| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| White Male Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 21,341 | $4.71 | 0.2% | $5.04 | $4.57 | 10.4% | 17.0% |
| 1974 | 20,147 | $5.07 | 0.3% | $5.45 | $4.91 | 11.0% | 16.9% |
| 1975 | 19,856 | $5.49 | 0.4% | $5.87 | $5.35 | 9.7% | 17.4% |
| 1976 | 19,649 | $5.83 | 0.5% | $6.33 | $5.63 | 12.4% | 19.5% |
| 1977 | 23,831 | $6.26 | 0.7% | $6.98 | $5.96 | 17.2% | 20.9% |
| 1978 | 22,508 | $6.68 | 0.7% | $7.41 | $6.38 | 16.2% | 19.9% |
| 1979 | 22,520 | $7.57 | 1.0% | $8.01 | $7.41 | 8.1% | 14.6% |
| 1980 | 27,915 | $8.25 | 1.3% | $8.67 | $8.09 | 7.1% | 14.2% |
| 1981 | 6,053 | $8.36 | 1.4% | $9.32 | $8.19 | 13.8% | 16.5% |
| 1983 | 70,501 | $9.66 | 3.2% | $10.77 | $9.51 | 13.3% | 22.1% |
| 1984 | 70,871 | $10.05 | 4.0% | $11.16 | $9.91 | 12.6% | 22.1% |
| 1985 | 71,861 | $10.54 | 4.7% | $11.73 | $10.39 | 13.0% | 22.2% |
| 1986 | 73,339 | $11.00 | 5.6% | $12.16 | $10.87 | 11.8% | 20.4% |
| 1987 | 70,908 | $11.32 | 6.4% | $12.53 | $11.27 | 11.2% | 20.3% |
| 1988 | 67,391 | $11.87 | 7.6% | $13.23 | $11.79 | 12.3% | 19.4% |
| 1989 | 68,317 | $12.20 | 1.1% | $13.63 | $11.84 | 15.1% | 21.1% |
| 1990 | 71,218 | $12.67 | 1.3% | $14.15 | $12.34 | 14.7% | 21.1% |
| 1991 | 68,414 | $13.10 | 1.5% | $14.55 | $12.77 | 13.9% | 20.4% |
| 1992 | 66,982 | $13.33 | 1.6% | $15.03 | $12.99 | 15.7% | 20.3% |
| 1993 | 64,439 | $13.73 | 1.8% | $15.52 | $13.34 | 16.4% | 22.1% |
| 1994 | 74,374 | $14.36 | 2.1% | $16.34 | $13.95 | 17.2% | 26.4% |
| 1995 | 73,549 | $14.80 | 2.4% | $16.77 | $14.41 | 16.4% | 23.8% |
| 1996 | 52,459 | $15.00 | 2.5% | $17.08 | $14.72 | 16.0% | 22.3% |
| 1997 | 53,203 | $15.59 | 2.8% | $17.74 | $15.27 | 16.1% | 23.0% |
| 1998 | 52,701 | $16.30 | 1.1% | $18.40 | $16.09 | 14.3% | 22.7% |
| 1999 | 50,725 | $17.21 | 1.3% | $18.79 | $16.95 | 10.9% | 22.0% |
| 2000 | 49,425 | $17.91 | 1.5% | $19.53 | $17.75 | 10.0% | 21.0% |
| 2001 | 51,986 | $18.92 | 1.7% | $20.28 | $18.65 | 8.8% | 20.8% |
| 2002 | 56,114 | $19.47 | 1.9% | $21.00 | $19.28 | 8.9% | 20.8% |
| 2003 | 53,130 | $19.90 | 2.1% | $21.47 | $19.55 | 9.8% | 22.1% |
| 2004 | 52,626 | $20.34 | 2.2% | $22.21 | $20.06 | 10.7% | 20.3% |
| 2005 | 53,734 | $20.97 | 2.5% | $22.93 | $20.56 | 11.5% | 21.4% |
| 2006 | 53,408 | $21.59 | 2.7% | $23.55 | $21.22 | 11.0% | 18.8% |
| 2007 | 53,240 | $22.34 | 3.0% | $24.45 | $22.11 | 10.6% | 19.3% |
| 2008 | 52,245 | $23.51 | 3.4% | $25.69 | $23.23 | 10.6% | 19.4% |
| 2009 | 50,532 | $24.00 | 3.7% | $25.95 | $23.82 | 9.0% | 18.4% |
| 2010 | 47,472 | $24.12 | 3.9% | $26.48 | $24.04 | 10.1% | 19.7% |
| 2011 | 46,391 | $24.29 | 3.9% | $26.53 | $24.04 | 10.3% | 19.5% |
| 2012 | 47,158 | $25.06 | 4.3% | $27.15 | $25.02 | 8.5% | 18.9% |
| 2013 | 45,823 | $25.61 | 4.7% | $27.70 | $25.52 | 8.6% | 20.0% |
| 2014 | 45,273 | $25.95 | 4.7% | $28.05 | $25.62 | 9.5% | 20.1% |
| 2015 | 42,788 | $27.25 | 5.4% | $28.99 | $26.89 | 7.8% | 19.0% |
| 2016 | 43,619 | $28.29 | 5.8% | $30.01 | $27.71 | 8.3% | 20.4% |
| 2017 | 42,892 | $28.93 | 6.0% | $31.08 | $28.41 | 9.4% | 20.9% |
| 2018 | 41,768 | $30.57 | 6.9% | $31.85 | $30.06 | 6.0% | 20.8% |
| 2019 | 40,352 | $31.72 | 7.3% | $32.92 | $31.14 | 5.7% | 17.7% |
| 2020 | 36,278 | $34.26 | 8.3% | $34.84 | $33.59 | 3.7% | 15.9% |
| 2021 | 35,302 | $35.82 | 8.8% | $35.18 | $35.03 | 0.4% | 14.2% |
| 2022 | 35,022 | $38.55 | 10.3% | $37.62 | $37.69 | -0.2% | 15.3% |
| 2023 | 34,331 | $40.02 | 7.0% | $39.64 | $39.26 | 1.0% | 12.5% |
| 2024 | 35,287 | $41.74 | 1.5% | $42.38 | $41.18 | 2.9% | 16.2% |
| 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. | |||||||