Earnings (CPS)

This page contains information on the earnings of employed persons derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS). Data on employed and unemployed persons, hours of work, and other demographic and labor force characteristics also are available.

Earnings

Data measure usual hourly and weekly earnings of wage and salary workers. All self-employed persons are excluded, regardless of whether their businesses are incorporated. Data represent earnings before taxes and other deductions and include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received. The earnings data are collected from one-fourth of the CPS total sample of approximately 60,000 households. Data are published quarterly. Learn more about CPS earnings concepts and definitions.

• News release: Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers (Quarterly)
  (HTML) (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)
• Frequently asked questions about CPS earnings data
• Databases:
• Annual tables: Weekly earnings
• Pay measure comparison tool: comparison Matrix of BLS compensation data sources
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Earnings by demographics

Earnings data are available by demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. See also Earnings by education and Employment and unemployment by demographics.

• News release: Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers (Quarterly)
  (HTML) (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)
• Frequently asked questions about CPS earnings data
• Databases:
  • Most requested series
  • Earnings by age, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex
  • More options
• Annual tables: Weekly earnings

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  Annual report: Highlights of Women's Earnings

  This comprehensive report includes earnings for men and women, with demographic characteristics such as age, education, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.
   

  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2024  (HTML)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2023  (HTML)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2022  (HTML)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2021  (HTML)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2020  (HTML)  (PDF)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2019  (HTML)  (PDF)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2018  (HTML)  (PDF)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2017  (HTML)  (PDF)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2016  (HTML)  (PDF)  (tables in XLSX)
  • Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2015  (HTML)  (PDF)  (tables in XLSX)
     

  Earlier years (PDF only):

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• Looking for estimates of wives who earn more than their husbands?
  These data are available from the U.S. Census Bureau in table F-22.
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• Charts:
  • Chart package related to the latest "Usual Weekly Earnings" news release (Quarterly)
  • Asian women and men earned more than their White, Black, and Hispanic counterparts in 2017 (August 2018)
  • Women's and men's earnings by age in 2016 (August 2017)
  • Foreign-born workers made 83.1 percent of the earnings of their native-born counterparts in 2016 (May 2017)
  • Women's median earnings 82 percent of men's in 2016 (March 2017)
  • Women earn 88 percent as much as men in Hawaii, among the highest in 2015 (December 2016)
  • Women's earnings 83 percent of men's, but vary by occupation (January 2016)
  • Women's earnings compared to men's earnings in 2014 (November 2015)
  • Educational attainment and earnings of women (June 2014)
  • Median weekly earnings by sex, marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18 in 2012 (December 2013)
  • Women's earnings, 1979–2012 (November 2013)
  • Women's earnings by occupation, 2011 (January 2013)
  • Women's earnings, 1979–2011 (November 2012)
  • Women's earnings as a percent of men's in 2010 (January 2012)
  • Earnings and employment by occupation, race, ethnicity, and sex, 2010 (September 2011)
  • Women's earnings, 1979–2010 (July 2011)
  • Women at Work, Spotlight on Statistics (March 2011), includes CPS and other BLS survey data
  • Women's earnings and employment by industry, 2009 (February 2011)
  • Usual weekly earnings in second quarter 2010 by education (July 2010)
  • Women's-to-men's earnings ratio by age, 2009 (July 2010)
  • Women's earnings as a percentage of men's, by race and Hispanic ethnicity, 1979–2008 (October 2009)
  • Women and men in management, professional, and related occupations, 2008 (August 2009)
  • Women's-to-men's earnings ratio by age, 1979–2008 (July 2009)
  • Women's earnings by occupation in 2007 (October 2008)
  • Earnings of women and men by race and ethnicity, 2007 (October 2008)
  • Women's earnings as a percentage of men's by age, 1979–2007 (October 2008)
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• Articles:
  • Women still underrepresented among highest earners (March 2006) (PDF)
  • How does gender play a role in the earnings gap? an update (March 2003) (PDF)

Earnings by education

Data measure usual hourly and weekly earnings of wage and salary workers 25 years and over by educational attainment. See also Employment and unemployment by educational attainment.

