Quick answer
The average hourly wage in the US was $38.00 in October 2026 for all private-sector employees, up 3.1% in a year. Production and nonsupervisory workers averaged $32.75. The median hourly wage, the midpoint worker, was $24.51 in May 2025.
The average hourly wage in the US was $38.00 in October 2026 for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Situation released November 6, 2026. That figure is a mean, and it includes managers and high earners. The typical worker earns less: the BLS occupational survey puts the median at $24.51 an hour. This page collects the latest average hourly pay figures by industry, occupation and state, each linked to the BLS table it comes from.
National average hourly earnings
BLS measures average hourly earnings every month in the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey of employer payrolls. The figures below are seasonally adjusted, and October 2026 is preliminary.
- Average hourly earnings for all private employees rose 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $38.00 in October 2026. Over 12 months they rose 3.1%, from $36.85 in October 2025.
- Production and nonsupervisory employees, the workers below supervisory level, averaged $32.75, up 12 cents in the month. (BLS Table B-8)
- Workzenly calculation: production and nonsupervisory pay was 86.2% of the all-employee average, a gap of $5.25 an hour. Their pay rose 3.3% over the year, slightly faster than the all-employee figure.
- Average weekly earnings for all private employees were $1,307.20 in October 2026, up from $1,260.27. Workzenly calculation: a 3.7% rise, faster than hourly pay because the average workweek also lengthened. (BLS Table B-3)
- For production and nonsupervisory employees, average weekly earnings were $1,106.95, up from $1,068.29.
BLS will publish November 2026 data on December 4, 2026, and will revise October then.
What this means for employers: A 3% annual rise in average pay is the baseline your hourly staff compare offers against. If your rates have not moved in a year, they have fallen behind the market. To compare an hourly rate with a salaried offer, use our hourly to salary calculator.
Mean vs median hourly pay
Different BLS surveys answer different questions, so "the average wage" can mean several numbers. The CES average divides total payroll by total hours. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey reports both a mean and a median by job. The Current Population Survey (CPS) asks households about usual weekly pay.
| Measure | Figure | Period | Survey |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average hourly earnings, all private employees | $38.00 | October 2026 | CES |
| Average hourly earnings, production and nonsupervisory | $32.75 | October 2026 | CES |
| Mean hourly wage, all occupations | $33.54 | May 2025 | OEWS |
| Median hourly wage, all occupations | $24.51 | May 2025 | OEWS |
| Median usual weekly earnings, full-time workers | $1,232 a week | Q3 2026 | CPS |
Source: BLS Employment Situation (Nov 6, 2026), OEWS May 2025 (May 15, 2026) and Usual Weekly Earnings (Oct 21, 2026).
- OEWS covered 155,495,730 jobs in May 2025, with a mean annual wage of $69,770. (OEWS Table 1)
- Workzenly calculation: the OEWS mean was $9.03 above the median, or about 37% higher. A small number of very high earners lifts the mean.
- BLS notes that eight of the 10 largest occupations had below-average wages in May 2025, with annual wages ranging from $32,150 for fast food and counter workers to $46,590 for customer service representatives. (OEWS news release)
- The CES average ($38.00) runs higher than the OEWS mean ($33.54) partly because CES covers only the private sector and is 17 months more recent. The two surveys use different samples and methods, so they will not match.
What this means for employers: When you benchmark pay, compare against the median for the specific job and area, not the national average. The $38.00 headline would overstate the market rate for most hourly roles.
Average wage by industry
Average hourly earnings for all employees by industry, October 2026 (preliminary, seasonally adjusted), from BLS Table B-3.
| Industry | All employees, Oct 2026 | 1-year change | Production and nonsupervisory, Oct 2026 | 1-year change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total private | $38.00 | +3.1% | $32.75 | +3.3% |
| Construction | $42.03 | +4.7% | $39.70 | +5.2% |
| Manufacturing | $37.24 | +3.8% | $30.43 | +3.8% |
| Retail trade | $26.55 | +3.2% | $22.45 | +2.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | $32.74 | +2.5% | $31.42 | +3.4% |
| Financial activities | $49.74 | +3.2% | $39.06 | +3.1% |
| Professional and business services | $46.25 | +3.0% | $39.07 | +4.0% |
| Private education and health services | $36.67 | +2.0% | $33.74 | +1.9% |
| Leisure and hospitality | $23.90 | +3.9% | $21.40 | +4.6% |
| Other services | $34.43 | +2.9% | $29.99 | +3.1% |
Source: BLS Employment Situation, Tables B-3 and B-8, October 2025 and October 2026 (preliminary). One-year changes are Workzenly calculations from the published levels.
