| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Public Sector Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 7,344 | $4.45 | 0.0% | $4.86 | $4.33 | 12.4% | 9.1% |
| 1974 | 7,079 | $4.76 | 0.0% | $5.32 | $4.57 | 16.2% | 10.9% |
| 1975 | 7,444 | $5.13 | 0.1% | $5.67 | $4.95 | 14.6% | 10.5% |
| 1976 | 7,257 | $5.41 | 0.0% | $6.10 | $5.17 | 18.0% | 11.9% |
| 1977 | 9,389 | $5.74 | 0.1% | $6.51 | $5.35 | 21.8% | 9.9% |
| 1978 | 8,702 | $6.02 | 0.1% | $6.75 | $5.64 | 19.7% | 9.1% |
| 1979 | 8,685 | $6.80 | 0.3% | $7.24 | $6.52 | 11.0% | 7.4% |
| 1980 | 11,233 | $7.31 | 0.3% | $7.79 | $7.02 | 11.0% | 6.1% |
| 1981 | 2,336 | $7.47 | 0.3% | $8.23 | $7.14 | 15.4% | 8.2% |
| 1983 | 28,182 | $8.88 | 1.3% | $9.79 | $8.52 | 15.0% | 7.9% |
| 1984 | 27,641 | $9.36 | 1.6% | $10.30 | $8.94 | 15.3% | 8.7% |
| 1985 | 27,615 | $9.92 | 2.1% | $10.81 | $9.51 | 13.6% | 8.8% |
| 1986 | 28,240 | $10.34 | 2.3% | $11.32 | $9.87 | 14.7% | 9.3% |
| 1987 | 27,674 | $10.81 | 2.9% | $12.02 | $10.21 | 17.8% | 9.4% |
| 1988 | 26,550 | $11.43 | 4.1% | $12.79 | $10.73 | 19.2% | 10.6% |
| 1989 | 26,706 | $11.86 | 0.2% | $13.07 | $11.05 | 18.2% | 10.2% |
| 1990 | 28,219 | $12.39 | 0.3% | $13.86 | $11.48 | 20.7% | 12.5% |
| 1991 | 27,693 | $12.94 | 0.4% | $14.27 | $12.11 | 17.9% | 10.7% |
| 1992 | 27,242 | $13.36 | 0.4% | $14.76 | $12.47 | 18.4% | 10.9% |
| 1993 | 26,804 | $13.90 | 0.5% | $15.29 | $12.95 | 18.1% | 11.8% |
| 1994 | 29,882 | $14.48 | 0.8% | $16.26 | $13.34 | 21.9% | 15.6% |
| 1995 | 29,287 | $14.73 | 0.8% | $16.58 | $13.61 | 21.9% | 14.4% |
| 1996 | 20,663 | $15.27 | 0.8% | $17.01 | $14.08 | 20.8% | 14.0% |
| 1997 | 20,601 | $15.67 | 0.9% | $17.66 | $14.44 | 22.3% | 14.1% |
| 1998 | 20,147 | $16.12 | 0.3% | $18.00 | $15.00 | 20.0% | 14.4% |
| 1999 | 19,874 | $16.85 | 0.3% | $18.59 | $15.75 | 18.0% | 15.0% |
| 2000 | 19,284 | $17.42 | 0.3% | $19.06 | $16.54 | 15.3% | 13.2% |
| 2001 | 20,328 | $18.06 | 0.3% | $19.90 | $17.01 | 17.0% | 14.1% |
| 2002 | 22,519 | $18.74 | 0.3% | $20.35 | $17.69 | 15.1% | 10.8% |
| 2003 | 21,624 | $19.45 | 0.5% | $20.96 | $18.18 | 15.3% | 13.0% |
| 2004 | 21,435 | $20.16 | 0.7% | $21.80 | $19.05 | 14.4% | 10.9% |
| 2005 | 21,822 | $20.53 | 0.5% | $22.16 | $19.25 | 15.1% | 11.8% |
| 2006 | 21,550 | $21.15 | 0.8% | $22.92 | $20.14 | 13.8% | 12.3% |
| 2007 | 21,944 | $21.97 | 0.9% | $23.88 | $21.00 | 13.7% | 9.8% |
| 2008 | 21,816 | $22.83 | 1.0% | $24.60 | $21.94 | 12.1% | 11.5% |
| 2009 | 21,885 | $23.25 | 1.2% | $25.05 | $22.10 | 13.3% | 9.9% |
| 2010 | 20,597 | $24.00 | 1.5% | $25.92 | $22.85 | 13.4% | 9.6% |
| 2011 | 19,739 | $24.60 | 1.6% | $26.59 | $23.10 | 15.1% | 12.1% |
| 2012 | 19,541 | $24.81 | 1.8% | $26.68 | $23.62 | 12.9% | 10.3% |
| 2013 | 18,741 | $25.12 | 1.9% | $26.95 | $24.28 | 11.0% | 10.4% |
| 2014 | 18,253 | $25.57 | 1.8% | $27.44 | $24.33 | 12.8% | 10.0% |
| 2015 | 17,724 | $26.81 | 2.5% | $28.36 | $25.60 | 10.8% | 8.1% |
| 2016 | 17,779 | $27.11 | 2.4% | $29.05 | $25.80 | 12.6% | 11.3% |
| 2017 | 17,484 | $27.88 | 2.7% | $29.76 | $26.74 | 11.3% | 9.2% |
| 2018 | 16,889 | $28.62 | 3.1% | $30.03 | $27.75 | 8.2% | 8.8% |
| 2019 | 16,019 | $29.40 | 3.2% | $31.74 | $28.30 | 12.1% | 10.4% |
| 2020 | 15,312 | $31.67 | 4.0% | $33.21 | $30.63 | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| 2021 | 14,537 | $33.08 | 4.5% | $34.53 | $31.77 | 8.7% | 6.0% |
| 2022 | 14,238 | $34.43 | 4.9% | $36.46 | $33.48 | 8.9% | 8.1% |
| 2023 | 13,934 | $36.21 | 3.6% | $38.41 | $35.56 | 8.0% | 5.0% |
| 2024 | 14,439 | $37.36 | 0.7% | $40.20 | $36.51 | 10.1% | 7.4% |
| 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. | |||||||