Total Comp Geo Factor Refresh
What's new?
Benchmarks version 2022-05-26
What changes can I expect from these benchmarks?
Geographic adjustments have been updated to reflect current cost-of-labor data across the US. There have been no changes to the underlying benchmarks that were released on April 13, 2022, details of which can be found here.
Given the current sample size of Carta Total Compensation we are now able to rely on data from Total Compensation customers, representing the broad tech industry, to determine cost-of-labor differentials in 33 cities (previously 17 cities). For all other US metropolitan areas we continue to rely on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) which is based on a wider set of industries and type of employee.
What were the largest areas of movement from these benchmarks?
For most of the largest markets in Carta Total Compensation we’ve observed an increase in pay relative to the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of the changes to key markets include the following (SF Bay Area = 100%):
Metro Area | Previous Adjustment | New Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 89% | 100% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 97% | 100% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 85% | 94% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH | 87% | 94% |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX | 82% | 91% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL* | 68% | 90% |
* Data source for Miami has changed from BLS to Carta Total Compensation due to our increased sample size.
Outside of our largest markets we observe a mix of increases and decreases relative to Bay Area compensation levels, but on average there has been a slight increase.
How do I update my plan to use the new benchmarks version?
You can update your compensation plan to use the latest benchmark versions either by:
- Visiting the Plan page and clicking on the "Update available" link in the Active Plan window.
- Navigating to the Bands page and clicking on the "Update" bubble in the top left.
You will have the opportunity to preview the new plan with the updated benchmarks version and assess their impact on your scorecard before accepting the new plan.
Improvements to MSA borders
Carta Total Compensation currently defaults employees who are not in a supported Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) to a geographic adjustment factor equal to your plan’s threshold value. With this update, Carta Total Compensation will now use the adjustment factor for the nearest supported MSA.
What’s next?
Additional functionality that will allow users to apply a level-based approach to geographic adjustments.
