How much do US workers earn an hour?

Private-sector employees earned an average of $37.81 an hour in September 2026, 3% more than in September 2025 and 1.9 times the $20.04 of March 2006, when the series begins. That is in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation; the monthly jobs report compares it with prices. The average rose sharply in spring 2020 because the pandemic put mostly lower-paid people out of work, not because pay jumped.

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Key facts

Measure: Average hourly earnings, all private-sector employees, dollars, seasonally adjusted. Written from the data below.

  • The latest figure, for Sep 2026, is $37.81.
  • That is up 89% from $20.04 in Mar 2006.
  • It is the highest in the data, which go back to Mar 2006.
  • The lowest was $20.04 in Mar 2006.

What did the newest numbers show? Read the September 2026 jobs report in charts, in plain words next to the month before and a year earlier.

Source and date

Source
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics (average hourly earnings of all employees, total private)
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “How much do US workers earn an hour?” Chart. Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics (average hourly earnings of all employees, total private), https://www.bls.gov/ces/ (data as of September 30, 2026). https://chart.ly/charts/average-hourly-pay (accessed October 20, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly. Developers can also get them as JSON (how).

Month Average hourly earnings, all private-sector employees, dollars, seasonally adjusted
Mar 2006 20.04
Apr 2006 20.17
May 2006 20.13
Jun 2006 20.22
Jul 2006 20.29
Aug 2006 20.32
Sep 2006 20.4
Oct 2006 20.42
Nov 2006 20.49
Dec 2006 20.58
Jan 2007 20.59
Feb 2007 20.68
Mar 2007 20.72
Apr 2007 20.79
May 2007 20.84
Jun 2007 20.95
Jul 2007 20.94
Aug 2007 21
Sep 2007 21.04
Oct 2007 21.06
Nov 2007 21.12
Dec 2007 21.16
Jan 2008 21.19
Feb 2008 21.27
Mar 2008 21.36
Apr 2008 21.38
May 2008 21.47
Jun 2008 21.52
Jul 2008 21.6
Aug 2008 21.7
Sep 2008 21.73
Oct 2008 21.76
Nov 2008 21.86
Dec 2008 21.95
Jan 2009 21.96
Feb 2009 21.98
Mar 2009 22.05
Apr 2009 22.1
May 2009 22.12
Jun 2009 22.14
Jul 2009 22.18
Aug 2009 22.23
Sep 2009 22.27
Oct 2009 22.31
Nov 2009 22.34
Dec 2009 22.37
Jan 2010 22.4
Feb 2010 22.46
Mar 2010 22.46
Apr 2010 22.49
May 2010 22.51
Jun 2010 22.53
Jul 2010 22.59
Aug 2010 22.62
Sep 2010 22.67
Oct 2010 22.73
Nov 2010 22.73
Dec 2010 22.76
Jan 2011 22.87
Feb 2011 22.87
Mar 2011 22.87
Apr 2011 22.91
May 2011 22.97
Jun 2011 23
Jul 2011 23.11
Aug 2011 23.06
Sep 2011 23.11
Oct 2011 23.18
Nov 2011 23.19
Dec 2011 23.22
