Wages by percentile
Three points on the full-time wage ladder: the 10th percentile near the bottom, the median in the middle, the 90th near the top. One average would hide the distance between them.
Hover to read all three at a quarter. The distance between the lines is the spread of full-time pay.
Source: BLS Current Population Survey, via FRED · LEU0252911200Q / LEU0252881500Q / LEU0252911500Q · 2000 to Apr 2026 · nominal dollars
Reading it. These are weekly earnings at three rungs of the ladder for full-time wage and salary workers — where the rungs sit and how far apart they are, not why they moved. A snapshot of positions each quarter, not the same workers over time.
What it leaves out. Full-time wage and salary workers only; before taxes, benefits, and transfers. Deciles begin in 2000.