.0% of total compensation for private industry workers in June 2026. On access, BLS found in its Employee Benefits in the United States release (September 25, 2026, reference period March 2026) that 72% of private workers could join a retirement plan, 71% could get medical coverage and 81% had paid sick leave. Those national averages hide wide gaps: by employer size, by hours worked, by pay and by whether the employer is a business or a government. This page sets out the latest figures, each tied to its original source.
Benefits as a share of compensation
The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) survey measures what employers pay per hour worked, split into wages and benefits. All figures below are for June 2026, from the release published September 9, 2026.
- Total compensation for civilian workers averaged $49.46 an hour, of which wages and salaries were $33.85 (68.4%) and benefits $15.61 (31.6%). (BLS ECEC Table 1)
- For private industry, total compensation was $46.89 an hour: $32.82 in wages (70.0%) and $14.07 in benefits (30.0%).
- For state and local government, total compensation was $66.45 an hour: $40.67 in wages (61.2%) and $25.78 in benefits (38.8%).
Inside the private-industry benefit dollar, BLS ECEC Table 4 shows the following per hour worked.
- Insurance cost $3.69 an hour (7.9% of compensation), paid leave $3.54 (7.5%), legally required benefits $3.40 (7.2%), supplemental pay $1.88 (4.0%) and retirement and savings $1.57 (3.3%).
- Across all civilian workers, paid leave was $3.71 (7.5%), insurance $4.23 (8.5%), retirement and savings $2.53 (5.1%) and legally required benefits $3.41 (6.9%). (BLS ECEC Table 2)
- Hours matter. For full-time private workers, paid leave cost $4.40 an hour (8.1% of compensation) versus $0.90 (3.6%) for part-time workers. Legally required benefits, which include employer payroll taxes, were $3.76 (7.0%) for full-time and $2.30 (9.1%) for part-time workers. (BLS ECEC release)
The headline cost of health coverage is covered in detail elsewhere. For context, the KFF 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey, published October 22, 2026, put the average annual premium at $9,804 for single coverage and $28,303 for family coverage, both up 5% from 2025. Covered workers contributed an average of $1,672 for single and $7,471 for family coverage. KFF interviewed 1,937 employers with ten or more workers, so its sample differs from BLS, which covers establishments of all sizes.
What this means for employers: Wages are only about 70 cents of each private compensation dollar. Budget for the other 30, including legally required costs such as employer payroll taxes, which rise with every hour you pay. The employee side of the same costs shows up as payroll deductions, which is why gross pay and net pay differ.
Retirement plan access
The BLS National Compensation Survey measures access (the plan is offered), participation (the worker joined) and take-up (participants as a share of those with access). The figures below are for March 2026 from the Employee Benefits in the United States release.
- 72% of private industry workers had access to a retirement plan, and 52% participated.
- Defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s reached 70% of private workers (49% participated). Traditional defined benefit pensions reached only 14% (9% participated).
- Among private workers, access was 81% for full-time and 44% for part-time employees. (BLS Table 1)
- Access climbed with pay: 48% in the lowest wage quarter, 72% in the second, 82% in the third and 92% in the highest quarter. The top 10% reached 94%.
What this means for employers: If you offer a 401(k) and have a mix of full-time and part-time staff, you are in the majority of private employers only for your full-time people. Part-time workers are the group least likely to be offered a plan, so check eligibility rules and any state auto-IRA requirement before assuming coverage.
Medical and life insurance access
BLS also reports medical benefits and life insurance for March 2026 (Table 2 and Table 5).
- 71% of private workers had access to medical care benefits, 46% participated, and the take-up rate among those with access was 65%.
- Full-time private workers had access at 87% versus 23% for part-time workers. Take-up was 67% and 47%.
- By wage group, access was 39% in the lowest quarter and 94% in the highest, while take-up rose from 48% to 72%. Low-wage workers are offered coverage less often and take it less often when offered.
- Life insurance reached 59% of private workers (58% participated, a 98% take-up rate). Access was 74% for full-time and 14% for part-time workers, and just 28% in the lowest wage quarter versus 87% in the highest.
