The Current Population Survey collects data on usual weekly earnings from households nationwide. According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers for the third quarter of 2014 were $790, not seasonally adjusted*. This is a 2.5% increase compared to last year’s report. Here are some of the highlights:
Sex Comparison
- Women who worked full-time had median weekly earnings of $715, compared to the $870 median for men.
Race & Ethnicity Comparison
- White women earned 81.8% as much as their male counterparts, compared with Black (89.5%), Asian (73.1%), and Hispanic women (89.6%).
- Median weekly earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $679 per week, or 75.8 percent of the median for white men ($896).
- Black women’s median earnings were $608, 82.9% of those for white women ($733).
- Median earnings of Hispanics who worked full time ($598) were lower than those of Blacks ($638), Whites ($816), and Asians ($945).
Age Comparison
- Among men, those age 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings, at $1,053.
- Usual weekly earnings were highest for women age 35 to 64.
- Weekly earnings were $784 for women age 35 to 44, $772 for women age 45 to 54, and $787 for women age 55 to 64.
- Workers age 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, at $480.
Occupation Comparison
- Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings– $1,326 for men and $980 for women.
- Men and women employed in service jobs had much lower earnings, $585 and $467, respectively.
Education Comparison
- By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $488, compared with $681 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,170 for those holding at least a bachelor’s degree.
- Among college graduates with advanced degrees (professional or master’s degree and above), the highest earning 10 percent of male workers made $3,439 or more per week, compared with $2,293 or more for their female counterparts.
*Seasonally adjusted median weekly earnings were $797 in the third quarter of 2014, up from the previous quarter ($782).
