Traditional benefits are no longer enough for today’s workforce. With healthcare costs rising, leaner HR teams, and more people working remotely, employers are rethinking how they support and manage their teams.
Because of these changes, more organizations are combining different perks into flexible lifestyle benefits, often using a Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA). Rather than offering separate wellness, food, or remote-work stipends, teams use a single program that gives employees the flexibility to spend their stipend as needed.
This guide brings together the latest Lifestyle Spending Account statistics from Compt’s 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report and other industry research. You can use it to gauge adoption, funding, participation, usage, and how employees spend their benefits.
In short, these are the numbers that HR and Finance leaders use in conversations when they design, defend, or combine their programs.
But first, here’s a quick definition.
According to ADP, “an LSA is a post-tax account funded by employers that allows employees to be reimbursed for expenses that relate to their lifestyle, including financial, social, emotional and physical aspects.”
While definitions can vary, this covers the basics: flexible, employer-funded stipends employees can use for what matters most to them.
Now that we have that down, let’s look at the data.
Adoption of LSAs
Lifestyle benefits aren’t expanding through dozens of disconnected perks anymore. LSAs have been shown to reduce administrative overhead, increase participation, and provide Finance with tighter budget control. So it’s not surprising that more businesses are planning to consolidate stipends or adopt LSAs in 2026.
The data shows this shift clearly.
- 10% of companies offer a Lifestyle Spending Account, and adoption has more than doubled since 2024. — Sequoia, 2025
- Among employers requiring full-time office attendance, 13% offer an LSA; this number is expected to rise to 48% in the next year. — Sequoia, 2025
- 64% of Compt customers offered an all-inclusive LSA in 2025, making it the most common lifestyle stipend structure. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
- 82% of multicategory LSAs include five or more eligible categories, signaling a preference for consolidation rather than one-off perks. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
- 20% of employers now extend LSAs to international employees in 62 countries, simplifying lifestyle benefits with a single global structure rather than country-by-country programs. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Why this matters: LSAs are becoming the default way employers simplify benefits operations. Adoption reflects a shift toward consolidated, payroll-connected programs that are easier to run, easier to budget for, and require less ongoing administrative effort from HR and Finance.
Acquiring budget
Budget constraints rarely end lifestyle benefits programs, but fragmentation often does. Most employers don’t plan to add new funds to an LSA; rather, they consolidate existing stipends and underused perks into a single, predictable program. This approach improves participation while making spend easier to forecast.
Recent benchmarks show how employers are funding LSAs in practice:
- $1,200 median annual funding per employee for an all-inclusive LSA.
- $850 average annual lifestyle stipend funding per employee across all company sizes.
- Small companies average $1,675 in funding, while large organizations average $649, showing that LSAs can flexibly fit different budget needs. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Meanwhile, broader benefits costs continue to rise. Mercer projects a 6.7% increase in 2026, pushing total health benefit costs above $18,500 per employee, reinforcing why employers are prioritizing disciplined, consolidated benefit design rather than adding new programs.
Why this matters: The question isn’t “Where do we find new budget?” It’s “Which low-impact perks can we consolidate into one flexible program?”
Budget and funding trends
Once employers consolidate budget into an LSA, the next question is how much to fund. LSA budgets aren’t one-size-fits-all — they’re shaped by company size, workforce structure, and hiring strategy. Rather than overfunding narrow perks, employers increasingly right-size LSA budgets based on participation and how benefits are actually used.
Current benchmarks show how funding scales in practice:
- Smaller companies (fewer than 100 employees) average $1,675 per employee, often funding more aggressively to stay competitive in hiring.
- Midsize organizations average $1,055, balancing flexibility with predictable spend.
- Large employers average $649 per employee, prioritizing broad access and cost control at scale. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Geography also plays a role. The Northeast ($1,279) and West ($1,126) lead in per-employee funding, reflecting cost-of-living pressure and competitive labor markets. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Why this matters: There’s no “right” LSA budget. The most effective programs fund at a level that matches participation, workforce needs, and operating reality — not arbitrary benchmarks or legacy perk spend. These LSA benchmarks are intended to help HR and Finance teams set their budgets based on what similar companies do, not on guesswork.
LSA program design
How you structure an LSA matters just as much as how you fund it (if not more). Details such as funding cadence and category consolidation directly affect how employees understand and use the benefit. When programs are consolidated and funded quarterly, benefits become easier to manage and more intuitive for employees to use.
Recent benchmarks reveal a clear trend:
- 64% of employers offer an all-inclusive LSA, making consolidation the most common program structure.
- Quarterly funding delivers the highest utilization at 85%, compared to 65% for annual funding and 52% for monthly funding.
- All-inclusive LSAs reach 93% participation and 89% utilization, outperforming most single-purpose stipends.
