| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Public Administration | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 1,875 | $5.02 | 0.0% | $4.97 | $5.03 | -1.3% | 3.8% |
| 1974 | 1,885 | $5.37 | 0.1% | $5.42 | $5.36 | 1.1% | 3.2% |
| 1975 | 2,029 | $5.71 | 0.1% | $5.71 | $5.71 | 0.0% | 2.2% |
| 1976 | 1,929 | $5.95 | 0.1% | $6.18 | $5.88 | 5.1% | 6.8% |
| 1977 | 2,590 | $6.21 | 0.0% | $6.58 | $6.08 | 8.3% | 5.2% |
| 1978 | 2,338 | $6.74 | 0.1% | $7.11 | $6.60 | 7.8% | 5.3% |
| 1979 | 2,497 | $7.50 | 0.3% | $7.72 | $7.41 | 4.1% | 6.9% |
| 1980 | 3,444 | $7.98 | 0.6% | $8.29 | $7.84 | 5.7% | 7.7% |
| 1981 | 699 | $8.39 | 0.4% | $8.73 | $8.19 | 6.7% | 8.3% |
| 1983 | 8,475 | $9.87 | 2.3% | $10.06 | $9.84 | 2.2% | 5.2% |
| 1984 | 8,287 | $10.51 | 3.1% | $10.74 | $10.40 | 3.2% | 5.6% |
| 1985 | 8,454 | $10.93 | 3.3% | $10.97 | $10.89 | 0.8% | 5.3% |
| 1986 | 8,819 | $11.40 | 3.7% | $11.52 | $11.34 | 1.6% | 5.2% |
| 1987 | 8,493 | $11.78 | 3.8% | $12.24 | $11.55 | 6.0% | 6.1% |
| 1988 | 8,282 | $12.46 | 5.3% | $13.03 | $12.18 | 7.0% | 8.3% |
| 1989 | 8,274 | $12.84 | 0.2% | $13.13 | $12.49 | 5.1% | 6.8% |
| 1990 | 8,675 | $13.41 | 0.3% | $14.01 | $12.88 | 8.8% | 9.2% |
| 1991 | 8,378 | $14.15 | 0.5% | $14.44 | $13.81 | 4.6% | 6.3% |
| 1992 | 8,188 | $14.61 | 0.5% | $14.97 | $14.27 | 4.9% | 6.4% |
| 1993 | 8,073 | $15.35 | 0.7% | $15.60 | $14.97 | 4.2% | 7.9% |
| 1994 | 9,363 | $15.43 | 0.7% | $16.22 | $15.03 | 7.9% | 9.9% |
| 1995 | 9,446 | $15.76 | 0.8% | $16.71 | $15.32 | 9.1% | 7.5% |
| 1996 | 6,468 | $16.65 | 0.9% | $16.90 | $15.98 | 5.7% | 8.2% |
| 1997 | 6,455 | $17.12 | 1.0% | $17.58 | $16.41 | 7.2% | 11.7% |
| 1998 | 6,322 | $17.72 | 0.3% | $18.22 | $17.10 | 6.5% | 9.5% |
| 1999 | 6,195 | $18.52 | 0.2% | $18.61 | $17.80 | 4.6% | 10.5% |
| 2000 | 6,029 | $19.02 | 0.2% | $19.19 | $18.37 | 4.5% | 9.1% |
| 2001 | 6,234 | $20.10 | 0.1% | $20.26 | $19.18 | 5.7% | 9.5% |
| 2002 | 6,988 | $20.66 | 0.1% | $20.78 | $19.51 | 6.5% | 7.0% |
| 2003 | 6,715 | $21.54 | 0.4% | $21.70 | $20.19 | 7.5% | 7.4% |
| 2004 | 6,739 | $22.54 | 0.6% | $22.54 | $21.35 | 5.6% | 5.6% |
| 2005 | 6,965 | $22.84 | 0.5% | $22.88 | $21.36 | 7.1% | 8.1% |
| 2006 | 6,882 | $23.79 | 1.0% | $23.45 | $22.80 | 2.9% | 8.3% |
| 2007 | 7,005 | $24.78 | 1.2% | $24.56 | $23.53 | 4.3% | 6.6% |
| 2008 | 7,016 | $25.86 | 1.4% | $25.34 | $24.89 | 1.8% | 6.0% |
| 2009 | 7,036 | $26.09 | 1.5% | $25.56 | $24.76 | 3.2% | 7.4% |
| 2010 | 6,808 | $26.88 | 2.2% | $26.11 | $25.60 | 2.0% | 7.2% |
| 2011 | 6,483 | $27.73 | 2.2% | $26.76 | $25.95 | 3.1% | 8.4% |
| 2012 | 6,274 | $28.16 | 2.4% | $27.18 | $26.61 | 2.2% | 6.0% |
| 2013 | 6,134 | $28.70 | 2.5% | $27.69 | $27.21 | 1.8% | 7.7% |
| 2014 | 6,102 | $29.02 | 2.4% | $28.45 | $27.17 | 4.7% | 8.5% |
| 2015 | 5,885 | $30.99 | 3.8% | $29.38 | $29.02 | 1.2% | 5.9% |
| 2016 | 5,948 | $31.18 | 3.5% | $30.10 | $28.98 | 3.9% | 10.6% |
| 2017 | 5,959 | $32.23 | 3.8% | $30.63 | $29.90 | 2.4% | 7.5% |
| 2018 | 5,860 | $32.89 | 4.5% | $30.45 | $31.44 | -3.2% | 5.6% |
| 2019 | 5,536 | $33.93 | 5.0% | $33.16 | $31.84 | 4.2% | 8.0% |
| 2020 | 5,608 | $36.23 | 5.9% | $34.43 | $34.33 | 0.3% | 10.1% |
| 2021 | 5,315 | $37.32 | 6.2% | $35.91 | $35.19 | 2.0% | 6.1% |
| 2022 | 5,215 | $39.80 | 7.5% | $37.94 | $37.87 | 0.2% | 6.0% |
| 2023 | 5,242 | $41.07 | 5.8% | $39.04 | $40.31 | -3.1% | 4.4% |
| 2024 | 5,443 | $41.82 | 1.1% | $42.02 | $40.80 | 3.0% | 9.3% |
| 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. | |||||||