By Staff Report Friday, February 10th, 2023

In the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, wages and salaries for private industry workers increased 5.9% from December 2021 to December 2022, compared to the U.S. average of 5.1%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published on Feb. 3.

According to the report, compensation costs for private industry workers increased also increased 5.7%, up from 5.1% in December 2021 in the L.A. Metro area.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan area includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties.

Los Angeles is 1 of 15 metropolitan areas in the United States and 1 of 4 areas in the West 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 the highest being in Miami at 6.3% to the lowest being in Houston at 3.1%.

Similarly, the largest wage and salary change year-over-year was in Miami at 6.8% while the lowest was in Houston at 3.3%.

The annual increase in compensation costs in Los Angeles was 5.7% in December 2022, compared to changes that ranged from 4.4% to 3.2% in the three other metropolitan areas in the West, which includes Phoenix, San Jose, and Seattle.

Los Angeles’ 5.9% gain in wages and salaries over this 12-month period compared to rates ranging from 6.2% to 4.5% in the three other western localities.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics