Prices and Wages by Decade: 2000-2009
Links to government documents and primary sources listing retail prices for products and services, as well as wages for common occupations.
Wages in the United States, 2000-2009
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Minimum wage (set by federal law), 1938-2009The first federal minimum wage law was enacted in 1938. Get downloadable data from FRED.
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Average wage per employee, 2000-2008Chart shows average annual and weekly wages per employee, across all industries, for each year from 2000-2008. For details on how this data was defined and collected, see this section of the BLS 2008 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website. This data is also available as a downloadable Excel file from the 2012 Statistical Abstract of the United States (source)
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Rankings of full-time occupations by earnings - 2000, 2004, 2005, 2009These articles rank over 400 full-time occupations by earnings from high to low:
- 2000 - Table 1 (pp.47-55) shows mean hourly earnings (source).
- 2004 - Table 1 (pp.5-23) shows mean annual earnings (source).
- 2005 - Table 1 (pp.4-24) shows mean hourly earnings (source).
- 2009 - Gives the mean annual earnings of the 20 highest (table 1, p.2) and 20 lowest (table 2, pp.3-4) paid occupations (source).
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Median weekly earnings by race and sex - 2000, 2005 and 2009Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States.
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Earnings - Current Population Survey, 1979-forwardThis source lists earnings broken out by sex, race, ethnicity, educational attainment, etc. It is possible to get data for a combination of these elements, such as both race and gender.
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Occupational Employment Statistics - Wage estimates, 1997-2019Shows average wage for over 800 occupations. Archival data from 1997 to 2019.
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Employee earnings in manufacturing industries, 1954-2007Select any year from 1954-2007; tables of contents will appear for each issue. Look for tables describing EARNINGS expressed in "current dollars." Mostly covers jobs in manufacturing, industry and production. Note that earnings data for states and major cities are also available in these reports.
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Employment and Earnings, 2007-2019Details the earnings of individuals employed throughout the US economy, broken down by industry. Only the years 2007-2019 are online.
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National Compensation Survey, 1997-2006Editions are freely available on the FRASER digital library site.
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National Compensation Survey - June 2005 dataTable 1 on pages 3-16 of this article show mean hourly earnings of full-time workers in over 400 occupations for June 2005 as reported in the 2006 National Compensation Survey, the full version of which can be found above (source).
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National Compensation Survey, 2008-2010 (mostly)Reports on Metropolitan Statistical Areas direct from the BLS website. Years covered vary by area, but most are for 2009 and 2010.
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Employment and Wages - Annual averages, 1980s-2000sThis series is a rich source for average wage data. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Agriculture - Farm labor wages, 1930-presentThe USDA periodical Farm Labor has been in publication for nearly 90 years and lists wages in each issue. Use the "Filter by date" feature or access certain years, or access this title through the Hathi Trust digital library.
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Nonprofit wages by sector, 2007A trio of articles report on the 2007 earnings in the nonprofit sector: one looks at management, professional, and administrative support occupations; one at educational and research institutions; and one at healthcare, personal care, and social service occupations (source).
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Congressional salaries, 1789-presentHistorical chart shows salaries of members of the U.S. Congress, along with dates of enactment and statutory authority for each pay increase.
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Consumer Income Reports, 1944-2018IMPORTANT: wages can be only one part of overall income. Wages alone do not necessarily equate to a person's total income. If income works for your purposes, you can find income tables in the Census Bureau's Current Population Reports P-60 series, "Consumer Income."
This series, which presents data on families, individuals, and households at various income levels, includes a number of annual sub-series as well as individual and advanced data reports.
Click 'more...' below for reports containing 2000s income data.
Wages by location for selected occupations, 2000-2009
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Hourly earnings ranked by states - 2008Tables in this article show 2008's average hourly earnings by industry ranked by state (source).
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New York City - Wages by borough, 2000 & 2002This article examines the effect of 9/11 on the New York economy by borough; tables show averages wages in 2000 and 2002 for:
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Memphis, TN - Wages in transportation, 2007This article compares the 2007 average hourly earnings of workers in transportation-related occupations in Memphis and the United States (source).
Wages by occupation and industry, 2000-2009
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Cooks - Hourly wages in many cities, 2009This article reports on the average hourly wages of cooks (both full- and part-time) in select metropolitan areas in July of 2009 (source).
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Healthcare workers - Hourly wages, 2008This article shows the mean hourly wages of healthcare workers by lever for 2008; see table 1 on pages 2-3 and table 2 on pages 5-6 (source).
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Janitors - Hourly wages, 2000This article reports on the earnings of janitors in 2000; tables 1 to 4 (pp.6-7) show mean hourly wages by geographic area, metropolitan vs. nonmetropolitan areas, selected localities, and level of work (source).
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Military pay charts (US), 1908-presentThis website does a good job of organizing a complex topic.
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Nurses - Wages in profit & nonprofit hospitals, 2003See table 1 on page 6 of this article for average hourly earnings of Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses in 2003 by profit and nonprofit private hospitals and in state and local government (source).
