| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Workers with Bachelor's Degree or More | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 5,964 | $5.71 | 0.5% | $5.50 | $5.74 | -4.3% | 3.9% |
| 1974 | 6,008 | $6.12 | 0.8% | $6.18 | $6.11 | 1.2% | 7.3% |
| 1975 | 6,517 | $6.65 | 1.0% | $6.66 | $6.64 | 0.3% | 11.7% |
| 1976 | 6,626 | $6.95 | 1.2% | $7.06 | $6.94 | 1.7% | 8.8% |
| 1977 | 8,523 | $7.33 | 1.3% | $7.34 | $7.33 | 0.2% | 9.3% |
| 1978 | 8,273 | $7.80 | 1.5% | $7.62 | $7.85 | -2.9% | 8.5% |
| 1979 | 4,110 | $9.03 | 2.1% | $8.45 | $9.19 | -8.1% | 4.9% |
| 1980 | 5,432 | $9.66 | 2.5% | $9.03 | $9.83 | -8.1% | -0.8% |
| 1981 | 2,155 | $9.92 | 3.3% | $9.68 | $10.03 | -3.5% | 7.0% |
| 1983 | 32,604 | $11.37 | 5.9% | $11.17 | $11.49 | -2.8% | 6.7% |
| 1984 | 33,213 | $12.06 | 7.2% | $11.78 | $12.16 | -3.1% | 6.9% |
| 1985 | 34,862 | $12.73 | 8.3% | $12.52 | $12.78 | -2.0% | 6.2% |
| 1986 | 36,627 | $13.41 | 9.9% | $13.02 | $13.51 | -3.6% | 6.0% |
| 1987 | 36,059 | $14.03 | 11.4% | $13.86 | $14.13 | -1.9% | 6.2% |
| 1988 | 34,768 | $14.80 | 13.2% | $14.85 | $14.83 | 0.1% | 6.7% |
| 1989 | 33,901 | $15.48 | 1.9% | $15.15 | $15.25 | -0.7% | 7.3% |
| 1990 | 36,567 | $16.29 | 2.4% | $16.33 | $16.07 | 1.6% | 9.9% |
| 1991 | 36,159 | $16.91 | 2.8% | $16.69 | $16.69 | 0.0% | 9.1% |
| 1992 | 35,707 | $17.46 | 3.1% | $17.26 | $17.29 | -0.1% | 7.9% |
| 1993 | 35,342 | $18.05 | 3.4% | $18.04 | $17.78 | 1.5% | 8.4% |
| 1994 | 42,345 | $18.67 | 4.0% | $19.60 | $18.49 | 6.0% | 14.9% |
| 1995 | 43,214 | $19.20 | 4.5% | $19.72 | $19.10 | 3.2% | 13.3% |
| 1996 | 30,436 | $19.63 | 4.6% | $20.12 | $19.44 | 3.5% | 12.3% |
| 1997 | 31,136 | $20.44 | 5.3% | $20.65 | $20.33 | 1.6% | 12.2% |
| 1998 | 31,461 | $21.34 | 2.0% | $21.23 | $21.47 | -1.1% | 12.5% |
| 1999 | 31,402 | $22.46 | 2.3% | $21.99 | $22.57 | -2.6% | 10.6% |
| 2000 | 30,876 | $23.55 | 2.7% | $22.67 | $23.73 | -4.5% | 10.3% |
| 2001 | 33,071 | $24.81 | 3.0% | $23.55 | $24.85 | -5.2% | 11.2% |
| 2002 | 36,819 | $25.44 | 3.2% | $24.15 | $25.55 | -5.5% | 8.3% |
| 2003 | 35,902 | $26.03 | 3.5% | $24.72 | $25.97 | -4.8% | 11.1% |
| 2004 | 36,144 | $26.65 | 3.8% | $25.53 | $26.62 | -4.1% | 9.2% |
| 2005 | 37,098 | $27.68 | 4.1% | $26.15 | $27.66 | -5.5% | 9.1% |
| 2006 | 37,456 | $28.48 | 4.6% | $26.91 | $28.61 | -5.9% | 8.6% |
| 2007 | 38,256 | $29.33 | 4.9% | $27.79 | $29.51 | -5.8% | 7.1% |
| 2008 | 39,082 | $30.62 | 5.5% | $28.75 | $30.80 | -6.7% | 9.2% |
| 2009 | 39,040 | $30.88 | 5.7% | $29.39 | $31.11 | -5.5% | 8.2% |
| 2010 | 37,807 | $31.46 | 6.1% | $30.17 | $31.61 | -4.6% | 8.4% |
| 2011 | 37,593 | $32.01 | 6.3% | $30.76 | $31.87 | -3.5% | 9.1% |
| 2012 | 39,250 | $32.63 | 6.9% | $31.32 | $32.89 | -4.8% | 7.3% |
| 2013 | 38,414 | $33.43 | 7.4% | $31.71 | $33.65 | -5.8% | 7.1% |
| 2014 | 38,261 | $33.84 | 7.5% | $31.81 | $33.66 | -5.5% | 7.0% |
| 2015 | 37,292 | $35.05 | 8.2% | $33.12 | $34.80 | -4.9% | 7.1% |
| 2016 | 38,369 | $36.47 | 9.0% | $33.58 | $36.32 | -7.6% | 8.6% |
| 2017 | 38,894 | $37.11 | 9.3% | $34.91 | $36.90 | -5.4% | 8.2% |
| 2018 | 38,461 | $38.45 | 10.2% | $35.58 | $38.32 | -7.1% | 7.0% |
| 2019 | 37,487 | $39.88 | 10.9% | $37.11 | $39.84 | -6.9% | 6.7% |
| 2020 | 35,961 | $42.78 | 12.2% | $38.77 | $42.58 | -8.9% | 5.7% |
| 2021 | 35,463 | $45.05 | 13.4% | $39.80 | $44.49 | -10.6% | 3.6% |
| 2022 | 35,750 | $48.17 | 15.1% | $42.50 | $47.90 | -11.3% | 5.2% |
| 2023 | 35,187 | $50.72 | 10.6% | $45.03 | $50.52 | -10.9% | 2.7% |
| 2024 | 36,794 | $53.19 | 2.3% | $47.85 | $53.45 | -10.5% | 5.0% |
| 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. | |||||||