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Median earnings for women in 2021 were 83.1 percent of the median for men

January 24, 2022

In 2021, median weekly earnings for wage and salary workers who usually worked full time were $998. Median earnings for women were $912, or 83.1 percent of men’s earnings.

Women's-to-men's earnings ratio, by race and Hispanic ethnicity, for wage and salary workers who usually worked full time, 2000–21 annual averages 
Year Total White Black Asian Hispanic

2000

76.9% 75.8% 84.1% 79.9% 87.8%

2001

76.4 75.8 85.8 76.9 88.2

2002

77.9 77.9 90.3 74.9 88.0

2003

79.4 79.3 88.5 77.5 88.4

2004

80.4 79.8 88.8 76.4 87.3

2005

81.0 80.2 89.3 80.6 87.7

2006

80.8 80.0 87.8 79.3 87.1

2007

80.2 79.4 88.8 78.1 91.0

2008

79.9 79.3 89.4 78.0 89.6

2009

80.2 79.2 93.7 81.8 89.5

2010

81.2 80.5 93.5 82.6 90.7

2011

82.2 82.1 91.1 77.4 90.7

2012

80.9 80.8 90.1 73.0 88.0

2013

82.1 81.7 91.3 77.3 91.1

2014

82.5 81.8 89.9 77.9 89.0

2015

81.1 80.8 90.4 77.7 89.7

2016

81.9 81.3 89.3 78.4 88.4

2017

81.8 81.9 92.5 74.8 87.4

2018

81.1 81.5 89.0 75.5 85.7

2019

81.5 81.1 91.5 76.7 85.9

2020

82.3 81.5 92.0 79.0 88.5

2021

83.1 82.2 94.1 78.5 87.6

The women's-to-men's earnings ratio varied by race and Hispanic ethnicity. White women earned 82.2 percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with 94.1 percent for Black women, 78.5 percent for Asian women, and 87.6 percent for Hispanic women.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers: Fourth Quarter 2021." 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. People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Median earnings for women in 2021 were 83.1 percent of the median for men at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/median-earnings-for-women-in-2021-were-83-1-percent-of-the-median-for-men.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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