| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Private Sector Nonagricultural Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 31,794 | $3.88 | 0.1% | $4.57 | $3.65 | 25.0% | 18.1% |
| 1974 | 30,229 | $4.18 | 0.2% | $4.95 | $3.93 | 26.0% | 18.2% |
| 1975 | 29,715 | $4.54 | 0.3% | $5.37 | $4.30 | 24.8% | 19.8% |
| 1976 | 30,008 | $4.83 | 0.4% | $5.76 | $4.57 | 26.1% | 21.2% |
| 1977 | 36,352 | $5.16 | 0.4% | $6.33 | $4.82 | 31.3% | 24.1% |
| 1978 | 35,066 | $5.53 | 0.5% | $6.78 | $5.18 | 30.9% | 23.6% |
| 1979 | 34,844 | $6.30 | 0.6% | $7.28 | $6.05 | 20.3% | 17.4% |
| 1980 | 43,632 | $6.84 | 0.8% | $7.90 | $6.56 | 20.3% | 17.7% |
| 1981 | 9,972 | $6.92 | 0.9% | $8.50 | $6.71 | 26.8% | 20.5% |
| 1983 | 118,474 | $7.94 | 1.8% | $9.77 | $7.74 | 26.2% | 26.6% |
| 1984 | 120,469 | $8.23 | 2.3% | $10.07 | $8.06 | 24.9% | 27.3% |
| 1985 | 123,860 | $8.61 | 2.7% | $10.57 | $8.43 | 25.5% | 26.9% |
| 1986 | 128,604 | $8.98 | 3.2% | $10.94 | $8.81 | 24.2% | 25.3% |
| 1987 | 125,316 | $9.27 | 3.7% | $11.21 | $9.18 | 22.2% | 25.2% |
| 1988 | 118,596 | $9.69 | 4.4% | $11.73 | $9.60 | 22.1% | 23.7% |
| 1989 | 120,792 | $10.16 | 0.6% | $12.26 | $9.86 | 24.3% | 25.9% |
| 1990 | 125,970 | $10.61 | 0.8% | $12.59 | $10.37 | 21.5% | 24.4% |
| 1991 | 121,676 | $11.02 | 0.9% | $12.97 | $10.79 | 20.2% | 23.7% |
| 1992 | 119,931 | $11.30 | 1.0% | $13.35 | $11.07 | 20.6% | 23.6% |
| 1993 | 116,376 | $11.63 | 1.1% | $13.82 | $11.39 | 21.4% | 25.1% |
| 1994 | 137,126 | $12.16 | 1.4% | $14.48 | $11.88 | 21.9% | 26.8% |
| 1995 | 137,177 | $12.49 | 1.5% | $14.78 | $12.22 | 20.9% | 26.0% |
| 1996 | 95,025 | $12.76 | 1.6% | $15.04 | $12.57 | 19.6% | 25.0% |
| 1997 | 97,270 | $13.30 | 1.8% | $15.73 | $13.11 | 20.0% | 24.5% |
| 1998 | 97,047 | $13.95 | 0.7% | $16.35 | $13.83 | 18.2% | 23.7% |
| 1999 | 92,881 | $14.70 | 0.8% | $16.76 | $14.49 | 15.7% | 23.7% |
| 2000 | 91,202 | $15.41 | 1.0% | $17.40 | $15.27 | 13.9% | 21.7% |
| 2001 | 95,510 | $16.36 | 1.2% | $18.05 | $16.11 | 12.1% | 21.6% |
| 2002 | 102,898 | $16.83 | 1.3% | $18.70 | $16.63 | 12.5% | 23.3% |
| 2003 | 99,452 | $17.19 | 1.4% | $19.23 | $16.93 | 13.6% | 22.7% |
| 2004 | 98,262 | $17.61 | 1.5% | $19.78 | $17.38 | 13.9% | 22.6% |
| 2005 | 100,007 | $18.20 | 1.7% | $20.46 | $17.90 | 14.3% | 21.8% |
| 2006 | 99,739 | $18.81 | 1.8% | $21.12 | $18.52 | 14.0% | 20.4% |
| 2007 | 99,644 | $19.41 | 2.0% | $21.84 | $19.23 | 13.5% | 21.6% |
| 2008 | 98,415 | $20.40 | 2.3% | $22.91 | $20.17 | 13.5% | 20.8% |
| 2009 | 95,336 | $20.70 | 2.5% | $23.30 | $20.55 | 13.4% | 20.0% |
| 2010 | 90,496 | $20.84 | 2.6% | $23.61 | $20.81 | 13.5% | 21.9% |
| 2011 | 88,583 | $21.20 | 2.7% | $23.59 | $21.09 | 11.9% | 20.1% |
| 2012 | 90,133 | $21.78 | 3.0% | $24.27 | $21.72 | 11.7% | 20.4% |
| 2013 | 87,593 | $22.26 | 3.2% | $24.89 | $22.18 | 12.2% | 20.5% |
| 2014 | 86,610 | $22.78 | 3.4% | $25.23 | $22.49 | 12.2% | 21.1% |
| 2015 | 82,722 | $23.73 | 3.8% | $25.81 | $23.37 | 10.4% | 19.1% |
| 2016 | 84,078 | $24.69 | 4.2% | $26.48 | $24.26 | 9.1% | 20.8% |
| 2017 | 83,177 | $25.42 | 4.4% | $27.83 | $24.92 | 11.7% | 21.3% |
| 2018 | 80,777 | $26.74 | 5.0% | $28.72 | $26.17 | 9.7% | 20.8% |
| 2019 | 77,935 | $27.96 | 5.5% | $29.87 | $27.31 | 9.4% | 17.3% |
| 2020 | 69,088 | $30.50 | 6.5% | $31.53 | $29.70 | 6.2% | 15.4% |
| 2021 | 68,499 | $31.89 | 7.0% | $31.99 | $30.90 | 3.5% | 13.3% |
| 2022 | 68,836 | $34.19 | 8.0% | $34.09 | $33.19 | 2.7% | 14.9% |
| 2023 | 67,304 | $36.18 | 5.7% | $36.03 | $35.12 | 2.6% | 14.2% |
| 2024 | 69,640 | $37.93 | 1.2% | $38.34 | $36.94 | 3.8% | 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. | |||||||