Click here to display our home page

Lesson Ideas
Main Events

How Much Do They Make?
Earnings Data for 2008

Use the data below if you want to update the activity's handouts.  N/A means that no data is available as fewer than 50,000 people fell into this category.

Median Annual Earnings Number Employed
Overall Male Female Female
/ Male *
Total Male Female Female
/ Total
All Occupations $37,544 $41,496 $33,176 79.95% 106,648,000 59,439,000 47,209,000 44.27%
Accountant 51,012 61,256 47,216 77.08% 1,494,000 591,000 904,000 60.51%
Bartender 26,104 30,992 23,764 76.68% 204,000 96,000 108,000 52.94%
Bookkeeper 31,512 33,540 31,356 93.49% 950,000 85,000 865,000 91.05%
Bus Driver 29,172 31,460 26,364 83.80% 372,000 201,000 171,000 45.97%
Computer Programmer 63,336 65,572 52,156 79.54% 470,000 365,000 105,000 22.34%
Doctor 90,012 99,372 63,960 64.36% 594,000 405,000 189,000 31.82%
Engineer 64,688 66,872 52,052 77.84% 2,652,000 2,319,000 334,000 12.59%
Farm Laborer 20,488 20,904 17,992 86.07% 564,000 481,000 83,000 14.72%
Firefighter 50,440 50,700

N/A

N/A

283,000 270,000 13,000 4.59%
Lawyer 91,052 97,500 78,468 80.48% 645,000 398,000 247,000 38.29%
Librarian 45,656

N/A

42,172

N/A

136,000 25,000 111,000 81.62%
Plumber 40,768 40,820 N/A N/A 492,000 484,000 8,000 1.63%
Police/Sheriff 46,436 48,308 38,012 78.69% 674,000 573,000 101,000 14.99%
Real Estate Sales 41,288 49,504 35,464 71.64% 462,000 211,000 251,000 54.33%
Registered Nurse 53,144 60,736 52,572 86.56% 2,114,000 210,000 1,904,000 90.07%
School Administrator 60,840 72,696 52,000 71.53% 725,000 278,000 447,000 61.66%
Secretary 32,032 38,272 31,928 83.42% 2,575,000 90,000 2,485,000 96.50%
Teacher 47,177 51,703 46,037 89.04% 3,713,000 990,000 2,723,000 73.34%
Waiter 20,332 22,672 19,084 84.17% 852,000 292,000 560,000 65.73%
               
Test Prep                
               
Bill Collector 31,460 32,136 31,044 96.60% 206,000 67,000 139,000 67.48%
Butcher 25,480 26,624 22,360 83.98% 303,000 223,000 81,000 26.73%
Cashier 18,720 20,748 18,148 87.47% 1,376,000 359,000 1,018,000 73.98%
Mail Carrier 47,216 48,828 41,756 85.52% 338,000 237,000 101,000 29.88%
               
Test                
               
Social Worker 40,768 42,224 40,508 95.94% 639,000 135,000 503,000 78.72%
Reporter 49,244 N/A N/A N/A 68,000 43,000 25,000 36.76%
Cook 20,280 21,008 18,876 89.85% 1,312,000 832,000 480,000 36.59%
Maid 19,656 22,672 19,292 85.09% 847,000 105,000 742,000 87.60%

 

Source: Median Weekly Earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in 2008
            U.S. Department of Labor EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS January 2009, page 251
            http://www.bls.gov/opub/ee/empearn200901.pdf

            Each earnings number in the above table is the median weekly earnings multiplied by 52.

* If you drop the % sign, the contents of the Female / Male column in this table can be thought of as the amount women earned for every $100 earned by men.


return to the How Much Do They Make? page

copyright © 2004-2009 classroomtools.com. All Rights Reserved.
original web posting: Saturday, March 7, 2009
last modified: Sunday, March 08, 2009