Usual Weekly Earnings Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, July 18, 2023 			              USDL-23-1586 

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
                                      SECOND QUARTER 2023


Median weekly earnings of the nation's 121.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were
$1,100 in the second quarter of 2023 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics reported today. This was 5.7 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with 
a gain of 4.0 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 second-quarter data: 

 --Median weekly earnings of full-time workers were $1,100 in the second quarter of 2023.
   Women had median weekly earnings of $993, or 84.1 percent of the $1,181 median for men. 
   (See table 2.) 

 --The women's-to-men's earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned 
   84.6 percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with 89.9 percent for Black 
   women, 81.0 percent for Asian women, and 88.3 percent for Hispanic women. (See table 2.) 

 --Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median weekly earnings of Blacks ($913) 
   and Hispanics ($851) working full-time jobs were lower than those of Whites ($1,126) 
   and Asians ($1,449). By sex, median weekly earnings for Black men were $975, or 81.2 
   percent of the median for White men ($1,201). Median earnings for Hispanic men were 
   $892, or 74.3 percent of the median for White men. The difference was less among women, 
   as Black women's median earnings were $877, or 86.3 percent of those for White women 
   ($1,016), and earnings for Hispanic women were $788, or 77.6 percent of those for White 
   women. Earnings of Asian men ($1,617) and women ($1,310) 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 $1,319 for men ages 35 to 44, $1,385 for men ages 45 to 54, and $1,341 for men ages 55 
   to 64. Among women, usual weekly earnings were also highest for workers ages 35 to 64: 
   median weekly earnings were $1,134 for women ages 35 to 44, $1,095 for women ages 45 to 54,
   and $1,043 for women ages 55 to 64. Men and women ages 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly
   earnings, $714 and $672, respectively. Men's and women's earnings were closer among younger 
   workers than older workers; for example, women ages 16 to 24 earned 94.1 percent as much as 
   men in the same age group, while the women's-to-men's earnings ratio was 79.6 percent for 
   those age 55 and over. (See table 3.) 

 --Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in management, professional, 
   and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings--$1,751 for men and $1,312 for 
   women. Both men ($777) and women ($675) earned the least when employed in service occupations.
   (See table 4.)

 --By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma 
   had median weekly earnings of $713, compared with $889 for high school graduates (no college) 
   and $1,588 for those holding at least a bachelor's degree. Among college graduates with advanced
   degrees (master's, professional, and doctoral degrees), the highest earning 10 percent of male
   workers made $4,715 or more per week, compared with $3,447 or more for their female counterparts.
   (See table 5.) 

 --Seasonally adjusted median weekly earnings were $1,107 in the second quarter of 2023, little 
   changed from the previous quarter ($1,095). (See table 1.)