Table 16. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in current dollars by race, 

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 1979–2009 annual averages

1979....... $241 $248 $199 - $194 $182 $184 $169 - $157

1980....... 262 269 212 - 209 201 203 185 - 172

1981....... 284 291 235 - 223 219 221 206 - 190

1982....... 302 310 245 - 240 239 242 217 - 203

1983....... 313 320 261 - 250 252 254 232 - 215

1984....... 326 336 269 - 259 265 268 241 - 223

1985......... 344 356 277 - 270 277 281 252 - 230

1986 1

...... 359 371 291 - 277 291 294 264 - 241

1987....... 374 384 301 - 285 303 307 276 - 251

1988......... 385 395 314 - 290 315 318 288 - 260

1989....... 399 409 319 - 298 328 334 301 - 269

1990 1

...... 412 424 329 - 304 346 353 308 - 278

1991....... 426 442 348 - 312 366 373 323 - 292

1992....... 440 458 357 - 321 380 387 335 - 302

1993....... 459 475 369 - 331 393 401 348 - 313

1994 1

...... 467 484 371 - 324 399 408 346 - 305

1995....... 479 494 383 - 329 406 415 355 - 305

1996....... 490 506 387 - 339 418 428 362 - 316

1997 1

...... 503 519 400 - 351 431 444 375 - 318

1998 1

...... 523 545 426 - 370 456 468 400 - 337

1999 1

...... 549 573 445 - 385 473 483 409 - 348

Black or 

African 

American

Asian

Total, both sexes Women

Hispanic or 

Latino 

ethnicity

Total White Total White

Black or 

African 

American

Asian

Hispanic or 

Latino 

ethnicity

Year 

2000 1...... 576 590 474 $615 399 493 502 429 $547 366

2001....... 596 610 491 639 417 512 522 454 563 388

2002....... 608 623 498 658 424 529 547 473 566 397

2003 1...... 620 636 514 693 440 552 567 491 598 410

2004....... 638 657 525 708 456 573 584 505 613 419

2005...... 651 672 520 753 471 585 596 499 665 429

2006....... 671 690 554 784 486 600 609 519 699 440

2007....... 695 716 569 830 503 614 626 533 731 473

2008 1

...... 722 742 589 861 529 638 654 554 753 501

2009 ...... 739 757 601 880 541 657 669 582 779 509

 See footnote at end of table.

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Table 16. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in current dollars by race, 

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 1979–2009 annual averages—Continued

1979....... $292 $298 $227 - $219 62.3 61.7 74.4 - 71.7 

1980....... 313 320 244 - 234 64.2 63.4 75.8 - 73.5 

1981....... 340 350 268 - 251 64.4 63.1 76.9 - 75.7 

1982....... 364 375 278 - 269 65.7 64.5 78.1 - 75.5 

1983....... 379 387 294 - 274 66.5 65.6 78.9 - 78.5 

1984....... 392 401 303 - 287 67.6 66.8 79.5 - 77.7 

1985......... 407 418 305 - 296 68.1 67.2 82.6 - 77.7 

1986 1

...... 419 433 319 - 299 69.5 67.9 82.8 - 80.6 

1987....... 434 450 327 - 306 69.8 68.2 84.4 - 82.0 

1988......... 449 465 348 - 308 70.2 68.4 82.8 - 84.4 

1989....... 468 482 348 - 315 70.1 69.3 86.5 - 85.4 

1990 1

...... 481 494 361 - 318 71.9 71.5 85.3 - 87.4 

1991....... 493 506 375 - 323 74.2 73.7 86.1 - 90.4 

1992....... 501 514 380 - 339 75.8 75.3 88.2 - 89.1 

1993....... 510 524 392 - 346 77.1 76.5 88.8 - 90.5 

1994 1

...... 522 547 400 - 343 76.4 74.6 86.5 - 88.9 

1995....... 538 566 411 - 350 75.5 73.3 86.4 - 87.1 

1996....... 557 580 412 - 356 75.0 73.8 87.9 - 88.8 

1997 1

...... 579 595 432 - 371 74.4 74.6 86.8 - 85.7 

1998 1

...... 598 615 468 - 390 76.3 76.1 85.5 - 86.4 

1999 1

...... 618 638 488 - 406 76.5 75.7 83.8 - 85.7 

White

Black or 

African 

American

Asian

Hispanic or 

Latino 

ethnicity

Hispanic or 

Latino 

ethnicity

Total White

Black or 

African 

American

Asian

Year 

Men Women's earnings as a percent of men's

Total

2000 1...... 641 662 510 $685 417 76.9 75.8 84.1 79.9 87.8 

2001....... 670 689 529 732 440 76.4 75.8 85.8 76.9 88.2 

2002....... 679 702 524 756 451 77.9 77.9 90.3 74.9 88.0 

2003 1...... 695 715 555 772 464 79.4 79.3 88.5 77.5 88.4 

2004....... 713 732 569 802 480 80.4 79.8 88.8 76.4 87.3 

2005...... 722 743 559 825 489 81.0 80.2 89.3 80.6 87.7 

2006....... 743 761 591 882 505 80.8 80.0 87.8 79.3 87.1 

2007....... 766 788 600 936 520 80.2 79.4 88.8 78.1 91.0 

2008 1

...... 798 825 620 966 559 79.9 79.3 89.4 78.0 89.6 

2009 ...... 819 845 621 952 569 80.2 79.2 93.7 81.8 89.5 

1 The comparability of historical labor force data has been affected at various times by methodological and conceptual

changes in the Current Population Survey (CPS). For an explanation, see the Historical Comparability documentation provided

at http://www.bls.gov/cps/eetech_methods.pdf.

NOTE: Beginning in 2003, estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) include people

who selected this race group only; people who selected more than one race group are not included. Prior to 2003, people who

reported more than one race were included in the group they identified as the main race. Data for 2000–02 are for the category

Asians and Pacific Islanders. Starting in 2003, Asians constitute a separate category. For more information, see the Historical

Comparability documentation. Data for Asians were not tabulated prior to 2000.

SOURCE: Current Population Survey, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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