Table 3
Change in annual wages, by wage group, 1979–2011 (2011 dollars)
| Average annual wages (2011 dollars) | Change | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wage group | 1979 | 2004 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 | 1979– 2004 |
1979– 2007 |
2007– 2011 |
1979– 2011 |
| Bottom 90% | $27,110 | $31,344 | $31,626 | $31,443 | $31,050 | 16% | 17% | -2% | 15% |
| Bottom fifth | 6,569 | 7,471 | – | – | – | 14 | – | – | – |
| Second fifth | 16,369 | 18,192 | – | – | – | 11 | – | – | – |
| Middle fifth | 27,236 | 30,787 | – | – | – | 13 | – | – | – |
| Fourth fifth | 42,173 | 48,234 | – | – | – | 14 | – | – | – |
| Next tenth | 59,293 | 72,724 | – | – | – | 23 | – | – | – |
| 90th to 99th percentile | $88,670 | $123,588 | $128,857 | $128,562 | $130,473 | 39% | 45% | 1% | 47% |
| 90–95 | 75,191 | 98,319 | 100,801 | 101,776 | 102,429 | 31 | 34 | 2 | 36 |
| 95–99 | 105,519 | 155,175 | 163,927 | 162,044 | 165,527 | 47 | 55 | 1 | 57 |
| Top 1.0% | $255,760 | $580,976 | $655,171 | $553,002 | $598,570 | 127% | 156% | -9% | 134% |
| 99.0–99.5 | 179,591 | 299,742 | – | – | – | 67 | – | – | – |
| 99.5–99.9 | 272,532 | 525,903 | – | – | – | 93 | – | – | – |
| 99.9–100 (Top 0.1%) | 569,521 | 2,207,437 | 2,633,800 | 1,945,820 | 2,158,892 | 288 | 362 | -18 | 279 |
Source: Authors' analysis of Kopczuk, Saez, and Song (2010) and Social Security Administration wage statistics
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