Table 1
Change in annual wages, by wage group, 1979–2016
| Percent change | Percent change | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average annual wages (2016 dollars) | Long-term | Great Recession | |||||||||
| Wage group | 1979 | 2007 | 2009 | 2015 | 2016 | 1979-2007 | 1979-2016 | 2007-09 | 2009-16 | 2015–16 | 2007-16 |
| Bottom 90% | $28,919 | $33,738 | $33,533 | $34,916 | $35,083 | 16.7% | 21.3% | -0.6% | 4.6% | 0.5% | 4.0% |
| Top 90th to 99th | $94,590 | $137,465 | $137,107 | $148,105 | $148,384 | 45.3% | 56.9% | -0.3% | 8.2% | 0.2% | 7.9% |
| 90%-95% | $80,211 | $107,535 | $108,541 | $115,049 | $115,337 | 34.1% | 43.8% | 0.9% | 6.3% | 0.3% | 7.3% |
| 95%-99% | $112,563 | $174,877 | $172,815 | $189,425 | $189,694 | 55.4% | 68.5% | -1.2% | 9.8% | 0.1% | 8.5% |
| Upper 5% | $144,618 | $279,689 | $256,204 | $291,614 | $287,427 | 93.4% | 98.7% | -8.4% | 12.2% | -1.4% | 2.8% |
| Upper 1% | $272,836 | $698,935 | $589,760 | $700,368 | $678,359 | 156.2% | 148.6% | -15.6% | 15.0% | -3.1% | -2.9% |
| 99.0%–99.9% | $235,646 | $464,402 | $424,716 | $481,973 | $476,156 | 97.1% | 102.1% | -8.5% | 12.1% | -1.2% | 2.5% |
| 99.9% -100% | $607,544 | $2,809,731 | $2,075,160 | $2,665,919 | $2,498,192 | 362.5% | 311.2% | -26.1% | 20.4% | -6.3% | -11.1% |
| Average | $37,273 | $49,725 | $48,417 | $51,757 | $51,713 | 33.4% | 38.7% | -2.6% | 6.8% | -0.1% | 4.0% |
Source: EPI analysis of Kopczuk, Saez and Song (2010) and Social Security Administration wage statistics
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