ADP August 2026 Pay Insights Report Breaks Down Wage Growth Across 56 U.S. Metro Markets

NewsData.io · United States · Sep 11, 2026

ADP's August 2026 Pay Insights report introduces metro-level pay growth data covering 56 U.S. cities, breaking out base and gross pay by sector, worker mobility, demographics, employer size, and pay quartile. Nationally, base pay rose 3.2% year-over-year while gross pay climbed 4.7%, with Hartford, Grand Rapids, Kansas City, and San Jose among the metros posting the highest base pay growth at 3.5–3.6%. The report highlights the widening gap between base and gross pay as a signal of short-term incentive strategies, and notes that wages have not kept pace with inflation in recent years. For staffing firms, the data offers actionable benchmarks for advising clients on competitive starting pay, identifying hard-to-fill roles, and supporting retention strategies in specific local markets.