| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Federal Workers (excluding postal) | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1983 | 4,679 | $11.16 | 4.5% | $10.35 | $11.15 | -7.2% | 0.8% |
| 1984 | 4,566 | $11.59 | 4.8% | $11.07 | $11.59 | -4.5% | 1.6% |
| 1985 | 4,411 | $12.10 | 5.7% | $11.29 | $12.08 | -6.5% | 2.1% |
| 1986 | 4,437 | $12.43 | 6.0% | $11.54 | $12.53 | -7.9% | -0.8% |
| 1987 | 4,281 | $12.57 | 5.5% | $12.19 | $12.53 | -2.8% | 1.9% |
| 1988 | 4,072 | $13.40 | 7.5% | $12.81 | $13.31 | -3.7% | 4.8% |
| 1989 | 3,919 | $13.55 | 0.4% | $12.47 | $13.40 | -7.0% | 3.0% |
| 1990 | 4,098 | $14.18 | 0.3% | $13.57 | $14.01 | -3.1% | 5.5% |
| 1991 | 3,909 | $15.45 | 1.0% | $13.94 | $15.27 | -8.7% | 1.7% |
| 1992 | 3,850 | $15.89 | 0.8% | $14.85 | $15.72 | -5.5% | 4.7% |
| 1993 | 3,717 | $16.91 | 1.7% | $15.67 | $16.70 | -6.1% | 3.3% |
| 1994 | 4,364 | $16.92 | 1.5% | $16.72 | $16.97 | -1.5% | 4.9% |
| 1995 | 4,354 | $17.37 | 1.4% | $17.51 | $17.34 | 1.0% | 4.4% |
| 1996 | 2,907 | $18.83 | 1.4% | $17.48 | $18.26 | -4.3% | 6.9% |
| 1997 | 2,816 | $19.37 | 1.9% | $18.15 | $18.59 | -2.4% | 7.3% |
| 1998 | 2,652 | $19.88 | 0.1% | $19.24 | $19.27 | -0.1% | 12.7% |
| 1999 | 2,588 | $21.23 | 0.4% | $20.43 | $20.23 | 1.0% | 6.8% |
| 2000 | 2,550 | $21.82 | 0.3% | $20.88 | $20.91 | -0.1% | 7.0% |
| 2001 | 2,726 | $22.91 | 0.3% | $21.79 | $21.99 | -0.9% | 5.5% |
| 2002 | 3,001 | $23.86 | 0.4% | $21.80 | $22.72 | -4.0% | 8.0% |
| 2003 | 2,891 | $25.40 | 0.9% | $23.26 | $23.58 | -1.4% | 7.5% |
| 2004 | 2,961 | $26.61 | 1.3% | $24.60 | $25.08 | -1.9% | 6.2% |
| 2005 | 3,114 | $27.52 | 1.6% | $25.61 | $25.54 | 0.3% | 8.6% |
| 2006 | 3,040 | $29.19 | 2.3% | $26.30 | $27.32 | -3.7% | 8.2% |
| 2007 | 3,015 | $29.85 | 2.7% | $26.26 | $28.48 | -7.8% | 2.2% |
| 2008 | 3,095 | $30.41 | 2.5% | $27.31 | $28.67 | -4.7% | 6.0% |
| 2009 | 3,185 | $31.42 | 3.0% | $27.62 | $29.68 | -6.9% | 5.3% |
| 2010 | 3,171 | $32.42 | 4.3% | $29.48 | $30.47 | -3.3% | 5.7% |
| 2011 | 3,025 | $34.55 | 4.9% | $31.82 | $31.34 | 1.5% | 7.0% |
| 2012 | 2,972 | $35.74 | 5.8% | $32.58 | $33.09 | -1.5% | 5.6% |
| 2013 | 2,963 | $36.09 | 5.8% | $32.73 | $33.81 | -3.2% | 4.7% |
| 2014 | 2,831 | $35.79 | 5.1% | $32.41 | $33.16 | -2.3% | 4.1% |
| 2015 | 2,828 | $37.92 | 6.8% | $31.97 | $35.36 | -9.6% | 7.3% |
| 2016 | 2,872 | $38.52 | 6.8% | $33.87 | $35.28 | -4.0% | 4.6% |
| 2017 | 2,856 | $39.49 | 7.1% | $35.07 | $36.26 | -3.3% | 12.0% |
| 2018 | 2,769 | $40.93 | 8.6% | $34.29 | $37.77 | -9.2% | 0.6% |
| 2019 | 2,676 | $41.32 | 8.6% | $36.86 | $38.31 | -3.8% | 8.8% |
| 2020 | 2,740 | $45.53 | 11.0% | $38.96 | $42.56 | -8.4% | 4.1% |
| 2021 | 2,590 | $46.76 | 11.7% | $38.79 | $43.26 | -10.3% | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 2,585 | $47.69 | 11.7% | $39.74 | $45.83 | -13.3% | 4.6% |
| 2023 | 2,531 | $50.20 | 8.9% | $43.48 | $48.35 | -10.1% | 4.4% |
| 2024 | 2,714 | $50.72 | 1.9% | $44.77 | $49.23 | -9.1% | 1.8% |
| 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. | |||||||