Usual Weekly Earnings Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, April 16, 2026                                   USDL-26-0622

Technical information:  (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps 
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                      USUAL WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WAGE AND SALARY WORKERS 
                                      FIRST QUARTER 2026 


Median weekly earnings of the nation's 121.0 million full-time wage and salary workers were
$1,235 in the first quarter of 2026 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. This was 3.4 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with
a gain of 2.7 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the
same period.  

Data on usual weekly earnings are collected as part of the Current Population Survey, a
nationwide sample survey of households in which respondents are asked, among other things, how
much each wage and salary worker usually earns. (See the Technical Note in this news release.)
Data shown in this news release are not seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified.  

Highlights from the first-quarter data:  

 --Median weekly earnings of full-time workers were $1,235 in the first quarter of 2026. Women
   had median weekly earnings of $1,098, or 80.6 percent of the $1,362 median for men. (See
   table 2.)  

 --The women's-to-men's earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned 79.9
   percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with 94.1 percent for Black women,
   78.5 percent for Asian women, and 85.5 percent for Hispanic women. (See table 2.)  

 --Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median earnings of full-time workers who are
   Hispanic ($984) or Black ($985) were lower than those who are White ($1,263) or Asian
   ($1,589). By sex, median weekly earnings for Black men were $1,016, or 72.6 percent of the
   median for White men ($1,400). Median earnings for Hispanic men were $1,054, or 75.3
   percent of the median for White men. The differences were smaller among women, as Black
   women's median earnings were $956, or 85.4 percent of those for White women ($1,119), and
   earnings for Hispanic women were $901, or 80.5 percent of those for White women. Earnings
   of Asian men ($1,847) and women ($1,449) were higher than those of their White
   counterparts. (See table 2.)  

 --By age, usual weekly earnings were highest for men ages 35 to 64: median weekly earnings
   were $1,527 for men ages 35 to 44, $1,567 for men ages 45 to 54, and $1,501 for men ages 55
   to 64. Among women, usual weekly earnings were highest for workers ages 35 to 54: median
   weekly earnings were $1,210 for women ages 35 to 44 and $1,252 for women ages 45 to 54. Men
   and women ages 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, $812 and $723, respectively.
   Men's and women's earnings were closer among younger workers than older workers; for
   example, women ages 16 to 24 earned 89.0 percent as much as men in the same age group,
   while the women's-to-men's earnings ratio was 76.0 percent for those age 55 and over. (See
   table 3.)  

 --Among the major occupational groups, people employed full time in management, professional,
   and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings--$1,903 for men and $1,470 
   for women. People employed in service occupations earned the least--$900 for men and $742
   for women. (See table 4.)  

 --By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma
   had median weekly earnings of $784, high school graduates (no college) had earnings of
   $977, and those holding a bachelor's degree and higher had earnings of $1,763. Among
   college graduates with advanced degrees (master's, professional, and doctoral degrees), the
   highest earning 10 percent of male workers made $5,348 or more per week, and their female
   counterparts made $3,499 or more. (See table 5.)  

 --Seasonally adjusted median weekly earnings were $1,233 in the first quarter of 2026. (See
   table 1.) 


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|                  Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Usual Weekly Earnings Data			   |
|												   | 
| Seasonally adjusted data for median usual weekly earnings in constant (1982-84) dollars have	   |
| been updated using revised seasonally adjusted data for the Consumer Price Index for All Urban   |
| Consumers (CPI-U). (Data are shown in table 1 of this news release.) Seasonally adjusted	   |
| constant (1982-84) dollar estimates back to the first quarter of 2021 were subject to revision.  |
|__________________________________________________________________________________________________|