CEO pay is up 997% since 1978: Percent change in CEO compensation, stock prices, and typical worker compensation, 1978-2014

CEO pay S&P 500 Typical worker pay
1978 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
1979 0.0% -2.2% -1.3%
1980 0.0% 1.5% -3.8%
1981 0.0% -0.1% -4.3%
1982 0.1% -11.9% -4.1%
1983 0.1% 13.3% -3.6%
1984 0.1% 8.8% -4.0%
1985 0.1% 22.5% -4.2%
1986 0.1% 52.2% -3.5%
1987 0.1% 78.8% -4.6%
1988 0.2% 59.7% -5.0%
1989 86.2% 86.1% -5.3%
1990 86.3% 83.6% -5.6%
1991 86.4% 99.2% -5.7%
1992 229.9% 114.7% -4.5%
1993 270.0% 127.6% -4.1%
1994 192.8% 127.2% -3.8%
1995 294.2% 161.1% -4.2%
1996 401.4% 214.8% -4.1%
1997 663.0% 301.3% -3.0%
1998 1036.7% 391.9% -0.7%
1999 904.3% 489.2% 0.8%
2000 1270.8% 513.0% 1.4%
2001 668.6% 398.9% 2.9%
2002 579.0% 308.7% 5.0%
2003 768.3% 288.2% 6.2%
2004 854.2% 342.7% 6.0%
2005 1017.2% 357.4% 5.5%
2006 1144.3% 380.7% 5.6%
2007 1163.3% 427.0%  6.5%
2008 792.4% 319.1% 6.5%
2009 611.2% 226.9% 10.9%
2010 751.5% 286.7% 11.9%
2011 765.1% 316.8% 10.5%
2012 908.6% 344.4% 9.5%
2013 956.6% 421.9% 10.1%
2014 997.2% 503.4% 10.9%

Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of data from Compustat's ExecuComp database, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Current Employment Statistics program, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis NIPA tables, as seen in Top CEOs Make 300 Times More than Typical Workers.

View the underlying data on epi.org.