| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Private Sector Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 32,430 | $3.85 | 0.1% | $4.56 | $3.62 | 25.9% | 18.3% |
| 1974 | 30,887 | $4.14 | 0.2% | $4.95 | $3.89 | 27.2% | 18.3% |
| 1975 | 30,368 | $4.50 | 0.3% | $5.36 | $4.25 | 26.0% | 19.9% |
| 1976 | 30,631 | $4.80 | 0.3% | $5.76 | $4.53 | 27.2% | 21.4% |
| 1977 | 37,202 | $5.12 | 0.4% | $6.32 | $4.78 | 32.3% | 24.4% |
| 1978 | 35,875 | $5.48 | 0.5% | $6.78 | $5.13 | 32.2% | 23.9% |
| 1979 | 35,549 | $6.26 | 0.6% | $7.28 | $6.01 | 21.1% | 17.7% |
| 1980 | 44,562 | $6.79 | 0.8% | $7.89 | $6.51 | 21.2% | 18.0% |
| 1981 | 10,207 | $6.86 | 0.9% | $8.50 | $6.65 | 27.9% | 20.6% |
| 1983 | 120,987 | $7.88 | 1.8% | $9.76 | $7.68 | 27.1% | 26.8% |
| 1984 | 122,823 | $8.16 | 2.3% | $10.06 | $7.99 | 25.8% | 27.5% |
| 1985 | 126,122 | $8.54 | 2.7% | $10.57 | $8.36 | 26.4% | 27.1% |
| 1986 | 130,886 | $8.91 | 3.2% | $10.94 | $8.74 | 25.2% | 25.5% |
| 1987 | 127,542 | $9.20 | 3.7% | $11.21 | $9.10 | 23.1% | 25.5% |
| 1988 | 120,798 | $9.62 | 4.3% | $11.72 | $9.53 | 23.1% | 23.9% |
| 1989 | 122,988 | $10.09 | 0.6% | $12.25 | $9.79 | 25.2% | 26.0% |
| 1990 | 128,278 | $10.53 | 0.8% | $12.58 | $10.29 | 22.3% | 24.5% |
| 1991 | 123,941 | $10.94 | 0.9% | $12.96 | $10.71 | 21.1% | 23.8% |
| 1992 | 122,075 | $11.22 | 1.0% | $13.33 | $10.99 | 21.4% | 23.7% |
| 1993 | 118,415 | $11.54 | 1.1% | $13.81 | $11.31 | 22.1% | 25.2% |
| 1994 | 139,220 | $12.09 | 1.3% | $14.46 | $11.80 | 22.5% | 26.9% |
| 1995 | 139,323 | $12.41 | 1.4% | $14.76 | $12.14 | 21.6% | 26.1% |
| 1996 | 96,785 | $12.67 | 1.5% | $15.02 | $12.49 | 20.2% | 25.1% |
| 1997 | 98,951 | $13.21 | 1.8% | $15.71 | $13.02 | 20.7% | 24.5% |
| 1998 | 98,742 | $13.85 | 0.7% | $16.33 | $13.74 | 18.9% | 23.8% |
| 1999 | 94,565 | $14.60 | 0.8% | $16.73 | $14.40 | 16.2% | 23.8% |
| 2000 | 92,870 | $15.30 | 1.0% | $17.38 | $15.17 | 14.6% | 21.7% |
| 2001 | 97,146 | $16.26 | 1.1% | $18.03 | $16.01 | 12.7% | 21.7% |
| 2002 | 104,726 | $16.73 | 1.3% | $18.68 | $16.53 | 13.0% | 23.3% |
| 2003 | 100,366 | $17.12 | 1.3% | $19.22 | $16.88 | 13.9% | 22.7% |
| 2004 | 99,157 | $17.54 | 1.5% | $19.77 | $17.32 | 14.2% | 22.7% |
| 2005 | 100,888 | $18.14 | 1.6% | $20.44 | $17.85 | 14.5% | 21.8% |
| 2006 | 100,630 | $18.74 | 1.8% | $21.10 | $18.46 | 14.3% | 20.3% |
| 2007 | 100,549 | $19.34 | 2.0% | $21.83 | $19.17 | 13.9% | 21.5% |
| 2008 | 99,298 | $20.32 | 2.3% | $22.88 | $20.10 | 13.8% | 20.8% |
| 2009 | 96,206 | $20.63 | 2.4% | $23.29 | $20.48 | 13.7% | 20.0% |
| 2010 | 91,303 | $20.76 | 2.6% | $23.60 | $20.73 | 13.8% | 21.9% |
| 2011 | 89,466 | $21.12 | 2.7% | $23.57 | $21.02 | 12.1% | 20.1% |
| 2012 | 91,016 | $21.69 | 2.9% | $24.24 | $21.64 | 12.0% | 20.4% |
| 2013 | 88,375 | $22.18 | 3.2% | $24.88 | $22.11 | 12.5% | 20.5% |
| 2014 | 87,472 | $22.69 | 3.4% | $25.22 | $22.41 | 12.5% | 21.1% |
| 2015 | 83,580 | $23.63 | 3.8% | $25.81 | $23.29 | 10.8% | 19.0% |
| 2016 | 84,975 | $24.59 | 4.2% | $26.46 | $24.17 | 9.5% | 20.8% |
| 2017 | 84,038 | $25.32 | 4.4% | $27.80 | $24.84 | 11.9% | 21.3% |
| 2018 | 81,594 | $26.64 | 4.9% | $28.69 | $26.09 | 10.0% | 20.7% |
| 2019 | 78,799 | $27.85 | 5.4% | $29.83 | $27.22 | 9.6% | 17.2% |
| 2020 | 69,844 | $30.36 | 6.4% | $31.50 | $29.58 | 6.5% | 15.4% |
| 2021 | 69,221 | $31.76 | 7.0% | $31.93 | $30.78 | 3.7% | 13.3% |
| 2022 | 69,523 | $34.06 | 8.0% | $34.02 | $33.08 | 2.8% | 14.8% |
| 2023 | 67,970 | $36.07 | 5.7% | $35.98 | $35.01 | 2.7% | 14.2% |
| 2024 | 70,345 | $37.77 | 1.2% | $38.31 | $36.80 | 4.1% | 14.6% |
| 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. | |||||||