Median earnings for women in the fourth quarter of 2020 were 83.4 percent of the median for men

Median weekly earnings of the nation’s 111.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were $984 in the fourth quarter of 2020. Median weekly earnings for women were $894, or 83.4 percent of the median of $1,072 for men. 

Over the year, median weekly earnings increased from $936 in the fourth quarter of 2019 to $984 in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 5.1 percent over the year. This compared with a gain of 1.2 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers over the same period. The over-the-year changes in weekly earnings data in the fourth quarter of 2020 reflect the impact on the labor market of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. Pandemic-related declines in employment in 2020, notably among lower-paid workers, put upward pressure on median weekly earnings estimates.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are not seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers: Fourth Quarter 2020." Also see "Effects of COVID-19 pandemic and response on the Employment Situation News Release" and more charts of usual weekly earnings data. Full-time workers usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or main job. People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.