Cumulative change in real annual wages, by wage group, 1979–2012
| Year | Top 1% | 95 to 99% | 90 to 95% | Bottom 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 1980 | 3.4% | -0.2% | -1.3% | -2.2% |
| 1981 | 3.1% | -0.1% | -1.1% | -2.6% |
| 1982 | 9.5% | 2.2% | -0.9% | -3.9% |
| 1983 | 13.6% | 3.6% | 0.7% | -3.7% |
| 1984 | 20.7% | 6.0% | 2.5% | -1.8% |
| 1985 | 23.0% | 8.1% | 4.0% | -1.0% |
| 1986 | 32.6% | 12.5% | 6.4% | 1.1% |
| 1987 | 53.5% | 15.0% | 7.4% | 2.1% |
| 1988 | 68.7% | 18.4% | 8.2% | 2.2% |
| 1989 | 63.3% | 18.2% | 8.1% | 1.8% |
| 1990 | 64.8% | 16.5% | 7.1% | 1.1% |
| 1991 | 53.6% | 15.5% | 6.9% | 0.0% |
| 1992 | 74.3% | 19.2% | 9.0% | 1.5% |
| 1993 | 67.9% | 20.6% | 9.2% | 0.9% |
| 1994 | 63.4% | 21.0% | 11.2% | 2.0% |
| 1995 | 70.2% | 24.1% | 12.2% | 2.8% |
| 1996 | 79.0% | 27.0% | 13.6% | 4.1% |
| 1997 | 100.6% | 32.3% | 16.9% | 7.0% |
| 1998 | 113.1% | 38.2% | 21.3% | 11.0% |
| 1999 | 129.7% | 42.9% | 25.0% | 13.2% |
| 2000 | 144.8% | 48.0% | 26.8% | 15.3% |
| 2001 | 130.4% | 46.4% | 29.0% | 15.7% |
| 2002 | 109.3% | 43.2% | 29.0% | 15.6% |
| 2003 | 113.9% | 44.9% | 30.3% | 15.7% |
| 2004 | 127.2% | 47.1% | 30.8% | 15.6% |
| 2005 | 135.4% | 48.7% | 30.8% | 15.0% |
| 2006 | 143.4% | 52.1% | 32.5% | 15.7% |
| 2007 | 156.2% | 55.4% | 34.1% | 16.7% |
| 2008 | 137.5% | 53.8% | 34.2% | 16.0% |
| 2009 | 116.2% | 53.6% | 35.4% | 16.0% |
| 2010 | 130.9% | 55.7% | 35.7% | 15.2% |
| 2011 | 134.0% | 56.9% | 36.2% | 14.5% |
| 2012 | 153.6% | 61.6% | 39.2% | 17.1% |
Note: Data are taken from Kopczuk, Saez, and Song (2010, Table A3). Data for 2006 through 2012 are extrapolated using changes in wage shares from Social Security Administration wage statistics. The final results of the paper by Kopczuk, Saez, and Song printed in a journal used a more restrictive definition of wages so the original definition is employed here, as recommended in private correspondence with Kopczuk. The midpoint of each wage bracket is used to compute the wage income of each bracket and the sum of all brackets. We use interpolation to derive cutoffs building from the bottom up to obtain the 0–90th percentile bracket and then estimate the remaining categories.
Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of Kopczuk, Saez, and Song (2010, Table A3) and Social Security Administration wage statistics
UPDATED FROM: Figure 4H in The State of Working America, 12th Edition, an Economic Policy Institute book published by Cornell University Press in 2012.
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