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Earnings of Men 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: Men's Real Median Annual Earnings, 2020-2021 (in 2021 Dollars). Bar chart with tabular version below.
Show as table
Table equivalent for chart: Men's Real Median Annual Earnings, 2020–2021 (in 2021 dollars)
Age group White, not Hispanic Black, not Hispanic Hispanic Asian
20–29 33,600 25,000 29,000 33,400
30–39 60,300 41,600 40,900 78,300
40–49 71,000 51,000 43,200 100,500
50–59 70,300 47,100 45,900 78,500

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.

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.