• U.S. Weekly Earnings Of Wage And Salary Workers – Q3 2012

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Median weekly earnings of the nation's 103.6 million full-time wage and salary workers were $758 in the third quarter of 2012 (not seasonally adjusted). This was 0.7 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 1.7 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period. Wages by Gender: Women who usually worked full time had median weekly earnings of $685, or 82.7 percent of the $828 median for men. The female-to-male earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned 83.4 percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with black (93.2 percent), Hispanic (87.5 percent), and Asian women (73.1 percent). By Race and Ethnicity: Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median weekly earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $633 per week, or 74.1 percent of the median for white men ($854). The difference was less among women, as black women's median earnings ($590) were 82.9 percent of those for white women ($712). Overall, median earnings of Hispanics who worked full time ($556) were lower than those of blacks ($606), whites ($780), and Asians ($915). By Age: Usual weekly earnings of full-time workers varied by age. Among men, those age 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings, $976 and $980, respectively. Usual weekly earnings were highest for women age 35 to 64; weekly earnings were $740 for women age 35 to 44, $754 for women age 45 to 54, and $766 for women age 55 to 64. Workers age 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, at $437. By Occupation: Among the major occupational groups, persons employed full time in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings--$1,300 for men and $948 for women. Men and women employed in service jobs earned the least, $530 and $440, respectively. By Educational Attainment: Full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $464, compared with $648 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,170 for those holding at least a bachelor's degree. Among college graduates with advanced degrees (professional or master's degree and above), the highest earning 10 percent of male workers made $3,448 or more per week, compared with $2,311 or more for their female counterparts. Source: USDOL

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