| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Private Sector Manufacturing Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 10,728 | $4.16 | 0.1% | $4.16 | $4.16 | 0.2% | 12.7% |
| 1974 | 10,228 | $4.48 | 0.1% | $4.55 | $4.44 | 2.3% | 13.3% |
| 1975 | 9,346 | $4.98 | 0.2% | $4.98 | $4.98 | 0.0% | 13.3% |
| 1976 | 9,605 | $5.19 | 0.2% | $5.33 | $5.12 | 4.1% | 14.9% |
| 1977 | 10,888 | $5.57 | 0.3% | $5.85 | $5.42 | 7.9% | 15.7% |
| 1978 | 10,289 | $6.06 | 0.4% | $6.31 | $5.92 | 6.6% | 16.6% |
| 1979 | 10,731 | $6.78 | 0.6% | $6.84 | $6.84 | 0.0% | 12.7% |
| 1980 | 12,696 | $7.51 | 0.9% | $7.50 | $7.51 | -0.1% | 12.9% |
| 1981 | 2,825 | $7.77 | 0.9% | $8.07 | $7.81 | 3.3% | 14.2% |
| 1983 | 30,402 | $9.06 | 2.2% | $9.21 | $9.16 | 0.6% | 17.8% |
| 1984 | 31,455 | $9.36 | 2.6% | $9.48 | $9.47 | 0.1% | 18.5% |
| 1985 | 31,673 | $9.90 | 3.3% | $9.97 | $10.00 | -0.3% | 19.5% |
| 1986 | 32,304 | $10.33 | 4.1% | $10.34 | $10.44 | -1.0% | 19.7% |
| 1987 | 30,888 | $10.57 | 4.6% | $10.57 | $10.76 | -1.8% | 18.9% |
| 1988 | 28,841 | $11.02 | 5.5% | $10.93 | $11.24 | -2.7% | 17.9% |
| 1989 | 29,153 | $11.35 | 0.5% | $11.42 | $11.32 | 0.8% | 18.7% |
| 1990 | 29,720 | $11.78 | 0.6% | $11.79 | $11.79 | 0.0% | 18.8% |
| 1991 | 28,116 | $12.31 | 0.8% | $12.17 | $12.33 | -1.3% | 17.7% |
| 1992 | 27,059 | $12.58 | 1.0% | $12.61 | $12.55 | 0.4% | 19.6% |
| 1993 | 25,834 | $12.89 | 1.0% | $13.00 | $12.86 | 1.1% | 20.9% |
| 1994 | 29,669 | $13.45 | 1.4% | $13.95 | $13.34 | 4.6% | 24.1% |
| 1995 | 29,164 | $13.86 | 1.6% | $14.25 | $13.78 | 3.5% | 22.6% |
| 1996 | 19,832 | $14.38 | 1.8% | $14.44 | $14.25 | 1.4% | 21.3% |
| 1997 | 20,040 | $14.83 | 2.0% | $15.18 | $14.71 | 3.2% | 22.9% |
| 1998 | 19,435 | $15.36 | 0.6% | $15.42 | $15.39 | 0.2% | 21.2% |
| 1999 | 17,942 | $16.14 | 0.6% | $16.01 | $16.08 | -0.4% | 22.7% |
| 2000 | 17,100 | $16.92 | 0.9% | $16.53 | $16.88 | -2.1% | 20.1% |
| 2001 | 17,028 | $18.02 | 1.0% | $17.04 | $17.97 | -5.1% | 19.4% |
| 2002 | 17,441 | $18.53 | 1.0% | $17.63 | $18.41 | -4.2% | 20.9% |
| 2003 | 15,566 | $18.98 | 1.1% | $18.20 | $18.72 | -2.8% | 20.5% |
| 2004 | 15,076 | $19.49 | 1.4% | $18.18 | $19.35 | -6.0% | 19.1% |
| 2005 | 14,898 | $20.19 | 1.6% | $18.93 | $19.88 | -4.8% | 20.7% |
| 2006 | 14,483 | $20.79 | 1.7% | $19.55 | $20.56 | -4.9% | 19.7% |
| 2007 | 14,301 | $21.43 | 2.0% | $20.54 | $21.23 | -3.3% | 18.0% |
| 2008 | 14,038 | $22.72 | 2.7% | $21.02 | $22.66 | -7.2% | 18.7% |
| 2009 | 12,771 | $23.45 | 2.7% | $20.88 | $23.39 | -10.8% | 14.0% |
| 2010 | 11,786 | $23.51 | 2.9% | $22.22 | $23.56 | -5.7% | 19.6% |
| 2011 | 11,684 | $23.85 | 3.1% | $22.19 | $23.77 | -6.7% | 23.7% |
| 2012 | 12,066 | $24.50 | 3.5% | $22.57 | $24.42 | -7.6% | 21.2% |
| 2013 | 11,725 | $25.28 | 4.0% | $22.63 | $25.14 | -10.0% | 18.2% |
| 2014 | 11,561 | $25.38 | 3.8% | $23.25 | $24.91 | -6.7% | 21.2% |
| 2015 | 10,798 | $26.48 | 4.2% | $23.53 | $26.16 | -10.0% | 17.3% |
| 2016 | 10,978 | $27.73 | 5.1% | $24.06 | $26.97 | -10.8% | 19.7% |
| 2017 | 10,793 | $28.38 | 5.5% | $25.10 | $27.83 | -9.8% | 20.7% |
| 2018 | 10,355 | $29.74 | 5.7% | $26.38 | $28.89 | -8.7% | 22.1% |
| 2019 | 10,167 | $30.48 | 6.1% | $26.00 | $30.05 | -13.4% | 15.7% |
| 2020 | 8,807 | $33.45 | 7.6% | $28.57 | $32.46 | -12.0% | 13.9% |
| 2021 | 8,690 | $35.36 | 8.3% | $28.21 | $34.06 | -17.2% | 13.9% |
| 2022 | 8,620 | $37.65 | 9.6% | $31.09 | $36.31 | -14.4% | 19.1% |
| 2023 | 8,527 | $38.80 | 6.4% | $30.74 | $37.85 | -18.8% | 12.2% |
| 2024 | 8,404 | $40.27 | 1.3% | $33.48 | $39.66 | -15.6% | 16.1% |
| 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. | |||||||