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Earnings of Women Aged 20–59, by Age Group and Race/Ethnicity, 2020–2021

Released: September 2023

DEFINITION: Earnings consist of all wages, salaries, and self-employment income in covered and noncovered employment, including earnings that exceed the annual taxable maximum.

Chart. Title: Women's Real Median Annual Earnings, 2020-2021 (in 2021 Dollars). Bar chart with tabular version below.
Show as table
Table equivalent for chart: Women's Real Median Annual Earnings, 2020–2021 (in 2021 dollars)
Age group White, not Hispanic Black, not Hispanic Hispanic Asian
20–29 28,000 21,400 24,000 33,000
30–39 46,700 34,600 32,600 60,000
40–49 51,600 41,900 33,300 60,400
50–59 49,300 45,100 31,600 41,900

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.