Median weekly earnings of U.S. workers were $740 in Q2

Median weekly earnings of the nation's 99.8 million full-time wage and salary workers were $740 in the second quarter of 2010 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on July 20. This was 0.8 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 1.8 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period.

Data on usual weekly earnings is collected as part of the Current Population Survey, a nationwide sample survey of households in which respondents are asked, among other things, how much each wage and salary worker usually earns. Data shown in this release is not seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified. Highlights from the second-quarter data are:

• Seasonally adjusted median weekly earnings were $744 in the second quarter of 2010, little changed from the previous quarter, $748.
• Median weekly earnings were $740 in the second quarter of 2010 (not seasonally adjusted). Women who usually worked full time had median weekly earnings of $672, or 83.0 percent of the $810 median for men.
• The female-to-male earnings ratio was lowest among whites (81.4 percent),  compared with blacks (92.6 percent), Hispanics (94.8 percent) and Asians (94.8 percent).
• Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $632 per week, 75.4 percent of the median for white men, $838. The difference was less among women, as black women's median earnings ($585) were 85.8 percent of those for white women ($682). Overall, median earnings of Hispanics who worked full time ($529) were lower than those of blacks ($607), whites ($756), and Asians ($873).
• Usual weekly earnings of full-time workers varied by age. Among men, those age 45 to 54 and age 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings, $948 and $953, respectively. Usual weekly earnings were highest for women from age 35 to 64; median weekly earnings were $731 for women age 35 to 44 and age 45 to 54, essentially the same as the $730 median for women age 55 to 64.
• Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings – $1,229 for men and $920 for women. Men and women employed in service jobs earned the least.
• By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $440, compared with $629 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,138 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 $3,297 or more per week, compared with $2,178 or more for their female counterparts.