Usual Weekly Earnings Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, January 28, 2026		                       USDL-26-0119

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 -- 2025


Median weekly earnings of the nation's 121.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were
$1,204 in 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 

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 annual averages.
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|											      |
|              Federal Government Shutdown Impact on Fourth Quarter 2025 Data		      |
|											      |
| The Current Population Survey (CPS) for October 2025 was not collected due to the federal   |
| government shutdown. As a result, household survey data for the fourth quarter of 2025      |
| were not produced, because reliable quarterly estimates cannot be calculated without	      |
| one-third of the data typically used for a quarterly estimate. Therefore, fourth-quarter    |
| 2025 estimates in tables 1 through 6 of this news release were not produced and are shown   | 
| with dashes.										      |
|											      |
| Annual estimates for 2025 household survey data were produced using 11-month averages that  |
| exclude October. Consequently, 2025 annual estimates are not strictly comparable with	      |
| annual averages for other years. Annual estimates in tables 7 through 9 of this news        | 
| release are based on these 11-month averages.				              	      |
|											      |
| For additional information, see							      |
| www.bls.gov/cps/methods/2025-federal-government-shutdown-impact-cps.htm.		      |
|_____________________________________________________________________________________________|

Highlights from 2025 annual data: 

 --Median weekly earnings of full-time workers were $1,204 in 2025. Women had median weekly
   earnings of $1,089, or 82.1 percent of the $1,326 median for men. (See table 7.) 

 --The women's-to-men's earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned
   $1,108, or 81.8 percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with 90.7 percent for
   Black women ($942), 78.4 percent for Asian women ($1,395), and 88.6 percent for Hispanic
   women ($889). (See table 7.) 

 --Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median earnings of people who are Hispanic
   ($951) or Black ($986) were lower than those who are White ($1,231) or Asian ($1,566). By
   sex, median weekly earnings for Black men were $1,039, or 76.7 percent of the median for
   White men ($1,354). Median earnings for Hispanic men were $1,003, or 74.1 percent of the
   median for White men. The differences were smaller among women, as Black women's median
   earnings were $942, or 85.0 percent of those for White women ($1,108), and earnings for
   Hispanic women were $889, or 80.2 percent of those for White women. Earnings of Asian men
   ($1,780) and women ($1,395) were higher than those of their White counterparts. (See 
   table 7.) 

 --By age, women age 25 and over ($1,143) earned 81.9 percent as much as their male
   counterparts in the same age group ($1,395). The difference was smaller among women and men
   ages 16 to 24. Women ages 16 to 24 earned $725, or 90.1 percent of the median for men ages
   16 to 24 ($805). (See table 7.) 

 --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 $1,443
   for women. People employed in service occupations earned the least--$891 for men and $732
   for women. (See table 8.) 

 --By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma
   had median weekly earnings of $770, high school graduates (no college) had earnings of
   $966, and those holding a bachelor's degree and higher had earnings of $1,740. Among
   college graduates with advanced degrees (master's, professional, and doctoral degrees), the
   highest earning 10 percent of male workers made $4,949 or more per week, and their female
   counterparts made $3,510 or more. (See table 9.) 

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|                 Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Usual Weekly Earnings Data		      |
|											      |
| Seasonally adjusted median usual weekly earnings data shown in table 1 of this news	      |
| release have been revised using updated seasonal adjustment factors from the Current	      |
| Population Survey, a procedure done at the end of each calendar year. The revisions	      |
| directly affected the number of full-time wage and salary workers and current dollar	      |
| estimates of median weekly earnings; estimates of constant (1982-84) dollar median weekly   |
| earnings were indirectly affected. Seasonally adjusted estimates back to the first quarter  |
| of 2021 were subject to revision.							      |
|											      |
| The Usual Weekly Earnings news release for the first quarter of 2026 will incorporate	      |
| revisions to the seasonally adjusted data for the median weekly earnings in constant	      |
| (1982-84) dollars. Seasonally adjusted constant (1982-84) dollar estimates back to the      |
| first quarter of 2021 will be subject to revision due to annual revisions to seasonally     |
| adjusted data for the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).		      |
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