CEO-to-top-0.1% and college-to-high-school ratios, 1979–2017
| Ratio | Log ratio | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO compensation to top 0.1% wages | College-to-high-school wages | CEO compensation to top 0.1% wages | College-to-high-school wages | |
| 1979 | 3.26 | 1.41 | 1.18 | 0.35 |
| 1989 | 2.63 | 1.59 | 0.97 | 0.46 |
| 1993 | 3.05 | 1.64 | 1.11 | 0.49 |
| 2000 | 7.77 | 1.75 | 2.05 | 0.56 |
| 2007 | 4.36 | 1.77 | 1.47 | 0.57 |
| 2009 | 4.61 | 1.74 | 1.53 | 0.55 |
| 2016 | 5.41 | 1.84 | 1.69 | 0.61 |
| 2017 | 5.40 | 1.82 | 1.69 | 0.60 |
| Change | ||||
| 1979–2007 | 1.10 | 0.35 | 0.29 | 0.22 |
| 1979–2017 | 2.13 | 0.43 | 0.50 | 0.25 |
| 1989–2017 | 2.77 | 0.26 | 0.72 | 0.13 |
Note: The college-to-high-school wage ratios compare hourly wages of workers who have a college degree with hourly wages of workers who have only a high school diploma.
Source: Authors’ analysis of data on top 0.1% wages from the EPI State of Working America Data Library, Mishel and Wolfe 2018, and extrapolation of Kaplan’s (2012b) CEO compensation series