| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Manufacturing Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 10,807 | $4.17 | 0.1% | $4.17 | $4.16 | 0.1% | 12.8% |
| 1974 | 10,289 | $4.49 | 0.1% | $4.55 | $4.45 | 2.4% | 13.5% |
| 1975 | 9,415 | $4.99 | 0.2% | $4.99 | $4.99 | 0.1% | 13.5% |
| 1976 | 9,653 | $5.20 | 0.2% | $5.33 | $5.12 | 4.0% | 14.9% |
| 1977 | 10,960 | $5.58 | 0.3% | $5.85 | $5.43 | 7.7% | 15.6% |
| 1978 | 10,344 | $6.06 | 0.4% | $6.31 | $5.92 | 6.6% | 16.5% |
| 1979 | 10,810 | $6.79 | 0.6% | $6.85 | $6.85 | 0.0% | 12.7% |
| 1980 | 12,801 | $7.51 | 0.9% | $7.51 | $7.52 | -0.1% | 12.7% |
| 1981 | 2,844 | $7.78 | 0.9% | $8.07 | $7.82 | 3.2% | 14.0% |
| 1983 | 30,703 | $9.08 | 2.2% | $9.23 | $9.16 | 0.8% | 17.7% |
| 1984 | 31,732 | $9.37 | 2.6% | $9.50 | $9.48 | 0.2% | 18.5% |
| 1985 | 31,923 | $9.91 | 3.3% | $9.98 | $10.00 | -0.2% | 19.4% |
| 1986 | 32,528 | $10.34 | 4.1% | $10.36 | $10.44 | -0.8% | 19.6% |
| 1987 | 31,104 | $10.58 | 4.6% | $10.58 | $10.77 | -1.7% | 18.7% |
| 1988 | 29,033 | $11.03 | 5.5% | $10.95 | $11.24 | -2.6% | 17.9% |
| 1989 | 29,350 | $11.35 | 0.5% | $11.43 | $11.32 | 1.0% | 19.0% |
| 1990 | 29,885 | $11.79 | 0.6% | $11.80 | $11.80 | 0.0% | 18.8% |
| 1991 | 28,321 | $12.32 | 0.8% | $12.19 | $12.34 | -1.2% | 17.7% |
| 1992 | 27,247 | $12.60 | 1.0% | $12.63 | $12.57 | 0.5% | 19.6% |
| 1993 | 25,995 | $12.91 | 1.0% | $13.02 | $12.88 | 1.1% | 20.8% |
| 1994 | 29,848 | $13.46 | 1.4% | $13.97 | $13.35 | 4.7% | 24.1% |
| 1995 | 29,331 | $13.87 | 1.6% | $14.28 | $13.79 | 3.6% | 22.7% |
| 1996 | 19,921 | $14.39 | 1.7% | $14.46 | $14.26 | 1.4% | 21.6% |
| 1997 | 20,118 | $14.84 | 2.0% | $15.21 | $14.72 | 3.3% | 23.1% |
| 1998 | 19,510 | $15.36 | 0.6% | $15.44 | $15.40 | 0.3% | 21.2% |
| 1999 | 18,014 | $16.14 | 0.6% | $16.01 | $16.08 | -0.4% | 22.8% |
| 2000 | 17,172 | $16.93 | 0.9% | $16.54 | $16.88 | -2.1% | 20.1% |
| 2001 | 17,115 | $18.03 | 1.0% | $17.07 | $17.97 | -5.0% | 19.4% |
| 2002 | 17,538 | $18.53 | 1.0% | $17.67 | $18.40 | -4.0% | 21.1% |
| 2003 | 15,648 | $18.99 | 1.1% | $18.22 | $18.72 | -2.6% | 20.5% |
| 2004 | 15,148 | $19.50 | 1.3% | $18.19 | $19.36 | -6.1% | 19.1% |
| 2005 | 14,982 | $20.20 | 1.6% | $18.96 | $19.88 | -4.7% | 21.1% |
| 2006 | 14,566 | $20.80 | 1.7% | $19.58 | $20.56 | -4.7% | 19.6% |
| 2007 | 14,387 | $21.42 | 2.0% | $20.56 | $21.23 | -3.2% | 18.0% |
| 2008 | 14,148 | $22.75 | 2.7% | $21.08 | $22.67 | -7.0% | 19.0% |
| 2009 | 12,880 | $23.47 | 2.7% | $20.96 | $23.40 | -10.4% | 14.1% |
| 2010 | 11,885 | $23.53 | 2.9% | $22.30 | $23.57 | -5.4% | 19.5% |
| 2011 | 11,772 | $23.92 | 3.1% | $22.28 | $23.83 | -6.5% | 23.2% |
| 2012 | 12,161 | $24.55 | 3.5% | $22.69 | $24.44 | -7.2% | 21.3% |
| 2013 | 11,826 | $25.32 | 4.0% | $22.84 | $25.15 | -9.2% | 18.2% |
| 2014 | 11,635 | $25.40 | 3.8% | $23.31 | $24.92 | -6.5% | 21.0% |
| 2015 | 10,868 | $26.51 | 4.2% | $23.59 | $26.19 | -9.9% | 16.9% |
| 2016 | 11,060 | $27.73 | 5.1% | $24.10 | $26.95 | -10.6% | 19.6% |
| 2017 | 10,869 | $28.45 | 5.6% | $25.23 | $27.88 | -9.5% | 20.9% |
| 2018 | 10,424 | $29.76 | 5.7% | $26.42 | $28.89 | -8.5% | 22.1% |
| 2019 | 10,246 | $30.53 | 6.1% | $25.98 | $30.08 | -13.6% | 15.6% |
| 2020 | 8,865 | $33.47 | 7.7% | $28.71 | $32.45 | -11.5% | 13.9% |
| 2021 | 8,757 | $35.40 | 8.3% | $28.40 | $34.09 | -16.7% | 13.5% |
| 2022 | 8,692 | $37.64 | 9.5% | $31.00 | $36.30 | -14.6% | 18.5% |
| 2023 | 8,595 | $38.80 | 6.4% | $30.76 | $37.83 | -18.7% | 12.0% |
| 2024 | 8,465 | $40.24 | 1.3% | $33.38 | $39.64 | -15.8% | 14.5% |
| 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. | |||||||