# US real median weekly earnings by president, 1980–2026

Source page: https://govargus.com/indicators/real-weekly-earnings

Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, adjusted for inflation (CPI-U, 1982–84 dollars).

Latest: $378 (Q2 2026).
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED LES1252881600Q (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q). Quarterly data, fetched Oct 19, 2026.

Since 1980, real median weekly earnings ranged from $309 in Q3 1981 under Ronald Reagan to $393 in Q2 2020 under Donald Trump (1st term). Of the 7 completed terms with data, real median weekly earnings rose fastest under Donald Trump (1st term), at +$7/yr against +$4/yr in the four years before, and fell fastest under George H. W. Bush, at −$3/yr against +$2/yr in the four years before. So far under Donald Trump (2nd term), it has gone from $374 in Q4 2024 to $378 in Q2 2026.

## By presidential term

Each row is the value at the last full period before inauguration and at the end of the term, with the yearly rate of change, next to the rate of change over the four years before the term (the trend it inherited). A term's first year mostly reflects the previous administration's policies, and Congress, the Federal Reserve and the world economy move these numbers too. Govargus describes; it does not score presidents.

| President | Term | During term | 4 years before |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Donald Trump (2nd term) | 2025–present | $374 → $378 (+$3/yr, through Q2 2026) | −$1/yr |
| Joe Biden | 2021–2025 | $376 → $374 (−$1/yr) | +$7/yr |
| Donald Trump (1st term) | 2017–2021 | $349 → $376 (+$7/yr) | +$4/yr |
| Barack Obama | 2009–2017 | $340 → $349 (+$1/yr) | +$1/yr |
| George W. Bush | 2001–2009 | $334 → $340 (+$1/yr) | +$5/yr |
| Bill Clinton | 1993–2001 | $312 → $334 (+$3/yr) | −$3/yr |
| George H. W. Bush | 1989–1993 | $324 → $312 (−$3/yr) | +$2/yr |
| Ronald Reagan | 1981–1989 | $315 → $324 (+$1/yr) | — |
| Jimmy Carter | 1977–1981 | no data | no data |

## Events that bear on this indicator

- Jan 1, 1994, trade: NAFTA takes effect. Free-trade area between the US, Canada and Mexico begins.