- 82% of multicategory LSAs include five or more eligible categories, allowing employees to adapt spending as needs change throughout the year. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Industry design patterns show how this structure is applied:
- Healthcare/Medical: All-inclusive LSAs are commonly paired with targeted stipends for wellness, connectivity, and professional development to balance broad access with role-specific needs.
- Technology: Employers are more likely to pair LSAs with commuter benefits and higher wellness maximums as return-to-office dynamics evolve.
- Manufacturing: Programs favor simpler, repeatable designs — most often an all-inclusive LSA paired with wellness, with professional development offered more selectively. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Why this matters: Simplicity wins. All-inclusive LSAs funded quarterly drive the strongest participation and utilization. This provides a strong default that works across industries, while still allowing flexibility by role and workforce type.
Employee behavior and spending insights
How employees actually spend their funds tells a clearer story than any survey. LSAs support real-world employee needs by meeting people where they already shop and live. Instead of forcing employees into preset vendors or narrow categories, lifestyle stipends support essentials, well-being, and personal priorities, which drives higher participation and utilization.
Compt’s 2026 benchmarks show:
- 70% of stipend spending goes to local, regional, and independent vendors, not large marketplaces or national chains.
- Employees spent across 64,000+ unique vendors globally, reflecting highly personalized usage.
- Nearly 1 in 10 stipend dollars is spent at grocery retailers, signaling a shift toward everyday essentials.
- 78% of total stipend spend is taxable, showing employees prioritize flexibility and usefulness over tax treatment alone. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Why this matters: Employees use LSAs for real life. Programs that allow broad, everyday spending — rather than restricting where or how funds can he used — see the strongest participation.
Category and utilization highlights
Not all lifestyle stipend categories perform equally. How benefits are structured — whether offered as standalone stipends or embedded within a broader Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) — has a measurable impact on adoption. Embedding high-value options like wellness and everyday expenses inside an all-inclusive LSA consistently reduces unused funds.
Current benchmarks show:
- Wellness is the second most common lifestyle stipend category, offered by 37% of employers, behind only all-inclusive LSAs.
- 71% of employers bundle wellness inside a multi-category stipend or LSA, while only 29% offer it as a standalone benefit.
- Wellness utilization reaches 86% when embedded within an LSA, compared to 62% as a standalone stipend.
- Food stipends are offered by 7% of employers and continue to grow, reflecting increased focus on everyday cost-of-living support.
- Caregiving and family stipends remain targeted and situational, offered by 4% of companies, and are often addressed within broader LSAs rather than in separate programs. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Why this matters: Structure drives utilization. High-impact categories perform best when delivered through an all-inclusive LSA, while more situational benefits are most effective when layered into a broader program.
AI and professional development insights
Professional development stipends are shifting from one-time events such as conferences to ongoing, tool-based learning. Employees use these funds for software, subscriptions, and AI and productivity tools, among other expenses. This always-available approach leads to more consistent participation, promoting a culture of upskilling without requiring separate programs or approvals.
Current benchmarks show:
- 20% of all professional development expenses are AI-related, making AI tools one of the fastest-growing areas of spend.
- Online tools and productivity software account for 25% of professional development transactions, with 62% of those expenses related to AI..
- AI-related spending is concentrated in hands-on tools and software rather than courses or conferences, signaling a shift toward practical, applied learning. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Why this matters: Professional development is becoming an always-on capability, not a once-a-year event. Employers see the strongest engagement when learning budgets support everyday tools — especially AI — that employees can apply directly to their work.
LSA trends
All-inclusive LSAs are designed to support everyday needs across different life stages. By including multiple high-impact categories into a single program, employers reduce the need for separate stipends while giving employees flexibility to direct spending where it matters most at any given time.
Among all-inclusive LSAs:
- 99% include wellness
- 94% include family support
- 93% include food
- 87% include “treat yourself” categories
- 50% include personal development
— 2025 Midyear Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
And:
- 82% include five or more eligible spending categories, reflecting a clear move toward consolidation.
- Wellness serves as the anchor category in most programs, driving consistent participation across employee populations.
- Family, food, and everyday living expenses are frequently bundled alongside wellness, supporting real-life cost pressures rather than episodic benefits.
- Professional development continues to expand within LSAs, with growing adoption of tool-based and AI-related learning expenses. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Why this matters: The most effective LSAs are broad by design. Programs that combine wellness, family, food, and development into one account deliver greater flexibility, higher participation, and simpler administration than fragmented, single-purpose benefits.
What employees purchase with their Lifestyle Spending Accounts
LSAs are designed to support everyday life, not replace wages or salaries. Employees use LSAs for a mix of practical expenses and personal priorities, from groceries and internet bills to wellness services, therapy, and small quality-of-life purchases that make daily life easier. Rather than dictating how funds must be used, LSAs give employees flexibility to decide what support looks like in a given moment.As such, programs that cover essentials see stronger utilization than those with narrowly defined categories.
