Usual Weekly Earnings Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, April 16, 2024 		                  USDL-24-0699

Technical information:  (202) 691-6378  * cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                      USUAL WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WAGE AND SALARY WORKERS
                                       FIRST QUARTER 2024


Median weekly earnings of the nation's 119.2 million full-time wage and salary workers were
$1,139 in the first quarter of 2024 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. This was 3.5 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with
a gain of 3.2 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the
same period. 

Data on usual weekly earnings are collected as part of the Current Population Survey, a
nationwide sample survey of households in which respondents are asked, among other things,
how much each wage and salary worker usually earns. (See the Technical Note in this news
release.) Data shown in this news release are not seasonally adjusted unless otherwise
specified. 

Highlights from the first-quarter data: 

 --Median weekly earnings of full-time workers were $1,139 in the first quarter of 2024.
   Women had median weekly earnings of $1,021, or 83.2 percent of the $1,227 median for men.
   (See table 2.) 

 --The women's-to-men's earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned 82.9
   percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with 94.9 percent for Black women,
   79.3 percent for Asian women, and 90.3 percent for Hispanic women. (See table 2.) 

 --Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median earnings of Hispanics who worked full
   time ($879) were lower than those of Blacks ($908), Whites ($1,157), and Asians ($1,505).
   By sex, median weekly earnings for Black men were $935, or 74.6 percent of the median for
   White men ($1,254). Median earnings for Hispanic men were $914, or 72.9 percent of the
   median for White men. The difference was less among women, as Black women's median earnings
   were $887, or 85.3 percent of those for White women ($1,040), and earnings for Hispanic
   women were $825, or 79.3 percent of those for White women. Earnings of Asian men ($1,679) 
   and women ($1,331) were higher than those of their White counterparts. (See table 2.) 

 --By age, usual weekly earnings were highest for men ages 35 and over: median weekly earnings
   were $1,373 for men ages 35 to 44, $1,442 for men ages 45 to 54, $1,407 for men ages 55 to
   64, and $1,381 for men 65 years and over. Among women, usual weekly earnings were highest
   for workers ages 35 to 64: median weekly earnings were $1,115 for women ages 35 to 44,
   $1,156 for women ages 45 to 54, and $1,092 for women ages 55 to 64. Men and women ages 16
   to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, $767 and $703, respectively. Men's and women's
   earnings were closer among younger workers than older workers; for example, women ages 16
   to 24 earned 91.7 percent as much as men in the same age group, while the women's-to-men's
   earnings ratio was 76.1 percent for those age 55 and over. (See table 3.) 

 --Among the major occupational groups, people employed full time in management, professional,
   and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings--$1,875 for men and $1,375
   for women. People employed in service occupations earned the least--$833 for men, and $694
   for women. (See table 4.) 

 --By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma
   had median weekly earnings of $718, compared with $901 for high school graduates (no
   college) and $1,680 for those holding at least a bachelor's degree. Among college graduates
   with advanced degrees (master's, professional, and doctoral degrees), the highest earning
   10 percent of male workers made $4,867 or more per week, compared with $3,725 or more for
   their female counterparts. (See table 5.) 

 --Seasonally adjusted median weekly earnings were $1,136 in the first quarter of 2024, little
   changed from the previous quarter ($1,142). (See table 1.) 


 ____________________________________________________________________________________________
|											     |
|               Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Usual Weekly Earnings Data		     |
|											     |
| Seasonally adjusted data for median usual weekly earnings in constant (1982-84) dollars    |
| have been updated using revised seasonally adjusted data for the Consumer Price Index	     |
| for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). (Data are shown in table 1 of the news release.)          |
| Seasonally adjusted constant (1982-84) dollar estimates back to the first quarter of 2019  |
| were subject to revision.								     |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________|