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Americans are clear-eyed on what they want the government to do to address the affordability crisis: Step in to lower costs before trying to boost wages.
Six in 10 people say the government should prioritize bringing down the cost of everyday essentials — like groceries, electricity bills and gas prices — rather than prioritize raising household incomes, according to results from The POLITICO Poll conducted this August. READ MORE
In recent years, one of the predominant policy initiatives of the progressive left has been raising the minimum wage in locales around the country. At the same time, left-leaning politicians have sought the elimination of what's known as the tip credit, which allows employers to pay restaurant servers and other tipped employees a lower hourly base wage that they then bolster with gratuities.
Just a few years into this experiment, however, policymakers are showing signs of an about-face on the tip credit's abolition as they grapple with the unfortunate, and predictable, economic results. READ MORE
Despite consistent inflation, a $100,000 salary is actually stretching further in many U.S. cities. According to a recent SmartAsset analysis, the average large city saw a nearly 1% increase in the real value of $100,000 from 2024 to 2025 — with one metro seeing gains of almost 7%.
These shifts reflect changes in local taxes and living costs, so where you live can dramatically affect how far a paycheck really goes. READ MORE
After trying college, Otavius Jackson followed an Instagram ad his mother spotted — and found his calling in aviation maintenance. Now at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance and nearing graduation, he says his math skills make the field a natural fit. His story reflects a broader national trend: employers across construction, electrical work and aviation are struggling to find enough trained workers as retirements accelerate and major projects expand.
A McKinsey & Company report projects a shortage of roughly 60,000 aviation technicians by 2029. The construction sector faces similar pressure, with the National Association of Home Builders estimating a need for 2.2 million new workers over the next three years. Skilled trades jobs can pay $60,000 to over $90,000 annually, according to Technicians of America. READ MORE
A higher salary can make a new job attractive, but compensation alone does not always tell candidates whether an offer is truly better. According to a recent report from NPAworldwide, recruiters can play an important role in helping candidates evaluate the complete package while also helping employers understand why a competitive base salary may not be enough to secure the person they want to hire. READ MORE
Once you’ve settled into a job, it’s easy to fall into the rhythm of meetings, deadlines, and regular paychecks.
You may not think much about how your income compares to others. But seeing how your salary stacks up by age—and how earnings rise and fall over time, including which group earns the most—can give you a better sense of your financial trajectory. READ MORE
An Indeed Hiring Lab report published last week quantified what software workers have felt for two years: the people still getting hired earn far more, and there are far fewer of them. Advertised pay in the most AI-exposed US occupations has climbed roughly 46% since the start of 2021, compared with 25% for the least-exposed jobs, including nursing, food prep, and cleaning. The gap started widening in 2024 and continues now. READ MORE
Every paycheck eventually has to pay for something: rent, groceries, transport, or bills.
Stablecoins can move between wallets in seconds. But that does not mean an employee can spend the money immediately. They may still need to convert the stablecoins into local currency, move the money to a bank account, and pay fees along the way.
That's becoming more important as companies offer stablecoin payroll. READ MORE
A paycheck can look very different depending on where you live.
Using OECD 2025 average wage data, Valerii Emelianov compares gross monthly salaries, deductions, and estimated take-home pay across 37 countries, with figures converted to U.S. dollars at market exchange rates. READ MORE
A bigger salary doesn’t always mean a better financial life. Where you live can have an enormous impact on what your paycheck actually buys once housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, healthcare, and taxes enter the equation.
According to MERIC’s first-quarter 2026 Cost of Living Index, many of America’s least expensive states are concentrated in the South and Midwest. A score below 100 indicates costs below the national benchmark, and housing is often where the biggest savings appear. READ MORE
Once you’ve settled into a job, it’s easy to fall into the rhythm of meetings, deadlines, and regular paychecks.
You may not think much about how your income compares to others. But seeing how your salary stacks up by age—and how earnings rise and fall over time, including which group earns the most—can give you a better sense of your financial trajectory. READ MORE
Employers are likely to offer their workers only modest pay hikes in 2027, according to a new estimate.
Salary increases next year are forecast to average 3.5%, including merit raises, cost-of-living adjustments, promotions and other pay increases, Marsh, a professional services firm, found in a survey of 1,000 U.S. organizations. READ MORE
Shareholder rebellions over executive pay eased across many of the world’s biggest stock markets this year, with opposition falling in Europe, the United States and Japan despite a handful of high-profile revolts.
The move comes as pay and perks continue to dwarf the average worker’s wage, with average CEO pay at S&P 500 companies hitting a record high even excluding a bumper pay plan for Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of SpaceX. READ MORE
Amid strong equity markets, CEO pay soared to record heights, driven by large one-time awards, according to new research from advisory firm, ISS-Corporate. Shareholders had few objections to the largesse.
Median CEO pay for the companies in the S&P 500 index reached $17.5 million (all figures in U.S. dollars) for fiscal 2025, reflecting a 20% cumulative increase in median pay since 2021, the report on executive compensation trends from the latest proxy season indicated. READ MORE
Planning a relocation to the United States? A new study examined how much you would need to earn each year to live comfortably in every state. Nearly half of U.S. states now require an annual salary of more than $100,000 (about 300,000 shekels) for a single adult to live “comfortably,” according to an analysis by fintech company SmartAsset. READ MORE
As housing, grocery, transportation and other essential costs pressure household budgets, earning a six-figure salary no longer guarantees financial comfort in much of the U.S. A single adult now needs at least $80,000 a year to live comfortably in every state, while the threshold exceeds $100,000 in nearly half of states. For a family of four, the income needed to live comfortably is as much as $329,000. READ MORE
Salary budgets in 2026 are stabilizing as boards and senior leaders move beyond the short-term adjustments of recent years. Inflation remains volatile in many countries, reflecting varied conditions in markets around the world. Recently released data suggest leaders are returning to measured, disciplined salary increases, with fewer signs of reactive or inflation-driven spikes. READ MORE
The adage “love is blind” might not apply when it comes to finances.
Although American workers saw median weekly earnings of $1,251 in the second quarter of 2026, totaling roughly $65,000 per year, many U.S. singles want their ideal partner to earn well above that figure. READ MORE
Few college majors pay better after graduation than computer engineering.
The major also shows why more high school graduates are questioning whether a bachelor's degree is worth it: computer engineers earn the highest early-career median wage of any major, $90,000, but they also face an unemployment rate of 7.8%, one of the highest the Federal Reserve Bank of New York tracks. READ MORE
Between your early 20s and your early 30s, your paycheck makes its biggest leap.
Median weekly earnings jump to about $59,800 a year, a $19,708 gain over workers under 25, the biggest jump between any two age brackets. READ MORE
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