Compt’s 2026 benchmarks show:
- Health and wellness remains the largest overall spending category, consistently leading reimbursement volume.
- Food and grocery expenses account for nearly 1 in 10 stipend dollars, reflecting increased pressure from essential living costs.
- Employees spend across 64,000+ unique vendors globally, with 70% of dollars flowing to local, regional, niche, and independent businesses.
- Common purchases span wellness, food, connectivity, office equipment, caregiving, and professional development, showing that LSAs flex across life stages and needs. — Compt 2026 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
Why this matters: LSAs are most effective when they support real-life needs in addition to discretionary purchases. Flexible, everyday categories work better than specialized or occasional perks.
Lifestyle benefits and employee sentiment
Employee perception matters just as much as participation data. When benefits are flexible and easy to use, employees are more likely to view them as meaningful support rather than another perk that goes unused. Across Compt programs, sentiment consistently reflects this pattern: benefits that adapt to real life feel more personal, more relevant, and more valued.
- 84% of surveyed Compt users say lifestyle benefits are valuable and make them feel appreciated by their employer. — Compt 2024 Annual Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report
- “This has been a wonderful benefit! Thank you for helping with self-care! It’s helped my daily outlook more than ever.” — Compt user, March 2025
- “Compt benefits is helping me so much to appease some of my financial worries. Thank you so much!” — Compt user, March 2025
- “Yes, the benefits offered through Compt have impacted me in a very positive way — it’s a ‘special treat’ to be reimbursed!” — Compt user, August 2025
- “Compt is a wonderful program that makes me feel valued as an employee. It also helps my budget and I am very grateful.” — Compt user, December 2025
Why this matters: When benefits feel personal and practical, employees are more likely to participate.
Learn why teams choose Compt for LSAs
If you are evaluating Lifestyle Spending Accounts, these benchmarks offer a clear picture of what works. Teams use Compt to bring stipends into one flexible program that fits their budget, workforce, and compliance needs.
Request a demo to see how Compt simplifies LSA administration, connects benefits to payroll, and helps HR and Finance teams spend less time managing programs and more time supporting employees.
FAQs: Lifestyle Spending Account statistics
Compt’s 2026 benchmarks show that 64% of employers offer an all-inclusive LSA, making consolidation the most common program structure. Among these programs, 93% of employees participate and 89% of funds are used. Funding cadence also matters: quarterly LSAs reach 85% utilization, outperforming monthly and annual schedules.
How are companies using Lifestyle Spending Accounts today?
Most employers use LSAs to replace fragmented stipends with a single flexible program. Instead of managing separate wellness, food, or remote work benefits, companies fund one account that employees can use across multiple categories as their needs change. This approach improves participation while simplifying administration for HR and Finance.
What trends are emerging in Lifestyle Spending Accounts?
Three clear trends are shaping LSA design:
1. Consolidation into all-inclusive LSAs
2. Quarterly funding for stronger utilization
3. Increased spending on everyday essentials and AI-powered learning tools
Together, these trends reflect a shift toward practical, flexible benefits that employees use consistently, rather than specialized or one-off perks.
How common are Lifestyle Spending Accounts among employers?
LSAs are now the most common type of lifestyle stipend among Compt customers. Nearly two-thirds (64%) use an all-inclusive model, and a growing share extend the same LSA structure to international employees to support global teams without creating separate country-by-country programs.
How much do companies typically fund Lifestyle Spending Accounts?
Funding amounts depend on company size and strategy, and current benchmarks provide clear planning context:
-$1,200 median annual budget per employee for an all-inclusive LSA
-$850 average stipend funding across all companies
-$1,675 for small companies, compared to $649 for large organizations
These benchmarks help HR and Finance teams set defensible budgets based on peer data rather than guesswork.
What types of expenses are most commonly reimbursed through LSAs?
Employees most often use Compt LSA funds for wellness, food and groceries, connectivity, office equipment, and professional development. Spending is highly personalized, with 70% going to local or independent vendors and purchases spanning more than 64,000 vendors globally.
How are LSAs evolving as employee benefits programs mature?
LSAs are evolving from single-purpose perks into core benefits infrastructure. Employers increasingly embed multiple categories into one account, automate compliance through payroll-connected platforms, and design programs for consistent participation and predictable budgets.
Are Lifestyle Spending Accounts taxable?
Most LSA expenses are taxable, and 78% of total stipend spend is taxable based on current benchmarks. Employers often pair taxable LSAs with targeted nontaxable categories where appropriate, balancing flexibility, compliance, and employee value.
Are LSAs meant to replace salary increases or bonuses?
No. LSAs are designed to supplement compensation, not replace wages or raises. They provide flexible support for everyday needs, quality-of-life expenses, and personal rewards and joys, giving employees choice without changing core pay structures.
