National Compensation Survey
Encyclopedia
Produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and...

 (BLS
BLS
As an acronym, BLS may stand for:*BLS *Bachelor of Library Science*Bare lymphocyte syndrome*Basic life support, an emergency medical protocol*BellSouth, ticker symbol for the United States telephone company...

) in the US Department of Labor, the National Compensation Survey (NCS) provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings; compensation cost trends, benefit incidence, and detailed plan provisions. It is used to adjust the federal wage schedule for all federal employees. Detailed occupational earnings are available for metropolitan
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

 and non-metropolitan areas, broad geographic regions, and on a national basis. The index component of the NCS (Employment Cost Index
Employment Cost Index
The Employment Cost Index is a quarterly economic series detailing the changes in the costs of labor for businesses in the United States economy. The ECI is prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics , in the U.S...

) measures changes in labor costs. Average hourly employer cost for employee compensation is presented in the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation.

Data

The information used to produce these publications is provided by companies, organizations, and government agencies voluntarily reporting wage and benefit incidence and cost information. All data provided to the BLS is strictly confidential and is used for statistical purposes only in accordance with Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (Title 5 of Public Law 107-347).

Collection

This data is collected by Field Economists within the BLS
BLS
As an acronym, BLS may stand for:*BLS *Bachelor of Library Science*Bare lymphocyte syndrome*Basic life support, an emergency medical protocol*BellSouth, ticker symbol for the United States telephone company...

 who contact firms selected at random through a statistical sampling process. Field Economists then statistically sample between 1 & 8 occupations, depending on the size of the firm, and track the wages of all incumbents in these occupations over a set period of time. Select respondents also report benefit data including provisions, participation, and costs. Occupations are benchmarked
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and/or best practices from other industries. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost...

 using a 4-factor leveling system developed by the BLS
BLS
As an acronym, BLS may stand for:*BLS *Bachelor of Library Science*Bare lymphocyte syndrome*Basic life support, an emergency medical protocol*BellSouth, ticker symbol for the United States telephone company...

 to assist in comparing compensation data across industries, professions, and geographic boundaries.

Publications/Statistics

  • Employment Cost Index
    Employment Cost Index
    The Employment Cost Index is a quarterly economic series detailing the changes in the costs of labor for businesses in the United States economy. The ECI is prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics , in the U.S...

  • Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
  • Employee Benefits in Private Industry
  • Occupational Pay Relatives
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