Average hourly pay during each president's tenure

Every president since 1991, ranked by how average hourly pay changed from their first day in office. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.

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Results

Order

#	President	In office	Total	Per year
1	Donald Trump	20 Jan 2017 – 20 Jan 2021	+6.8% Dec 2016 → Dec 2020	+1.7%/yr
2	Barack Obama	20 Jan 2009 – 20 Jan 2017	+2.9% Dec 2008 → Dec 2016	+0.4%/yr
3	Donald Trump	20 Jan 2025 – now	+0.1% Dec 2024 → Sep 2026	0.0%/yr
4	Joe Biden	20 Jan 2021 – 20 Jan 2025	−1.5% Dec 2020 → Dec 2024	−0.4%/yr

Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last month complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that period had no data, or because the period cut it); Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in %; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. $ per hour, in today's money, private employers · BLS CES via FRED (CES0500000003), adjusted for inflation with CPI-U (CPIAUCSL) · United States data · as of Sep 2026.