Wage equality helps define how workers share in economic growth. When top earners pull far ahead of median workers, rising high-end pay concentrates gains among a relatively small group. According to the Economic Policy Institute, earnings inequality has “redistributed wages away from most workers” and stifled “broader-based wage growth.” However, wider wage gaps may also reflect stronger rewards for specialized skills and experience, factors that can help drive productivity and economic expansion.

SmartAsset analyzed 90th-percentile wage thresholds — the wage level at which workers enter the top 10% of earners — in each of the 50 states over the preceding two years. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) data for May 2024 and May 2025, the study calculated how much that threshold exceeded the median wage, expressed as a percentage, and measured the year-over-year change in the disparity. READ MORE