Interactive Analysis: Has Your Pay Kept Up With Inflation?

The Brookings Institute explores the complexities of measuring real pay, which adjusts nominal earnings for inflation. Given the variety of pay and inflation metrics used, determining trends in real pay can yield differing results. Our interactive tool allows users to select any starting quarter and compare annualized changes in real pay to the most recent data, using four different pay measures and two inflation indices. By interacting with the data, users can see how real pay has shifted over selected periods, helping clarify the relationship between wages and the cost of living.