CEOs make 399 times as much as typical workers: CEO-to-worker compensation ratio, 1965–2021

 

Year Realized CEO compensation Granted CEO compensation
1965 20.4 14.9
1966 21.6 15.8
1967 22.8 16.7
1968 24.0 17.6
1969 23.7 17.4
1970 23.5 17.2
1971 23.2 17.0
1972 22.9 16.8
1973 22.7 16.6
1974 24.2 17.8
1975 25.7 18.9
1976 27.3 20.0
1977 28.8 21.1
1978 30.4 22.3
1979 33.0 24.2
1980 35.6 26.1
1981 38.3 28.1
1982 40.9 30.0
1983 43.5 31.9
1984 46.2 33.9
1985 48.8 35.8
1986 51.4 37.8
1987 54.1 39.7
1988 56.7 41.6
1989 59.3 43.6  
1990 74.7 54.8
1991 90.0 66.1
1992 105.3 77.3
1993 109.7 100.7
1994 87.1 116.7
1995 118.8 131.6
1996 152.2 178.3
1997 218.8 239.2
1998 300.0 299.2
1999 271.6 287.5
2000 371.7 392.9  
2001 206.6 318.8
2002 187.1 236.3
2003 228.5 226.3
2004 262.1 234.7
2005 316.2 242.8
2006 327.3 239.5
2007 334.6 246.0  
2008 208.0 215.3
2009 178.3 176.6
2010 213.6 201.9
2011 242.8 204.9
2012 368.6 200.2
2013 321.8 208.5
2014 325.3 215.8
2015 318.5 205.8
2016 269.8 209.2
2017 299.7 214.7
2018 291.7 222.4
2019 311.8 220.9
2020 365.6 208.6
2021 398.8 236.0

Notes: Average annual compensation for CEOs is for CEOs at the top 350 U.S. firms ranked by sales. Typical worker” compensation is the average annual compensation (wages and benefits of a full-time, full-year worker) of production/nonsupervisory workers in the industries that the top 350 firms operate in.

Notes: Average annual compensation for CEOs at the top 350 U.S. firms ranked by sales is measured in two ways. Both include salary, bonus, and long-term incentive payouts, but the “granted” measure includes the value of stock options and stock awards when they were granted, whereas the “realized” measure captures the value of stock-related components that accrues after options or stock awards are granted by including “stock options exercised” and “vested stock awards.” Projected value for 2021 is based on the percent change in CEO pay in the samples available in June 2020 and in June 2021 applied to the full-year 2020 value. “Typical worker” compensation is the average annual compensation (wages and benefits of a full-time, full-year worker) of production/nonsupervisory workers in the industries that the top 350 firms operate in.

Source: Authors’ analysis of data from Compustat’s ExecuComp database, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employment Statistics data series, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis NIPA tables.

View the underlying data on epi.org.