Change in annual wages, by wage group, 1979–2018
| Percent change | Percent change | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average annual wages (2017 dollars) | Long-term | Great Recession | |||||||||
| Wage group | 1979 | 2007 | 2009 | 2016 | 2017 | 1979–2007 | 1979–2017 | 2007–09 | 2009–17 | 2016–17 | 2007–17 |
| Bottom 90% | $29,608 | $34,542 | $34,332 | $35,838 | $36,182 | 16.7% | 22.2% | -0.6% | 5.4% | 1.0% | 4.7% |
| Top 90th to 99th | $96,843 | $140,739 | $140,373 | $151,575 | $152,476 | 45.3% | 57.4% | -0.3% | 8.6% | 0.6% | 8.3% |
| 90%–95% | $82,122 | $110,096 | $111,127 | $117,817 | $118,400 | 34.1% | 44.2% | 0.9% | 6.5% | 0.5% | 7.5% |
| 95%–99% | $115,245 | $179,043 | $176,932 | $193,773 | $195,070 | 55.4% | 69.3% | -1.2% | 10.3% | 0.7% | 9.0% |
| Upper 5% | $148,063 | $286,352 | $262,307 | $293,608 | $299,810 | 93.4% | 102.5% | -8.4% | 14.3% | 2.1% | 4.7% |
| Upper 1% | $279,336 | $715,586 | $603,810 | $692,948 | $718,766 | 156.2% | 157.3% | -15.6% | 19.0% | 3.7% | 0.4% |
| 99.0%–99.9% | $241,260 | $475,466 | $434,834 | $486,396 | $492,311 | 97.1% | 104.1% | -8.5% | 13.2% | 1.2% | 3.5% |
| 99.9%–100% | $622,018 | $2,876,667 | $2,124,597 | $2,551,917 | $2,756,865 | 362.5% | 343.2% | -26.1% | 29.8% | 8.0% | -4.2% |
| Average | $38,161 | $50,910 | $49,571 | $52,825 | $53,474 | 33.4% | 40.1% | -2.6% | 7.9% | 1.2% | 5.0% |
Source: EPI analysis of Kopczuk, Saez and Song (2010) and Social Security Administration wage statistics