Median weekly earnings for second quarter 2019 increased by 3.7 percent over the year

Median weekly earnings of the nation’s 117.6 million full-time wage and salary workers were $908 in the second quarter of 2019. This was 3.7 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 1.8 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period. Median weekly earnings for women were $814, or 81.4 percent of the median of $1,000 for men. 

The women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned 81.4 percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with 90.8 percent for Black women, 72.5 percent for Asian women, and 83.2 percent for Hispanic women.

Median weekly earnings of Blacks ($724) and Hispanics ($696) working at full-time jobs were lower than those of Whites ($933) and Asians ($1,152). Median weekly earnings for Black men were $761, or 74.2 percent of the median for White men ($1,026). Median earnings for Hispanic men were $746, or 72.7 percent of the median for White men. The difference was less among women, as Black women’s median earnings were $691, or 82.8 percent of those for White women ($835), and earnings for Hispanic women were $621, or 74.4 percent of those for White women. Earnings of Asian men ($1,331) and women ($965) were higher than those for White men and women.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are not seasonally adjusted. For more information, see “Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers: Second Quarter 2019.” We also have more charts on usual weekly earnings. Full-time workers usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or main job. The median is the midpoint in the earnings distribution; half of workers earn more than the median and half earn less. People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.