| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| All Wage and Salary Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 39,774 | $3.96 | 0.1% | $4.61 | $3.75 | 22.9% | 17.2% |
| 1974 | 37,966 | $4.26 | 0.2% | $5.02 | $4.02 | 24.9% | 17.6% |
| 1975 | 37,812 | $4.62 | 0.2% | $5.43 | $4.39 | 23.8% | 18.6% |
| 1976 | 37,888 | $4.91 | 0.3% | $5.84 | $4.65 | 25.6% | 19.7% |
| 1977 | 46,591 | $5.24 | 0.4% | $6.38 | $4.87 | 30.8% | 20.9% |
| 1978 | 44,577 | $5.58 | 0.4% | $6.77 | $5.21 | 29.9% | 20.1% |
| 1979 | 44,234 | $6.36 | 0.5% | $7.26 | $6.09 | 19.3% | 15.1% |
| 1980 | 55,795 | $6.89 | 0.7% | $7.86 | $6.59 | 19.3% | 14.7% |
| 1981 | 12,543 | $6.97 | 0.8% | $8.43 | $6.72 | 25.5% | 17.3% |
| 1983 | 149,169 | $8.06 | 1.7% | $9.77 | $7.79 | 25.3% | 21.0% |
| 1984 | 150,464 | $8.37 | 2.2% | $10.14 | $8.12 | 24.8% | 21.7% |
| 1985 | 153,737 | $8.78 | 2.6% | $10.65 | $8.51 | 25.1% | 21.4% |
| 1986 | 159,126 | $9.16 | 3.0% | $11.07 | $8.89 | 24.6% | 20.4% |
| 1987 | 155,216 | $9.48 | 3.5% | $11.50 | $9.25 | 24.3% | 20.3% |
| 1988 | 147,348 | $9.93 | 4.2% | $12.12 | $9.68 | 25.2% | 19.6% |
| 1989 | 149,694 | $10.39 | 0.5% | $12.56 | $9.95 | 26.3% | 20.8% |
| 1990 | 156,497 | $10.85 | 0.7% | $13.07 | $10.44 | 25.2% | 20.5% |
| 1991 | 151,634 | $11.29 | 0.8% | $13.49 | $10.89 | 23.8% | 19.4% |
| 1992 | 149,317 | $11.59 | 0.9% | $13.91 | $11.18 | 24.4% | 19.5% |
| 1993 | 145,219 | $11.96 | 1.0% | $14.43 | $11.52 | 25.3% | 20.7% |
| 1994 | 169,102 | $12.50 | 1.2% | $15.22 | $11.99 | 26.9% | 23.5% |
| 1995 | 168,610 | $12.80 | 1.3% | $15.53 | $12.32 | 26.1% | 22.4% |
| 1996 | 117,448 | $13.11 | 1.4% | $15.85 | $12.68 | 25.0% | 21.9% |
| 1997 | 119,552 | $13.61 | 1.7% | $16.52 | $13.18 | 25.4% | 21.8% |
| 1998 | 118,889 | $14.22 | 0.6% | $17.04 | $13.88 | 22.7% | 21.4% |
| 1999 | 114,439 | $14.97 | 0.7% | $17.53 | $14.55 | 20.4% | 20.9% |
| 2000 | 112,154 | $15.65 | 0.9% | $18.12 | $15.32 | 18.3% | 19.2% |
| 2001 | 117,474 | $16.55 | 1.0% | $18.85 | $16.12 | 16.9% | 19.1% |
| 2002 | 127,245 | $17.06 | 1.1% | $19.44 | $16.66 | 16.7% | 19.0% |
| 2003 | 121,990 | $17.51 | 1.2% | $20.03 | $17.03 | 17.6% | 19.1% |
| 2004 | 120,592 | $17.98 | 1.3% | $20.72 | $17.52 | 18.3% | 18.0% |
| 2005 | 122,710 | $18.54 | 1.5% | $21.25 | $18.01 | 18.0% | 17.6% |
| 2006 | 122,180 | $19.15 | 1.6% | $21.97 | $18.65 | 17.8% | 16.9% |
| 2007 | 122,493 | $19.78 | 1.8% | $22.82 | $19.38 | 17.7% | 17.0% |
| 2008 | 121,114 | $20.75 | 2.1% | $23.72 | $20.32 | 16.7% | 17.0% |
| 2009 | 118,091 | $21.09 | 2.2% | $24.20 | $20.68 | 17.0% | 16.0% |
| 2010 | 111,900 | $21.33 | 2.4% | $24.80 | $20.99 | 18.1% | 16.8% |
| 2011 | 109,205 | $21.71 | 2.5% | $25.11 | $21.26 | 18.1% | 16.9% |
| 2012 | 110,557 | $22.21 | 2.8% | $25.49 | $21.87 | 16.5% | 16.1% |
| 2013 | 107,116 | $22.67 | 3.0% | $25.90 | $22.36 | 15.9% | 16.6% |
| 2014 | 105,725 | $23.15 | 3.1% | $26.32 | $22.62 | 16.4% | 16.4% |
| 2015 | 101,304 | $24.15 | 3.6% | $27.06 | $23.55 | 14.9% | 15.0% |
| 2016 | 102,754 | $24.99 | 3.9% | $27.73 | $24.35 | 13.9% | 17.1% |
| 2017 | 101,522 | $25.73 | 4.1% | $28.75 | $25.05 | 14.8% | 16.3% |
| 2018 | 98,483 | $26.96 | 4.7% | $29.34 | $26.27 | 11.7% | 16.1% |
| 2019 | 94,818 | $28.10 | 5.1% | $30.76 | $27.34 | 12.5% | 14.3% |
| 2020 | 85,156 | $30.58 | 6.0% | $32.36 | $29.70 | 9.0% | 12.5% |
| 2021 | 83,758 | $31.97 | 6.6% | $33.23 | $30.89 | 7.6% | 10.2% |
| 2022 | 83,761 | $34.12 | 7.5% | $35.23 | $33.12 | 6.3% | 12.1% |
| 2023 | 81,904 | $36.09 | 5.4% | $37.16 | $35.08 | 5.9% | 10.1% |
| 2024 | 84,784 | $37.71 | 1.2% | $39.24 | $36.77 | 6.7% | 11.5% |
| Beginning in April 2023, the CPS gradually phased in dynamic topcoding that assigned anyone | |||||||
| in the top 3% of the weekly earnings distribution a value that matches the average within the | |||||||
| top 3 percent. The estimate of the percent at the cap excludes those who are assigned a | |||||||
| dynamic top code. By the end of 2024, no earnings are capped at $2885. | |||||||
| Copyright 2025 by Barry T. Hirsch, David A. Macpherson, and William E. Even. | |||||||