- Workzenly calculation: the average utilities employee earned 2.36 times the hourly pay of the average leisure and hospitality employee.
- Construction pay grew fastest among the large industries, up $1.89 an hour (4.7%) to $42.03. Utilities rose 5.9%.
- Private education and health services grew slowest, 2.0%, to $36.67.
- Leisure and hospitality pay rose 3.9%, above the national rate, but from the lowest base. Production and nonsupervisory workers there averaged $21.40.
What this means for employers: Low-wage industries are seeing above-average raises at the front line. Restaurants and retail stores competing for the same hourly workers should check their starting rates against local minimum wages and nearby employers, not just last year's budget.
Average hourly pay by occupation
The OEWS survey gives wages by job. These are mean hourly wages for major occupational groups in May 2025, from OEWS Table 1, released May 15, 2026.
- Food preparation and serving was the lowest-paid group, with a mean of $17.86 and a median of $16.85 across 13,680,750 jobs.
- Office and administrative support was the largest group, 17,753,430 jobs, with a median of $22.81.
- Healthcare support (median $18.43) and personal care and service (median $17.51) sit near the bottom, while healthcare practitioners earned a median of $41.60.
- Construction and extraction workers had a median of $28.63; transportation and material moving, $21.32.
What this means for employers: Most hourly roles in food service, retail, care and warehousing pay well under the national average. Benchmark each role against its own occupation, and turn hourly offers into take-home figures with the hourly paycheck calculator before you post a job.
Average hourly wage by state
BLS publishes average hourly earnings for each state through its State and Metro Area Employment, Hours and Earnings program. The figures are for all private employees in September 2026, the latest month available, and are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted. The comparable national figure is $37.74 (BLS series CEU0500000003).
| Rank | State | Sept 2026 | Sept 2025 | 1-year change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $57.86 | $54.33 | +6.5% |
| 2 | Washington | $43.80 | $42.91 | +2.1% |
| 3 | Massachusetts | $43.75 | $42.24 | +3.6% |
| 4 | California | $42.58 | $41.78 | +1.9% |
| 5 | Hawaii | $41.08 | $37.66 | +9.1% |
| 6 | Colorado | $40.19 | $39.40 | +2.0% |
| 7 | Connecticut | $40.06 | $39.23 | +2.1% |
| 8 | New York | $39.87 | $39.37 | +1.3% |
| 9 | Minnesota | $39.78 | $39.78 | 0.0% |
| 10 | New Jersey | $39.32 | $38.41 | +2.4% |
| 11 | Virginia | $38.63 | $36.82 | +4.9% |
| 12 | Oregon | $38.63 | $37.47 | +3.1% |
| 13 | Alaska | $38.43 | $38.15 | +0.7% |
| 14 | Maryland | $38.19 | $36.17 | +5.6% |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $37.94 | $36.50 | +3.9% |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $36.92 | $35.65 | +3.6% |
| 17 | Illinois | $36.83 | $35.39 | +4.1% |
| 18 | Texas | $36.76 | $34.76 | +5.8% |
| 19 | Arizona | $36.29 | $35.17 | +3.2% |
| 20 | Utah | $36.02 | $34.91 | +3.2% |
| 21 | Florida | $36.02 | $34.81 | +3.5% |
| 22 | Vermont | $36.00 | $35.21 | +2.2% |
| 23 | Idaho | $35.74 | $34.79 | +2.7% |
| 24 | North Dakota | $35.45 | $35.43 | +0.1% |
| 25 | Georgia | $35.39 | $34.90 | +1.4% |
| 26 | Michigan | $34.62 | $33.51 | +3.3% |
| 27 | North Carolina | $34.48 | $34.15 | +1.0% |
| 28 | Wisconsin | $34.46 | $34.47 | 0.0% |
| 29 | Ohio | $34.39 | $33.05 | +4.1% |
| 30 | Missouri | $34.38 | $32.46 | +5.9% |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $34.11 | $32.85 | +3.8% |
| 32 | Delaware | $34.10 | $33.35 | +2.2% |
