Chart assignment
Charts to read and discuss
Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.
Chart 1 of 2 · Jobs and wages
How much does a typical US full-time worker earn each week?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
The typical (median) full-time worker earned $1,232 a week in the third quarter of 2026, up from $234 in early 1979, about 5.3 times as much. That is in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation: consumer prices rose about 4.8 times from early 1979 to mid-2026. The fourth quarter of 2025 is missing because a lapse in federal funding stopped the survey in October 2025.
Questions to discuss
- In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
- Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
- Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Usual Weekly Earnings (Current Population Survey) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Sep 30, 2026
Open the chart and its numbersChart 2 of 2 · Energy
Where does US electricity come from?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
In 2025 natural gas made 40.8% of US electricity, followed by nuclear (17.7%) and coal (16.6%). Wind made 10.5% and solar 6.7%. Solar counts only utility-scale plants, not rooftop panels, and the 2025 figures are preliminary.
How to read this chart
Each bar is one energy source's share of all the electricity made in the U.S. in a year, so the bars add up to about 100%. The bars start at zero, so a bar twice as long means twice the share. Solar counts only large power plants, not panels on rooftops.
Questions to discuss
- Which source makes the most electricity? About how many times more than the smallest bar?
- Which of these sources burn fuel and which don't? What share of electricity comes from each group?
- Why might a chart of this kind look different in your state than for the whole country?
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (Table 7.2a) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025
Open the chart and its numbersTeachers: make your own chart assignment, or change this one. Free, no account needed.