Jan 2012 23.26
Feb 2012 23.28
Mar 2012 23.36
Apr 2012 23.39
May 2012 23.41
Jun 2012 23.46
Jul 2012 23.49
Aug 2012 23.48
Sep 2012 23.57
Oct 2012 23.56
Nov 2012 23.63
Dec 2012 23.72
Jan 2013 23.74
Feb 2013 23.78
Mar 2013 23.8
Apr 2013 23.87
May 2013 23.89
Jun 2013 23.96
Jul 2013 23.98
Aug 2013 24.02
Sep 2013 24.06
Oct 2013 24.09
Nov 2013 24.16
Dec 2013 24.18
Jan 2014 24.22
Feb 2014 24.33
Mar 2014 24.31
Apr 2014 24.34
May 2014 24.4
Jun 2014 24.46
Jul 2014 24.48
Aug 2014 24.54
Sep 2014 24.56
Oct 2014 24.59
Nov 2014 24.66
Dec 2014 24.63
Jan 2015 24.74
Feb 2015 24.79
Mar 2015 24.85
Apr 2015 24.89
May 2015 24.97
Jun 2015 24.97
Jul 2015 25.01
Aug 2015 25.1
Sep 2015 25.11
Oct 2015 25.2
Nov 2015 25.25
Dec 2015 25.25
Jan 2016 25.37
Feb 2016 25.38
Mar 2016 25.45
Apr 2016 25.53
May 2016 25.58
Jun 2016 25.62
Jul 2016 25.69
Aug 2016 25.71
Sep 2016 25.77
Oct 2016 25.9
Nov 2016 25.9
Dec 2016 25.93
Jan 2017 26
Feb 2017 26.07
Mar 2017 26.11
Apr 2017 26.18
May 2017 26.21
Jun 2017 26.26
Jul 2017 26.35
Aug 2017 26.37
Sep 2017 26.49
Oct 2017 26.5
Nov 2017 26.54
Dec 2017 26.63
Jan 2018 26.72
Feb 2018 26.74
Mar 2018 26.85
Apr 2018 26.91
May 2018 26.98
Jun 2018 27.03
Jul 2018 27.1
Aug 2018 27.21
Sep 2018 27.32
Oct 2018 27.37
Nov 2018 27.44
Dec 2018 27.56
Jan 2019 27.59
Feb 2019 27.69
Mar 2019 27.77
Apr 2019 27.79
May 2019 27.88
Jun 2019 27.97
Jul 2019 28.03
Aug 2019 28.14
Sep 2019 28.16
Oct 2019 28.24
Nov 2019 28.34
Dec 2019 28.38
Jan 2020 28.43
Feb 2020 28.54
Mar 2020 28.73
Apr 2020 30.04
May 2020 29.72
Jun 2020 29.38
Jul 2020 29.39
Aug 2020 29.49
Sep 2020 29.51
Oct 2020 29.54
Nov 2020 29.64
Dec 2020 29.91
Jan 2021 29.93
Feb 2021 30.05
Mar 2021 30.03
Apr 2021 30.22
May 2021 30.41
Jun 2021 30.54
Jul 2021 30.66
Aug 2021 30.78
Sep 2021 30.98
Oct 2021 31.14
Nov 2021 31.23
Dec 2021 31.39
Jan 2022 31.6
Feb 2022 31.64
Mar 2022 31.8
Apr 2022 31.96
May 2022 32.1
Jun 2022 32.19
Jul 2022 32.34
Aug 2022 32.44
Sep 2022 32.57
Oct 2022 32.7
Nov 2022 32.82
Dec 2022 32.94
Jan 2023 33.02
Feb 2023 33.15
Mar 2023 33.27
Apr 2023 33.43
May 2023 33.5
Jun 2023 33.69
Jul 2023 33.85
Aug 2023 33.89
Sep 2023 34.01
Oct 2023 34.08
Nov 2023 34.17
Dec 2023 34.29
Jan 2024 34.47
Feb 2024 34.52
Mar 2024 34.65
Apr 2024 34.76
May 2024 34.89
Jun 2024 35.01
Jul 2024 35.08
Aug 2024 35.22
Sep 2024 35.34
Oct 2024 35.46
Nov 2024 35.6
Dec 2024 35.69
Jan 2025 35.84
Feb 2025 35.94
Mar 2025 36.11
Apr 2025 36.12
May 2025 36.28
Jun 2025 36.36
Jul 2025 36.47
Aug 2025 36.62
Sep 2025 36.7
Oct 2025 36.85
Nov 2025 37
Dec 2025 37.02
Jan 2026 37.15
Feb 2026 37.27
Mar 2026 37.35
Apr 2026 37.41
May 2026 37.49
Jun 2026 37.59
Jul 2026 37.64
Aug 2026 37.76
Sep 2026 37.81

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