| 33 | Indiana | $33.70 | $32.53 | +3.6% |
| 34 | Maine | $33.68 | $32.69 | +3.0% |
| 35 | South Carolina | $33.62 | $32.77 | +2.6% |
| 36 | Wyoming | $33.53 | $32.17 | +4.2% |
| 37 | Montana | $33.28 | $32.83 | +1.4% |
| 38 | Nevada | $33.26 | $32.29 | +3.0% |
| 39 | Kansas | $33.06 | $31.76 | +4.1% |
| 40 | Nebraska | $32.89 | $32.79 | +0.3% |
| 41 | South Dakota | $32.44 | $31.37 | +3.4% |
| 42 | Alabama | $32.35 | $31.43 | +2.9% |
| 43 | Tennessee | $32.26 | $31.20 | +3.4% |
| 44 | Oklahoma | $32.21 | $31.03 | +3.8% |
| 45 | New Mexico | $31.43 | $29.54 | +6.4% |
| 46 | Iowa | $31.23 | $30.61 | +2.0% |
| 47 | Louisiana | $31.11 | $30.02 | +3.6% |
| 48 | Kentucky | $30.63 | $30.29 | +1.1% |
| 49 | West Virginia | $30.12 | $29.75 | +1.2% |
| 50 | Arkansas | $29.85 | $29.53 | +1.1% |
| 51 | Mississippi | $29.36 | $28.14 | +4.3% |
Source: BLS, State and Metro Area Employment, Hours and Earnings, average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, not seasonally adjusted, series SMUxx000000500000003. September 2026 is preliminary. Values were retrieved through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database, which republishes the BLS series, and spot-checked against BLS series pages. Changes are Workzenly calculations.
- Washington had the highest state average at $43.80, just ahead of Massachusetts ($43.75) and California ($42.58). The District of Columbia was higher than any state at $57.86.
- Mississippi had the lowest at $29.36, followed by Arkansas ($29.85) and West Virginia ($30.12).
- Workzenly calculation: 14 states plus DC were above the national figure of $37.74. Mississippi's average was 77.8% of the national figure.
- State estimates come from smaller samples and move more month to month. Hawaii's 9.1% one-year jump and Minnesota's flat reading should be read with that in mind.
What this means for employers: State averages mix every industry, so a Seattle restaurant and a Seattle software firm share one number. Pair the state figure with your state's legal floor in our minimum wage by state guide, and with local job postings for the role.
Wage growth vs inflation
Average hourly earnings for all private employees have risen every year since 2019. These are October values, seasonally adjusted, from BLS series CES0500000003.
- Workzenly calculation: average hourly earnings rose $9.76, or 34.6%, from October 2019 to October 2026.
- Year-over-year growth peaked at 5.4% in October 2021 and has slowed each year since: 4.0% in 2024, 3.9% in 2025 and 3.1% in 2026 (Workzenly calculations).
- Real average hourly earnings, adjusted with the CPI-U, were unchanged from September to October 2026, as a 0.4% rise in pay matched a 0.4% rise in prices. (BLS Real Earnings, Nov 10, 2026)
- Over a full year, real average hourly earnings fell 0.5% from September 2025 to September 2026 (preliminary) and 0.3% from August 2025 to August 2026. In 1982 to 1984 dollars, they were $11.26 in October 2026. (Real Earnings Table A-1)
- BLS cannot publish an October 2025 to October 2026 real earnings or CPI comparison, because it could not collect October 2025 CPI data during the 2025 lapse in appropriations.
- In household data, median weekly earnings of full-time workers rose 1.5% from the third quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2026, against a 3.5% rise in the CPI-U. (BLS Usual Weekly Earnings)
What this means for employers: Nominal raises near 3% have not kept pace with prices over the past year, so many hourly employees feel a pay cut even after a raise. Be clear about what a raise is worth in take-home pay; our guide to gross pay vs net pay explains the difference.
