A Look At Pay At The Top, The Bottom, And In Between - Spotlight on Statistics

Policymakers and the public have given much attention to economic inequality in the past few years.

In general terms, inequality refers to the differences between people with the highest levels of wealth, income, or earnings and those with the lowest levels. How big are these differences? Have they grown over time? What other ways do these groups differ besides how much money they earn?

Inequalities in wages and benefits pervade throughout the American economy and job market. This Spotlight on Statistics highlights all the data on pay and benefits differences among workers, including insights on relationships between education, occupation, location and race/ethnicity, as well as other demographic factors.