Change in annual wages, by wage group, 1979–2015
| Percent change | Percent change | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average annual wages (2015 dollars) | Long-term | Great Recession | |||||||||
| Wage group | 1979 | 2007 | 2009 | 2014 | 2015 | 1979–2007 | 1979–2015 | 2007–09 | 2009–15 | 2014–15 | 2007–15 |
| Bottom 90% | $28,559 | $33,318 | $33,118 | $33,339 | $34,481 | 16.7% | 20.7% | -0.6% | 4.1% | 3.4% | 3.5% |
| Top 90th to 99th | $93,412 | $135,753 | $135,411 | $141,469 | $146,261 | 45.3% | 56.6% | -0.3% | 8.0% | 3.4% | 7.7% |
| 90%–95% | $79,212 | $106,196 | $107,198 | $110,060 | $113,616 | 34.1% | 43.4% | 0.9% | 6.0% | 3.2% | 7.0% |
| 95%–99% | $111,161 | $172,699 | $170,676 | $180,730 | $187,067 | 55.4% | 68.3% | -1.2% | 9.6% | 3.5% | 8.3% |
| Upper 5% | $142,817 | $276,206 | $253,034 | $278,963 | $287,983 | 93.4% | 101.6% | -8.4% | 13.8% | 3.2% | 4.3% |
| Upper 1% | $269,438 | $690,232 | $582,463 | $671,897 | $691,649 | 156.2% | 156.7% | -15.6% | 18.7% | 2.9% | 0.2% |
| 99.0%–99.9% | $232,711 | $458,619 | $419,461 | $463,649 | $475,973 | 97.1% | 104.5% | -8.5% | 13.5% | 2.7% | 3.8% |
| 99.9%–100% | $599,977 | $2,774,743 | $2,049,484 | $2,546,134 | $2,632,731 | 362.5% | 338.8% | -26.1% | 28.5% | 3.4% | -5.1% |
| Average | $36,808 | $49,106 | $47,818 | $49,456 | $51,113 | 33.4% | 38.9% | -2.6% | 6.9% | 3.4% | 4.1% |
Source: EPI analysis of Kopczuk, Saez and Song (2010) and Social Security Administration wage statistics