Pay gaps by sex, race and education
The CPS reports median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers. These figures are for the third quarter of 2026, not seasonally adjusted, from the Usual Weekly Earnings release of October 21, 2026.
- 122.2 million full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of $1,232.
- Women's median was $1,127, or 83.4% of the $1,352 median for men.
- By race and ethnicity: Asian $1,633, White $1,261, Black $1,012 and Hispanic $981.
- Among workers age 25 and over: $819 without a high school diploma, $993 for high school graduates with no college, and $1,752 with at least a bachelor's degree. Workzenly calculation: degree holders earned 1.76 times the median of high school graduates.
What this means for employers: Gaps in medians reflect differences in jobs and hours as well as pay for the same work. The practical step is to set a written pay range for each role and apply it the same way to everyone, which also prepares you for pay transparency laws in several states.
About this data
These average hourly wage statistics come from four BLS programs. The Current Employment Statistics survey is published monthly; the latest two months are preliminary and are revised. State CES data arrive a few weeks after the national data. Real Earnings is monthly, with the next release on December 10, 2026. OEWS is annual; May 2025 is the latest. Usual Weekly Earnings is quarterly.
CES averages come from employer payrolls and cover private-sector employees. OEWS covers wage and salary jobs by occupation, including government. CPS earnings come from household interviews and are weekly. Where we compute shares, changes or ratios, the text says "Workzenly calculation."
We review this page when new releases come out. Journalists, students and bloggers are welcome to cite it with a link to this page.
More workforce statistics: Minimum wage statistics · Gender pay gap statistics · Union membership statistics · Labor productivity statistics.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation, October 2026, released November 6, 2026. bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table B-3, Average hourly and weekly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted, October 2026. bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t19.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table B-8, Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees, seasonally adjusted, October 2026. bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics series CES0500000003 (seasonally adjusted) and CEU0500000003 (not seasonally adjusted), 2019 to 2026. data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000003
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Real Earnings, October 2026, and Table A-1, released November 10, 2026. bls.gov/news.release/realer.nr0.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025, news release and Table 1, released May 15, 2026. bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers, Third Quarter 2026, released October 21, 2026. bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.nr0.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, State and Metro Area Employment, Hours and Earnings, average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, by state, September 2026. data.bls.gov/timeseries/SMU53000000500000003 (Washington; other states use the same series pattern)
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED, republished BLS state average hourly earnings series, retrieved November 13, 2026. fred.stlouisfed.org
Frequently asked questions
What is the average hourly wage in the US?
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls were $38.00 in October 2026 (preliminary, seasonally adjusted), up 3.1% from a year earlier, according to the BLS Employment Situation released November 6, 2026. Production and nonsupervisory employees averaged $32.75.
What is the median hourly wage in the US?
The median hourly wage for all occupations was $24.51 in May 2025, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey released May 15, 2026. Half of workers earned more and half earned less. The mean in the same survey was $33.54, pulled up by high earners.
Which industry has the highest average hourly pay?
Utilities had the highest average hourly earnings in October 2026 at $56.33, followed by information at $55.70 and financial activities at $49.74, according to BLS Table B-3. Leisure and hospitality was lowest at $23.90, and retail trade averaged $26.55.
Which state has the highest average hourly wage?
Among states, Washington had the highest average hourly earnings for private employees in September 2026 at $43.80, then Massachusetts at $43.75 and California at $42.58. The District of Columbia was higher still at $57.86. Mississippi was lowest at $29.36. These are preliminary, not seasonally adjusted BLS figures.
Are wages keeping up with inflation in 2026?
Not quite. BLS real earnings data show real average hourly earnings fell 0.5% from September 2025 to September 2026 (preliminary). BLS cannot publish the October comparison because October 2025 CPI data were not collected during the 2025 lapse in appropriations.
What is the average hourly wage for full-time workers?
BLS reports full-time pay weekly, not hourly. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers were $1,232 in the third quarter of 2026, 1.5% higher than a year earlier, according to the BLS Usual Weekly Earnings release of October 21, 2026.