The portion of US gross domestic income flowing to wages and salaries has dropped to roughly 43%, a level not recorded since 1929. For those keeping score at home, that’s the year the Great Depression started.
The number comes from Bureau of Economic Analysis data tracking how the economic pie gets divided between workers and capital owners.
The numbers tell a stark story
The wages and salaries share of GDI hit approximately 42.8% in 2024, according to BEA figures. To put that in context, this measure consistently exceeded 50% during the 1940s and stayed above 48% through the 1960s.
There’s also a broader measure of labor’s share that includes benefits, employer-provided health insurance, and other supplements. That figure stood at 53.8% in Q3 2025 and 54.1% in Q1 2026. Even by this more generous accounting, it’s the lowest reading since 1947, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking it.
