Earnings of Men, Women Aged 20–59, by Age Group and Race/Ethnicity, 2020–2021
June Zaccone
Earnings of Men, Aged 20–59, by Age Group and Race/Ethnicity, 2020–2021
Released: September 2023DEFINITION: Earnings consist of all wages, salaries, and self-employment income in covered and noncovered employment, including earnings that exceed the annual taxable maximum.
In the 2-year period 2020–2021:
- For the 20–29 age group, the real median annual earnings of:
- White, non-Hispanic men were 34% higher than Black, non-Hispanic men and 16% higher than Hispanic men.
- Asian men were 34% higher than Black, non-Hispanic men and 15% higher than Hispanic men.
- For the 50–59 age group, the real median annual earnings of:
- White, non-Hispanic men were 49% higher than Black, non-Hispanic men and 53% higher than Hispanic men.
- Asian men were 67% higher than Black, non-Hispanic men 71% higher than Hispanic men.
Earnings of Women Aged 20–59, by Age Group and Race/Ethnicity, 2020–2021
Released: September 2023DEFINITION: Earnings consist of all wages, salaries, and self-employment income in covered and noncovered employment, including earnings that exceed the annual taxable maximum.
In the 2-year period 2020–2021:
- For the 20–29 age group, the real median annual earnings of:
- White, non-Hispanic women were 31% higher than Black, non-Hispanic women and 17% higher than Hispanic women.
- Asian women were 54% higher than Black, non-Hispanic women and 38% higher than Hispanic women.
- For the 50–59 age group, the real median annual earnings of:
- White, non-Hispanic women were 9% higher than Black, non-Hispanic women and 56% higher than Hispanic women.
- Asian women were 7% lower than Black, non-Hispanic women and 33% higher than Hispanic women.
SOURCE: Social Security Administration (SSA) calculations using SSA earnings data linked to Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement public-use files.
NOTES: Earnings are indexed to 2021 values based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.
Includes workers with annual earnings equal to or greater than one earnings credit. In current dollars, the earnings required to earn a single credit were $1,410 in 2020 and $1,470 in 2021.
Current Population Survey data were merged for the 2-year period 2020–2021 to reduce annual variability that can occur when sampling relatively small demographic groups.
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