- For single coverage, employers paid an average share of 80% of the premium at civilian establishments with 1 to 99 workers and 82% at those with 100 or more, workers paying 20% and 18%. (BLS Table 3)
- BLS also found that access to student loan repayment benefits in private industry ranged from 3% of workers in the lowest wage quarter to 15% in the highest.
What this means for employers: Offering coverage is not the same as enrolling employees. Take-up of 65% means roughly one in three eligible private workers declines. Clear premium examples on a pay stub and an easy enrollment process matter more than they appear, and the worker share shows up as a pre-tax payroll deduction.
Paid leave and family leave
Paid leave shows up twice in the data: as a cost (about $3.54 an hour in private industry, above) and as an access statistic. From BLS for March 2026:
- 81% of private workers had access to paid sick leave, 80% to paid vacation and 81% to paid holidays.
- Paid sick leave access in private industry ranged from 58% in leisure and hospitality to 98% in information and in finance and insurance.
- 51% of private workers had access to paid personal leave.
- 49% of private industry workers had access to paid family and medical leave, compared with 57% in state and local government and 50% for civilian workers. (BLS Employee Benefits Survey page)
Pay level matters here too. From Table 6, private paid sick leave access was:
What this means for employers: Employer-provided paid sick leave is common, but state and local laws increasingly require it anyway; see paid sick leave by state. Paid family leave is the benefit offered least often, so a clear policy stands out. Know your obligations under FMLA and how maternity leave works in practice.
Small vs large employers, full-time vs part-time
The sharpest divides in benefits access are employer size and hours. The table gives private industry access rates for March 2026 from BLS Tables 1, 2, 5 and 6.
| Private industry benefit (access) | 1 to 99 workers | 100+ workers | Full-time | Part-time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retirement plan | 59% | 87% | 81% | 44% |
| Medical care | 59% | 86% | 87% | 23% |
| Life insurance | 44% | 78% | 74% | 14% |
| Paid sick leave | 74% | 89% | 88% | 59% |
| Paid vacation | 72% | 89% | 93% | 38% |
| Paid holidays | 73% | 91% | 92% | 47% |
Source: BLS, Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026, Tables 1, 2, 5 and 6.
Workzenly calculation from the table: retirement access is 28 percentage points lower at establishments with 1 to 99 workers (59%) than at those with 100 or more (87%), and medical access is 27 points lower (59% versus 86%). Life insurance shows the widest size gap, 34 points (44% versus 78%).
Part-time workers face a steeper cliff than small-company workers. Only 23% of part-time private workers had access to medical benefits and 14% to life insurance. Paid leave is the most common part-time benefit, with 59% having paid sick leave. The gap shows up in cost too: BLS put paid leave at $0.90 an hour for part-time private workers versus $4.40 for full-time.
What this means for employers: If you have under 100 employees, your benefits package is probably in line with similar employers even if it looks thin next to a big company. Paid leave is the cheapest place to compete. How you define full-time hours decides who qualifies for the benefits above, so write the threshold down and apply it consistently.
Private industry vs state and local government
Government employers offer a richer package, especially in retirement. Figures are BLS access rates for March 2026 and ECEC costs for June 2026.
| Benefit (access, March 2026) | Private industry | State and local government |
|---|---|---|
| Any retirement plan | 72% | 92% |
| Defined contribution plan | 70% | 39% |
| Defined benefit pension | 14% | 86% |
| Medical care | 71% | 89% |
| Life insurance | 59% | 84% |
| Paid sick leave | 81% | 93% |
| Paid vacation | 80% | 61% |
| Paid holidays | 81% | 68% |
| Paid family and medical leave | 49% | 57% |
| Paid personal leave | 51% | 63% |
Source: BLS, Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026.
- Government pensions explain much of the cost difference. State and local employers spent $8.85 an hour on retirement and savings (13.3% of compensation) versus $1.57 (3.3%) in private industry; Workzenly calculation: about 5.6 times as much. (BLS ECEC Table 3)
- Insurance cost $7.79 an hour (11.7%) in state and local government versus $3.69 (7.9%) in private industry.
