Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Median weekly earnings were $916 for women in third quarter 2021, 83.3 percent of men's earnings

October 25, 2021

Median weekly earnings of the nation's 115.3 million full-time wage and salary workers were $1,001 in the third quarter of 2021. Women had median weekly earnings of $916, or 83.3 percent of the $1,100 median for men.

Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, third quarter 2021
Race and ethnicity Total Men Women

Total

$1,001 $1,100 $916

White

1,024 1,134 929

Black or African American

799 813 783

Asian

1,309 1,414 1,189

Hispanic or Latino

779 826 723

In the third quarter of 2021, median weekly earnings for Black men were $813, or 71.7 percent of the median for White men ($1,134). Median earnings for Hispanic men were $826, or 72.8 percent of the median for White men. The difference was less among women, as Black women's median earnings were $783, or 84.3 percent of those for White women ($929), and earnings for Hispanic women were $723, or 77.8 percent of those for White women. Earnings of Asian men ($1,414) and women ($1,189) were higher than those of their White counterparts.

Among full-time workers age 25 and over, median weekly earnings for women with a bachelor's degree or higher were $1,311 in the third quarter of 2021, or 79.4 percent of the median for men with a bachelor’s degree or higher ($1,652). The difference was greater among workers with less than a high school diploma, as women ($534) earned 77.5 percent as much as their male ($689) counterparts.

Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers age 25 years and older, by educational attainment, and sex, first quarter 2000–third quarter 2021
Quarter Men Women
Less than a high school diploma High school graduates, no college Some college or associate degree Bachelor's degree or higher Less than a high school diploma High school graduates, no college Some college or associate degree Bachelor's degree or higher

