Wage growth for the median worker is negative in North Carolina as corporate profits rise
Percentage change in median wages for North Carolina workers and corporate profits nationally, adjusted for inflation, 2020 to 2025
Bar chart shows corporate profit growth compared to the growth in median worker wages. Corporate profits are at the highest they had been since the 1940s. Over 2021, corporate profits soared by 25 percent while workers in the middle of the distribution of all workers experienced a wage decrease from 2020 to 2021 of 2 percent.
