Women's median usual weekly earnings were 83 per cent of men's among full-time wage and salary workers in 2024, according to the Current Population Survey. That compares the middle woman with the middle man across the entire full-time workforce. It does not compare two people doing the same job, and it was never intended to.
What the figure is
A comparison of two medians. Take every full-time wage and salary worker, find the middle woman’s weekly earnings and the middle man’s, and divide. That is the whole calculation.
It has moved from 62 per cent in 1979 to 83 per cent in 2024, with most of the improvement occurring in the 1980s and between 1990 and 2005. Since 2010 it has sat between 81 and 84 per cent — which is to say it has barely moved in fifteen years.
What it therefore includes
Occupational sorting, seniority distribution, hours above full-time, industry mix and every other structural difference between the two populations. All of that is inside the number by design, because it is a measure of the labor market rather than of any employer.
What it excludes
Part-time and part-year workers, since it covers full-time workers only. Measures including everyone produce a wider gap, which is one reason different outlets quote different figures without either being wrong.
Why the source matters
This figure comes from a monthly household survey of about 60,000 households and reports usual weekly earnings. The Census Bureau publishes a different measure — annual earnings for full-time, year-round workers — which produces a different number for the same year. Neither is more correct; they measure different things over different periods.
How to use it honestly
As evidence about the shape of the workforce, which is what it measures. If the claim you want to make is about two people in the same role, this is not the statistic that supports it — and the statistic that does is a different one, covered next.
Common questions
What is the current figure?
83 per cent for 2024 — women's median usual weekly earnings as a share of men's among full-time wage and salary workers.
Does it compare people in the same job?
No. It compares two medians across the whole full-time workforce, including occupation, seniority and hours differences.
Why do sources quote different numbers?
Because they use different measures. Weekly earnings for full-time workers and annual earnings for full-time year-round workers give different figures for the same year.
Has it been improving?
From 62 per cent in 1979, substantially. Since 2010 it has stayed between 81 and 84 per cent, so barely at all in the last fifteen years.
Where does the number come from?
The Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of about 60,000 households conducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.