Q1 2000

$412 $586 $688 $1,011 $302 $423 $495 $749

Q2 2000

416 598 687 1,020 304 412 501 748

Q3 2000

400 587 689 1,039 303 425 511 758

Q4 2000

397 592 700 1,013 308 423 513 768

Q1 2001

416 591 707 1,066 313 431 515 776

Q2 2001

420 609 728 1,048 320 446 523 780

Q3 2001

423 621 726 1,095 316 442 518 785

Q4 2001

416 616 729 1,068 314 452 523 803

Q1 2002

419 618 718 1,110 326 451 551 798

Q2 2002

435 616 740 1,078 323 459 538 800

Q3 2002

418 617 726 1,071 330 454 533 826

Q4 2002

418 617 737 1,112 322 468 551 810

Q1 2003

431 627 731 1,129 338 464 561 819

Q2 2003

437 621 740 1,134 322 474 555 841

Q3 2003

427 632 736 1,120 327 480 559 830

Q4 2003

423 632 750 1,138 331 477 566 834

Q1 2004

434 640 747 1,148 339 479 571 855

Q2 2004

455 657 760 1,123 326 489 580 850

Q3 2004

442 634 763 1,136 334 491 580 859

Q4 2004

449 648 774 1,163 335 491 575 873

Q1 2005

449 644 769 1,171 341 496 587 877

Q2 2005

456 654 754 1,150 343 491 583 873

Q3 2005

461 650 764 1,168 343 491 594 874

Q4 2005

452 658 775 1,187 338 493 583 905

Q1 2006

473 672 792 1,223 352 498 603 868

Q2 2006

475 669 779 1,200 356 496 597 923

Q3 2006

468 694 808 1,191 363 501 603 920

Q4 2006

461 674 802 1,207 363 506 604 917

Q1 2007

480 684 806 1,200 368 511 612 908

Q2 2007

490 680 820 1,244 377 508 605 943

Q3 2007

472 697 816 1,250 368 512 612 938

Q4 2007

482 697 799 1,265 365 516 606 937

Q1 2008

479 701 819 1,274 375 518 624 950

Q2 2008

497 715 843 1,277 378 521 632 942

Q3 2008

505 710 835 1,291 381 518 622 968

Q4 2008

503 710 826 1,297 377 525 634 960

Q1 2009

493 712 844 1,353 388 527 627 962

Q2 2009

503 714 836 1,337 387 550 630 973

Q3 2009

495 715 824 1,310 382 545 624 981

Q4 2009

506 721 833 1,273 371 547 640 963

Q1 2010

494 710 850 1,333 383 551 642 978

Q2 2010

485 714 846 1,311 377 542 645 993

Q3 2010

485 701 838 1,338 400 542 632 992

Q4 2010

479 718 846 1,331 392 539 633 981

Q1 2011

487 714 825 1,338 388 555 650 1,007

Q2 2011

496 721 838 1,314 393 557 656 988

Q3 2011

489 720 839 1,331 404 545 625 993

Q4 2011

482 723 855 1,341 394 562 648 1,005

Q1 2012

494 733 854 1,356 380 565 668 1,008

Q2 2012

515 742 876 1,377 399 572 660 1,001

Q3 2012

503 726 822 1,366 381 571 653 1,004

Q4 2012

518 738 874 1,387 381 539 655 991

Q1 2013

488 732 866 1,373 400 574 652 1,050

Q2 2013

502 722 869 1,390 404 581 657 1,040

Q3 2013

509 742 846 1,378 404 569 654 1,031

Q4 2013

499 732 858 1,433 390 564 666 1,051

Q1 2014

501 756 859 1,393 410 564 658 1,063

Q2 2014

533 737 863 1,377 407 584 655 1,049

Q3 2014

519 753 877 1,366 408 590 660 1,019

Q4 2014

518 756 885 1,407 412 568 669 1,065

Q1 2015

506 747 876 1,429 410 575 654 1,048

Q2 2015

522 758 885 1,397 420 593 664 1,051

Q3 2015

515 753 887 1,416 424 588 675 1,064

Q4 2015

548 776 887 1,439 418 589 662 1,091

Q1 2016

526 751 893 1,461 415 596 689 1,102

Q2 2016

529 762 890 1,431 421 596 673 1,086

Q3 2016

550 785 895 1,461 426 600 694 1,099

Q4 2016

586 779 906 1,501 436 603 695 1,117

Q1 2017

576 792 922 1,490 433 602 695 1,135

Q2 2017

583 797 917 1,474 444 620 707 1,134

Q3 2017

591 799 915 1,460 447 608 703 1,128

Q4 2017

586 798 915 1,507 467 611 697 1,125

Q1 2018

616 808 934 1,502 457 605 714 1,128

Q2 2018

606 810 938 1,522 462 620 720 1,141

Q3 2018

610 823 935 1,518 476 615 712 1,154

Q4 2018

595 835 989 1,541 480 622 720 1,155

Q1 2019

633 821 986 1,589 483 622 718 1,158

Q2 2019

644 851 987 1,565 496 644 734 1,179

Q3 2019

654 857 997 1,573 501 629 755 1,227

Q4 2019

643 849 995 1,569 499 636 742 1,230

Q1 2020

661 858 1,014 1,609 527 661 754 1,182

Q2 2020

685 878 1,014 1,646 523 682 783 1,253

Q3 2020

696 901 1,056 1,665 523 677 785 1,270

Q4 2020

647 884 1,039 1,646 529 665 791 1,234

Q1 2021

664 893 1,021 1,658 533 675 794 1,259

Q2 2021

669 887 1,045 1,668 569 674 786 1,252

Q3 2021

689 916 1,074 1,652 534 707 816 1,311

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: Third Quarter 2021" 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. The median is the midpoint in the earnings distribution; half of workers earn more than the median and half earn less. People whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Median weekly earnings were $916 for women in third quarter 2021, 83.3 percent of men's earnings at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/median-weekly-earnings-were-916-for-women-in-third-quarter-2021-83-3-percent-of-mens-earnings.htm (visited December 07, 2024).

OF INTEREST
spotlight
Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics



triangle