Economy & Economic Development  July 11, 2014

Pay raises statewide projected to be 2.8% in 2015

Colorado employers are projecting an average 2.8 percent wage increase next year, the same pay increase as this year, according to a survey from the Mountain States Employers Council.

The annual compensation survey of 444 employers statewide by the not-for-profit organization showed that Northern Colorado wages could increase 3.1 percent, while Denver and Boulder area wages could increase 2.8 percent in 2015, which would represent flat growth from 2014.

Ten percent of companies called their pay raise projections “reasonably firm,” while 87 percent said their projections were a “best guess.” The remaining 3 percent already had approved 2015 pay raises.

In Northern Colorado, oil and natural companies in the survey drove next year’s projected wage increase. The industry expects wages to rise 3.7 percent.

At 3.4 percent, employers in the survey’s manufacturing sector and utilities, transportation and communication sector projected the second-highest wage increases in Northern Colorado next year.

In the Denver and Boulder area, employers in the insurance sector and oil and gas sector both projected wage increases of 3.3 percent next year, followed by the utilities, transportation and communication sector at 3.2 percent.

This year, pay increases amounted to 2.8 percent in Colorado, up from 2.7 percent in 2013.

The statewide average pay increase this year still remains below pay raises that topped 3 percent before the recession, said Sue Wolf, director of surveys for the Mountain States Employers Council.

In the Denver and Boulder area, employers reported an average wage increase of 2.8 percent this year, up from 2.7 in 2013.

Northern Colorado average pay increases totaled 3.1 percent this year, up from 2.9 percent in 2013.


Colorado employers are projecting an average 2.8 percent wage increase next year, the same pay increase as this year, according to a survey from the Mountain States Employers Council.

The annual compensation survey of 444 employers statewide by the not-for-profit organization showed that Northern Colorado wages could increase 3.1 percent, while Denver and Boulder area wages could increase 2.8 percent in 2015, which would represent flat growth from 2014.

Ten percent of companies called their pay raise projections “reasonably firm,” while 87 percent said their projections were a “best guess.” The remaining 3 percent already had approved 2015 pay raises.

In Northern Colorado,…

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