- Paid leave cost $4.90 (7.4%) in state and local government and $3.54 (7.5%) in private industry, so leave takes a similar share of pay.
- Total benefits cost $25.78 an hour in state and local government versus $14.07 in private industry. Workzenly calculation: government benefits cost about 1.8 times as much per hour.
- Government part-time workers are far less likely to be covered. State and local retirement access was 99% for full-time and 44% for part-time employees. (BLS)
What this means for employers: Private employers compete with government for the same workers, particularly in healthcare and education roles. Government wins on pensions and insurance; private employers win on vacation and holiday access and on flexibility.
What these employee benefits statistics mean for employers
Pulling the employee benefits statistics together, a few patterns hold across every table.
- Benefits are a large, steady cost. At 30.0% of private compensation, they are about $14 for every $47 you spend on an hour of labor.
- Size, hours and pay predict access. A full-time, higher-paid employee at a 100-plus employer has near-universal access. A part-time, lower-paid employee at a small employer often has none of retirement, medical or life coverage.
- Leave is the benefit most employers can still match. Paid sick leave (81%), vacation (80%) and holidays (81%) are the baseline in private industry. Plan your paid time off policy against those figures.
- Many benefits show up on payroll. Employee premiums, retirement contributions and leave accruals all need accurate payroll treatment.
This page does not give a year-over-year trend. The BLS pages used here report levels for June 2026 (ECEC) and March 2026 (access) and the figures we opened did not include prior-year comparisons, so we have not stated any. BLS says its next benefits release, covering March 2027, is scheduled for September 2027.
About this data
These employee benefits statistics draw on three sources. The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation is released quarterly; the figures here are for June 2026. The BLS National Compensation Survey Employee Benefits in the United States is published annually; the figures are for March 2026. The KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey is annual; the figures are for 2026. Percentages are as published and rounded by the agency. Where we compare or multiply figures, the text says so.
Definitions: access means the benefit is offered to the worker; participation means the worker is in the plan; take-up is participation as a share of access. ECEC figures are dollars per hour worked. BLS and KFF differ on method: BLS covers establishments of every size, while KFF covers employers with ten or more workers, so their health figures should not be mixed.
We review this page when new releases come out. Journalists, students and bloggers are welcome to cite it with a link to this page.
More workforce statistics: Employer health insurance statistics · PTO statistics · Paid sick leave statistics · Union membership statistics.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026 (release USDL-26-1534, September 25, 2026). bls.gov/news.release/ebs2.nr0.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Benefits Survey tables 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, March 2026. bls.gov/ebs/
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (release USDL-26-1494, September 9, 2026), including Tables 1 to 4. bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm
- KFF, 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey, published October 22, 2026. kff.org/health-costs/2026-employer-health-benefits-survey/
Frequently asked questions
What share of employee compensation is benefits?
In June 2026, benefits were 30.0% of total compensation costs for private industry workers ($14.07 of $46.89 per hour worked), 38.8% for state and local government workers and 31.6% for civilian workers, according to the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release of September 9, 2026.
What percent of private-sector workers have access to a retirement plan?
In March 2026, 72% of private industry workers had access to a retirement plan and 52% participated, according to the BLS National Compensation Survey. Access was 59% at establishments with 1 to 99 workers and 87% at establishments with 100 or more.
How many workers have access to employer medical benefits?
In March 2026, 71% of private industry workers had access to employer medical care benefits and 46% participated (a 65% take-up rate among those with access). For state and local government workers, access was 89%, according to the BLS National Compensation Survey.
How many private-sector workers have paid sick leave?
In March 2026, 81% of private industry workers had access to paid sick leave, according to BLS. Access ranged from 58% in leisure and hospitality to 98% in information and in finance and insurance.
How many workers get paid family leave from their employer?
BLS reports that 49% of private industry workers, 57% of state and local government workers and 50% of civilian workers had access to paid family and medical leave in March 2026.
How much do employers pay for family health coverage?
The KFF 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey, published October 22, 2026, found an average annual premium of $28,303 for family coverage and $9,804 for single coverage, with covered workers paying $7,471 on average toward family coverage.