• News release: Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers (Quarterly)
  (HTML) (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule) Databases:

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• Charts:
  • Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by educational attainment (Quarterly)
  • Quartiles and selected deciles of usual weekly earnings by educational attainment (Quarterly)
  • More education still means more pay in 2014 (September 2015)
  • Median weekly earnings by educational attainment in 2014 (January 2015)
  • Back to College, Spotlight on Statistics (September 2010), includes CPS and other BLS survey data

Hourly-paid workers

Data pertain only to workers who are paid hourly rates; salaried and other workers not paid by the hour are excluded. Hourly-paid workers make up approximately three-fifths of all wage and salary workers. See also Minimum wage workers.

• Database: Retrieve historical data series
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• Statistics on hourly-paid workers and median hourly earnings are available in selected tables of the annual report, Highlights of Women's Earnings

Minimum wage workers

Statistics on hourly-paid workers with earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage.

• Annual tables: Minimum wage workers
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• Annual report: Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers

• Charts:
  • Minimum wage workers account for 4.3 percent of hourly paid workers in 2013 (April 2014)
  • Minimum wage workers account for 4.7 percent of hourly paid workers in 2012 (March 2013)
  • Characteristics of minimum wage workers in 2011 (March 2012)
• Articles:
  • Characteristics of minimum wage workers in 2002 (September 2003) (PDF)
  • Estimating the number of minimum wage workers (January 1990) (PDF)
• From the U.S. Department of Labor: Minimum wage laws and regulations, including state minimum wage rates

Occupation and industry

Data measure usual hourly and weekly earnings of wage and salary workers by occupation and by industry. See also Employment by occupation and industry.

• News release: Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers (Quarterly)
  (HTML) (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)
• Frequently asked questions about CPS earnings data
• Databases:
  • Top occupation series
  • More options
• Annual table: Earnings by detailed occupation and sex (HTML) (PDF) (XLSX)
• Charts:
  • Women's earnings 83 percent of men's, but vary by occupation (January 2016)
  • Earnings and employment by occupation, race, ethnicity, and sex, 2010 (September 2011)
  • Women and men in management, professional, and related occupations, 2008 (August 2009)
  • Women's earnings by occupation in 2007 (October 2008)
• Articles:
  • Change in employment by occupation, industry, and earnings quartile, 2000–05 (December 2006) (PDF)
  • Earnings and employment trends in the 1990s (March 2000) (PDF)
• Occupational and industry classifications used in the CPS
• More information on the CPS occupational and industry classifications

Union earnings

Median weekly earnings for union and non-union full-time wage and salary workers are published annually. Occupation and industry detail is available and, additionally, demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity. See also Union members.

• News release: Union Members (Annual)
  (HTML) (PDF) (Archives)
• Databases:
  • Retrieve historical data series from news release
  • Most requested series
  • More options
• Annual tables: Union membership
• Charts:
  • Nonunion workers had weekly earnings 81 percent of union members in 2019 (February 2020)
  • Union membership in the United States, Spotlight on Statistics (September 2016)
  • Union members in 2007: a visual essay (PDF)

Working poor

Annual report on persons who, during the year, spent 27 weeks or more in the labor force (working or looking for work), but whose incomes still fell below the official poverty level.

• Annual report: A Profile of the Working Poor
   

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• Charts:
  • 10.9 percent of families with one member in the labor force lived below the poverty level in 2018 (July 2020)
  • Working poor reaches 10.5 million in 2013 (July 2015)
  • Working poor rate 7.2 percent in 2010 (April 2012)
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• Article: The working poor in 2001 (November 2003) (PDF)
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• Learn more about errors in some estimates of the 2002–2012 reports.
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• From the U.S. Census Bureau: Poverty definitions, thresholds, and data

Last Modified Date: July 29, 2026