Average hourly earnings, private employees
Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, in US dollars, not seasonally adjusted, from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Gross pay before deductions divided by hours paid, including overtime and shift premiums but not irregular bonuses or benefits. Government employees are excluded. BLS publishes state earnings only without seasonal adjustment, so the national value here is the unadjusted series too (CEU0500000003), which differs slightly from the adjusted headline figure. A shift in the mix of jobs moves the average even when no one's pay changes.
Key facts
- Average hourly earnings, private employees in the United States was $37.69 in September 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- District of Columbia had the highest average hourly earnings, private employees of 51 states in August 2026, at $58.7, and Mississippi the lowest, at $29.52. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Published for 52 places, with figures from March 2006 to September 2026.
Rankings
US states by average hourly earnings, private employees, August 2026
Places with data
Countries
Regions and states
- California
- Texas
- Florida
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Illinois
- Ohio
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- Michigan
- Rhode Island
- Idaho
- South Carolina
- District of Columbia
- Delaware
- Oklahoma
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Which places have the highest average hourly earnings, private employees? Use official data and cite it.
rank_places {"indicator":"avg_hourly_earnings_private","level":"region","within":"United States"}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=avg_hourly_earnings_private&level=region&within=United%20States