| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Male Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 23,463 | $4.62 | 0.2% | $4.96 | $4.47 | 11.0% | 17.4% |
| 1974 | 22,184 | $4.97 | 0.3% | $5.35 | $4.79 | 11.7% | 17.4% |
| 1975 | 21,833 | $5.39 | 0.4% | $5.78 | $5.24 | 10.3% | 17.9% |
| 1976 | 21,634 | $5.72 | 0.5% | $6.25 | $5.50 | 13.6% | 20.2% |
| 1977 | 26,331 | $6.13 | 0.6% | $6.88 | $5.81 | 18.5% | 21.5% |
| 1978 | 24,917 | $6.55 | 0.7% | $7.30 | $6.24 | 17.0% | 20.2% |
| 1979 | 25,016 | $7.43 | 0.9% | $7.87 | $7.27 | 8.2% | 14.5% |
| 1980 | 31,063 | $8.09 | 1.2% | $8.53 | $7.92 | 7.7% | 14.2% |
| 1981 | 6,769 | $8.18 | 1.4% | $9.13 | $8.01 | 14.0% | 15.9% |
| 1983 | 78,883 | $9.45 | 3.0% | $10.60 | $9.29 | 14.1% | 21.9% |
| 1984 | 79,312 | $9.82 | 3.7% | $10.96 | $9.66 | 13.5% | 22.4% |
| 1985 | 80,617 | $10.27 | 4.3% | $11.49 | $10.10 | 13.8% | 22.3% |
| 1986 | 82,868 | $10.73 | 5.1% | $11.95 | $10.57 | 13.0% | 20.8% |
| 1987 | 80,108 | $11.05 | 5.9% | $12.31 | $10.97 | 12.2% | 20.5% |
| 1988 | 75,981 | $11.57 | 7.1% | $13.01 | $11.46 | 13.5% | 19.9% |
| 1989 | 77,066 | $11.90 | 1.0% | $13.41 | $11.49 | 16.7% | 21.5% |
| 1990 | 80,308 | $12.38 | 1.2% | $13.86 | $12.01 | 15.4% | 21.4% |
| 1991 | 77,288 | $12.81 | 1.4% | $14.24 | $12.44 | 14.4% | 20.7% |
| 1992 | 75,935 | $13.03 | 1.4% | $14.71 | $12.64 | 16.3% | 20.7% |
| 1993 | 73,434 | $13.41 | 1.6% | $15.21 | $12.98 | 17.2% | 22.8% |
| 1994 | 86,082 | $14.00 | 2.0% | $15.99 | $13.56 | 17.9% | 26.4% |
| 1995 | 86,158 | $14.39 | 2.1% | $16.37 | $13.97 | 17.1% | 24.1% |
| 1996 | 59,342 | $14.68 | 2.3% | $16.65 | $14.35 | 16.1% | 23.1% |
| 1997 | 60,265 | $15.27 | 2.6% | $17.38 | $14.88 | 16.8% | 23.3% |
| 1998 | 60,049 | $15.93 | 1.0% | $17.94 | $15.67 | 14.5% | 22.9% |
| 1999 | 57,687 | $16.85 | 1.2% | $18.33 | $16.55 | 10.8% | 22.3% |
| 2000 | 56,584 | $17.57 | 1.4% | $19.07 | $17.36 | 9.9% | 21.6% |
| 2001 | 59,203 | $18.62 | 1.6% | $19.92 | $18.25 | 9.2% | 21.1% |
| 2002 | 63,705 | $19.09 | 1.8% | $20.42 | $18.81 | 8.5% | 21.2% |
| 2003 | 60,868 | $19.53 | 1.9% | $21.02 | $19.12 | 10.0% | 22.1% |
| 2004 | 60,470 | $20.04 | 2.1% | $21.75 | $19.68 | 10.5% | 20.6% |
| 2005 | 61,667 | $20.60 | 2.3% | $22.34 | $20.12 | 11.1% | 21.2% |
| 2006 | 61,510 | $21.25 | 2.5% | $23.06 | $20.83 | 10.7% | 18.9% |
| 2007 | 61,629 | $21.93 | 2.7% | $23.91 | $21.66 | 10.4% | 20.3% |
| 2008 | 60,715 | $23.09 | 3.2% | $24.99 | $22.79 | 9.6% | 19.7% |
| 2009 | 58,658 | $23.52 | 3.4% | $25.34 | $23.31 | 8.7% | 18.5% |
| 2010 | 55,611 | $23.68 | 3.6% | $26.00 | $23.49 | 10.7% | 20.4% |
| 2011 | 54,454 | $23.90 | 3.7% | $26.07 | $23.63 | 10.3% | 20.1% |
| 2012 | 55,539 | $24.68 | 4.1% | $26.71 | $24.53 | 8.9% | 18.9% |
| 2013 | 54,026 | $25.18 | 4.4% | $27.03 | $25.00 | 8.1% | 20.2% |
| 2014 | 53,551 | $25.55 | 4.5% | $27.45 | $25.12 | 9.2% | 20.7% |
| 2015 | 51,166 | $26.83 | 5.1% | $28.25 | $26.37 | 7.2% | 18.4% |
| 2016 | 52,120 | $27.91 | 5.7% | $28.94 | $27.28 | 6.1% | 19.3% |
| 2017 | 51,196 | $28.51 | 5.8% | $30.18 | $27.91 | 8.1% | 20.5% |
| 2018 | 49,872 | $30.06 | 6.5% | $30.96 | $29.41 | 5.3% | 20.1% |
| 2019 | 48,157 | $31.31 | 7.1% | $32.26 | $30.62 | 5.4% | 17.8% |
| 2020 | 43,288 | $34.17 | 8.3% | $34.37 | $33.21 | 3.5% | 16.0% |
| 2021 | 42,655 | $35.70 | 8.9% | $34.64 | $34.65 | 0.0% | 13.7% |
| 2022 | 42,537 | $38.32 | 10.2% | $37.24 | $37.25 | 0.0% | 15.8% |
| 2023 | 41,698 | $39.93 | 7.0% | $38.88 | $39.01 | -0.3% | 12.9% |
| 2024 | 42,904 | $41.68 | 1.6% | $41.03 | $40.89 | 0.4% | 15.6% |
| 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. | |||||||