Median weekly earnings $946 for workers with high school diploma, $1,533 for bachelor's degree

In the third quarter of 2024, full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and over, across all levels of education, had median weekly earnings of $1,233. This was 5.2 percent higher than a year earlier. By comparison, prices rose 2.6 percent over the same period as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $734, compared with $946 for high school graduates with no college, and $1,053 for workers with some college or an associate degree. Workers with only a bachelor's degree had median weekly earnings of $1,533 while workers with an advanced degree had median weekly earnings of $1,916 in the third quarter of 2024.

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 2024.” Also see 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. Advanced degrees include master’s, doctoral, and professional degrees such as those in law or medicine.