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Teachers - Wages in colleges & universities, 2003See table 2 on page 6 of this article for average hourly earnings of teachers in 2003 in profit and nonprofit colleges and universities (source).
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Teacher pay by state, 2006-07Source: American Federation of Teachers' Survey and Analysis of Teacher Salary Trends, 2007.
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Technology-oriented occupations - 2004This table shows the median annual wages of workers in technology-oriented occupations in May 2004 (source).
Wages in foreign countries, 2000-2009
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India - Manufacturing earnings, 1999-2010Table 1 of this article on India's organized manufacturing sector shows workers' average hourly earnings for 1999-2012 (in rupees and U.S. dollars).
Prices in the United States, 2000-2009
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Average Retail Food and Energy Prices, 1980-2018Prices for meats, fruits, vegetables, bread, eggs, milk and more foods, as well as gasoline, electricity, natural gas and other residential energy. To view data back to 1980, click the green "Historical Data" icon in the rows, then use drop-down boxes near the top of the page to set start and end years.
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Consumer Price Index Databases-Average Price DataTo get average prices of common items purchased by consumers including various meats, breads, dairy products, gasoline, electricity per KwH, etc., find “Average Price Data” > Select how you want to display your search options (One Screen recommended) > Follow the instructions on the screen. Dates in this set can vary, but can go back as far 1947.
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Median gross rent by state, 1940-2000Gross rent is defined as "the monthly amount of rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities (electricity, gas, water and sewer) and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.). This source shows data by state and for the U.S. as a whole. Source: U.S. Census of Housing, choose unadjusted figures.
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Renters' housing costs, 2000Data and discussion on the cost of rent and utilities, along with some demographic breakouts and historical context. Source: U.S. Census.
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Median home values by state, 1940-2000Median home values for states and for the U.S. as a whole. Source: U.S. Census of Housing, choose unadjusted figures.
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Property value by metropolitan statistical area, 2008-2009Census report provides data and discussion on home values. Source: American Community Survey Brief.
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Home value by state, 2007-2012Census publication provides data and discussion on home values and homeownership rates during this time period.
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Farm real estate values in Missouri, Illinois and Iowa, 1912-2019Shows average value per acre (statewide) for farm real estate including both land and buildings. Table shows price per acre for each year from 1912 to 2019. Compares the figures to the average for all other states.
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New car prices 2000-2010 according to NADAManufacturer suggested retail prices (MSRP) for cars and trucks are available through the NADA website. Choose a make, year, and body type. Select a car then enter any zip code. Click "Get Base Values" to see the original suggested retail price.
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New car loans - Average amount financed, 1971-2011Indicates how much people were paying on average for their new cars. Downloadable data from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
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Gasoline prices, 1983-2019Shows gasoline retail price data by state, region, or for the whole U.S. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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Gasoline prices in Missouri by city, 2005Data collected by a U.S. senator and reported in a congressional hearing titled Gasoline Prices.
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Cost to mail a letter or postcard, 1863-presentSource: the Historian of the U.S. Postal Service.
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Undergraduate college tuition, fees, room and board, 1963-2019Shows average undergraduate tuition/fees and room/board rates charged for full-time students, with breakouts for public, private, non-profit and for-profit institutions.
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Price of college textbooks, 1997 and 2004Students spent an average of $898 per year on textbooks in 2003-2004. See page 4 of the report Ripoff 101: How the Current Practices of the Textbook Industry Drives up the Cost of Textbooks. This report was quoted in the 2004 congressional hearing Are College Textbooks Priced Fairly? In contrast, college students spent around $30 annually for textbooks in 1932 (source).
Buying power of historic wages expressed in today's dollars
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Online calculator: Present-day purchasing power of a historic dollar amountThe MeasuringWorth.com website provides online calculators, guides and tutorials to help researchers understand the current-day value of historic money in the United States, Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
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Consumer Price Index Inflation CalculatorThis calculator allows you to compare the buying power of wages earned at different points in history. For example, a dollar earned in 2016 had the same buying power as 4 cents in 1913. Conversely, a dollar earned in 1913 had the same buying power as $24.24 in the year 2016.
Quotable facts for the 2000-2009 decade
In the United States...
- Minimum wage was $5.15 per hour in the year 2000. Source: U.S. Department of Labor
- The median home value was $119,600 in 2000. Source: US Census Bureau
- Gasoline cost an average of $1.51 per gallon in 2000. Source: Energy Information Administration
- Coffee cost an average of $3.50 per pound in 2000. Source: U.S. BLS (use drop-down box to select year)
- Public 4-year universities charged an average of $9199 for tuition, fees, room & board for the 2001-2002 academic year. Source: U.S. Department of Education.
- Prices of the most popular cars in 2000:
- Carpenters earned $35,100 annually. Source: U.S. BLS
- Teachers earned an average of $41,807 in 2000. Source: National Center for Education Statistics
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