Earnings at the top for AAPI and white workers have been impossible to accurately measure since the mid 2010s: Topcode shares by race/ethnicity, 1979–2021
| Year | White | Black | Hispanic | AAPI | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.4% | |
| 1980 | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.7% | |
| 1981 | 1.2% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 1.0% | |
| 1982 | 1.6% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 1.9% | |
| 1983 | 2.1% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 2.0% | |
| 1984 | 2.6% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2.0% | |
| 1985 | 3.1% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 2.5% | |
| 1986 | 3.7% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 3.8% | |
| 1987 | 4.3% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 4.3% | |
| 1988 | 5.1% | 1.6% | 1.4% | 4.8% | |
| 1989 | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| 1990 | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.8% | |
| 1991 | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.9% | |
| 1992 | 0.9% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1.1% | |
| 1993 | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.9% | |
| 1994 | 1.4% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 1.4% | |
| 1995 | 1.6% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 1.6% | |
| 1996 | 1.7% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 1.8% | |
| 1997 | 2.0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2.4% | |
| 1998 | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.6% | |
| 1999 | 0.9% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.7% | |
| 2000 | 1.0% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1.1% | |
| 2001 | 1.1% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 1.3% | |
| 2002 | 1.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 1.4% | |
| 2003 | 1.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1.3% | |
| 2004 | 1.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 1.7% | |
| 2005 | 1.6% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 1.6% | |
| 2006 | 1.9% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 2.1% | |
| 2007 | 2.1% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 2.2% | |
| 2008 | 2.4% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2.8% | |
| 2009 | 2.5% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 2.6% | |
| 2010 | 2.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 3.0% | |
| 2011 | 2.8% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 3.2% | |
| 2012 | 3.2% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 3.9% | |
| 2013 | 3.4% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 4.1% | |
| 2014 | 3.5% | 1.2% | 1.0% | 4.6% | |
| 2015 | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 5.3% | |
| 2016 | 4.2% | 1.6% | 1.3% | 5.9% | |
| 2017 | 4.5% | 1.6% | 1.4% | 6.2% | |
| 2018 | 5.2% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 6.6% | |
| 2019 | 5.5% | 2.1% | 1.9% | 8.3% | |
| 2020 | 6.4% | 2.4% | 2.3% | 10.3% | |
| 2021 | 6.8% | 2.6% | 2.5% | 10.9% | |
Notes: The topcode nominal dollar thresholds for weekly earnings have been updated three times since 1973. The topcode value was $999 from 1973–1988, $1923 from 1989–1997, and has currently sat at $2,884.61 since 1998. AAPI refers to Asian American and Pacific Islander. Race/ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive (i.e., white non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, AAPI non-Hispanic, and Hispanic any race). Prior to 1989, AAPI was not reported separately and included in “Other.”
Source: Authors’ analysis of EPI Microdata Extracts.
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