Kansas City, Mo. ? Workers in the Kansas City metropolitan area averaged $18.93 an hour in straight-time hourly wages or salaries, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Separately the bureau reported that the average per-employee compensation cost to Midwest employers was $23.26 an hour.

The two reports are not directly comparable, because the wage survey was based on metropolitan area numbers from the September 2003 National Compensation Survey and the employer costs figures were from a regional March 2004 survey.

But the difference in the two averages does point out that employer costs are higher because of their legally required and discretionary contributions to benefits programs.

The metropolitan survey, which included 11 counties in Missouri and Kansas, found that white-collar employees averaged $21.51 an hour and represented 59 percent of the metro work force.

Metro-area blue-collar employees averaged $17.37 an hour and represented 24 percent of the work force.

The remaining 17 percent of the metro work force worked in the service sector and averaged $11.64 an hour.

The wage survey showed that, on average, state and local government employees are better-paid than those in private industry: $20.03 an hour, compared with $18.65.

Full-time metro area employees averaged $19.72 an hour, a significantly higher rate than the average of $10.92 an hour for part-timers.

Union blue-collar jobs averaged $20.38 an hour, compared with nonunion blue-collar jobs, at $14.49 an hour.

The wage survey also showed that the size of the place of employment made a difference in the size of employee paychecks. Bigger businesses — employing 100 or more workers — paid $19.38 on average, while smaller employers paid an average of $15.70 an hour.

The survey, accessible at www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm, also breaks down compensation averages by 83 occupations. The metro area’s highest-paid employees, on an average hourly basis, were civil engineers, at $36.87 an hour.

Outside of restaurant wait staff, whose tip income was not reflected in the base pay survey, the lowest-paid metro area workers were early childhood teachers’ assistants, who were paid an average of $8.29 an hour.

In the Midwest employer costs survey, which covered 12 upper Midwest states including Missouri and Kansas, wages and salaries were reported to average $16.53 an hour, or 71 percent of employers’ total compensation costs.

Midwest benefits costs averaged $6.73 an hour, or 29 percent of total compensation costs.

Legally required benefits — Social Security, Medicare, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance contributions — cost Midwest employers an average of $1.94 per employee hour worked, or 8.3 percent of total compensation.

The Midwest average total compensation cost of $23.26 an hour was close to the national average of $23.29, the bureau said.