Good News on Affordability: American Paychecks Are Beating Inflation Under Trump

American households have seen the buying power of their paychecks grow under President Trump, a welcome change from years of watching real compensation fall thanks to runaway inflation.

The average private-sector paycheck has grown faster than prices since President Trump took office, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show. And in recent months, real pay is growing even faster.
From January 2025, the month Trump was inaugurated, through August 2026, average weekly earnings of all employees on private payrolls rose from $1,222.14 to $1,298.94, a gain of 6.3 percent. The Consumer Price Index rose 4.8 percent over those 19 months. Adjusted for inflation, the weekly paycheck was up 1.5 percent. In January 2025 dollars, that is a gain of about $18 a week, from $1,222 to $1,240.

The most recent three months were stronger. From May to August, the average paycheck rose from $1,285.91 to $1,298.94, or 1.0 percent, while prices were essentially unchanged, up 0.05 percent. Real weekly pay rose 1.0 percent in that span, about $12 a week. August is the latest month for which both earnings and prices are available. The September price index is scheduled for October 14.

Over the four years of the Biden administration, the paycheck shrank after inflation. From January 2021 to January 2025, average weekly earnings rose from $1,047.55 to $1,222.14, a gain of 16.7 percent. Prices rose 21.4 percent. Real weekly pay fell 3.9 percent. In the dollars of January 2025, the paycheck went from about $1,272 at the start of that administration to $1,222 at the end, a loss of about $50 a week.

Production and nonsupervisory workers, about four-fifths of private payrolls, have also improved under Trump after declining under Biden. Real weekly pay down 1.6 percent from January 2021 to January 2025, and up 1.5 percent from January 2025 to August 2026.