Summary: American paychecks have increased in buying power under President Trump, with average private-sector paychecks growing faster than prices.
What happened
The average private-sector paycheck in the US has grown faster than inflation since President Trump took office. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from January 2025 to August 2026, average weekly earnings rose by 6.3 percent, while the Consumer Price Index increased by 4.8 percent. This translates to a 1.5 percent gain in real pay, equivalent to about $18 more per week.
In the most recent three months, from May to August, the average paycheck increased by 1.0 percent, while prices remained largely unchanged, rising by only 0.05 percent. As a result, real weekly pay grew by 1.0 percent, or about $12 more per week.
In contrast, during the four years of the Biden administration, the average weekly earnings rose by 16.7 percent, but prices increased by 21.4 percent, resulting in a 3.9 percent decline in real weekly pay. This decline is equivalent to a loss of about $50 per week.
Production and nonsupervisory workers, who make up about four-fifths of private payrolls, have also seen an improvement under Trump. Their real weekly pay decreased by 1.6 percent from January 2021 to January 2025 but increased by 1.5 percent from January 2025 to August 2026.
