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True Weekly Earnings

LISEP’s measure of the weekly earnings of all members of the workforce

True
Weekly Earnings
$
1,000
$
52,026
 Annualized
Q1 2025
Headline
Weekly Earnings
$
1,194
$
62,088
 Annualized
Q1 2025
vs.
For every dollar of earnings reported by the BLS,
the TWE is ...
For every dollar
earned by White workers
Black workers earn ...
For every dollar
earned by White workers
Hispanic workers earn ...
For every dollar
earned by male workers
female workers earn ...
Using data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS),we calculate the median earnings of everyone who is employed or actively seeking employment. Thus, we take the median earnings of the whole U.S. labor force as defined by the BLS.
By comparison, the BLS headline numbers only include those who are employed at full-time jobs. Thus, if a low-income worker moves from full time to part time, or becomes unemployed, the BLS metric will report that earnings have risen, giving a false sense that earnings are getting better. TWE, on the other hand, gives policymakers access to a more comprehensive indicator of how the job market is performing as a whole.
Note: Both LISEP and BLS exclude the self-employed from their sample for measurement reasons.
True
Weekly Earnings
The True Weekly Earnings (TWE), as defined by LISEP, measures the weekly earnings of all members of the workforce — including part time and jobless who are seeking work.
True Weekly Earnings
vs. Headline Weekly Earnings
$
1,000
True Earnings
$
1,194
Headline Earnings
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$
52,026
True Earnings
$
62,088
Headline Earnings
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True Weekly Earnings
By Income Group*
$610
Bottom Quartile
$
1,000
Median
$1,676
Third Quartile
$2,675
Ninth Decile
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*
In the graph above, first quartile refers to the exact person at the 25th percentile in the distribution. So this person has earnings higher than 25% of the population and lower than 75%. Third quartile refers to the person that has earnings higher than 75% of the population and lower than 25%. Ninth decile refers to the person with earnings higher than 90% and lower than 10% of the population. Note that this does not mean that the ninth decile is the average of the top 10%; rather, it is the exact 90th percentile earner.
$31,710
Bottom Quartile
$
52,026
Median
$87,162
Third Quartile
$139,103
Ninth Decile
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True Weekly Earnings
By Race
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$859
Black
$797
Hispanic
$1,121
White
$1,276
Asian
$44,649
Black
$41,436
Hispanic
$58,286
White
$66,352
Asian
True Weekly Earnings
Earnings Gap: Black and Hispanic vs. White Workers
For every dollar earned by White workers, Black and Hispanic workers earn ...
77¢
Black
71¢
Hispanic
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True Weekly Earnings
By Sex
$894
Female
$1,129
Male
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$46,506
Female
$58,691
Male
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True Weekly Earnings
Earnings Gap: Female vs. Male Workers
For every dollar earned by male workers, female workers earn ...
79¢
Female
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True Weekly Earnings
By Education
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$675
No High School
$856
High School Diploma
$978
Some College
$1,465
Bachelors Degree
$1,841
Advanced Degree
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$35,087
No High School
$44,528
High School Diploma
$50,853
Some College
$76,171
Bachelors Degree
$95,707
Advanced Degree
True Weekly Earnings
Growth by Education
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16%
No High School
2%
High School Diploma
-1%
Some College
4%
Bachelors Degree
3%
Advanced Degree
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