U.S. Job Posting Pay Splits Wider as Top-Decile Salaries Rise 7.5%
Updated
Updated · reveliolabs.com · Jul 21
U.S. Job Posting Pay Splits Wider as Top-Decile Salaries Rise 7.5%
2 articles · Updated · reveliolabs.com · Jul 21
Summary
Real advertised pay for ninth- and tenth-decile U.S. jobs rose 7.5% and 6.4% from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026, while bottom-decile postings fell 2.2%, pointing to a sharper K-shaped labor market.
3.8% CPI inflation amplified that divide, with lower-paid openings losing ground to prices even as employers kept bidding up compensation for already well-paid roles.
Professional services, information, and education and health drove most of the top-end gains, reflecting resilient demand for specialized technical, professional, and healthcare talent despite broader hiring cooling.
Since 2022, top-decile postings have added tens of thousands of dollars while low-paid roles changed little, widening the gap between mean and median advertised salaries and signaling deeper wage inequality ahead.