U.S. healthcare wage disparities modestly narrowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis of wage data.
The study, published Nov. 3 in Health Affairs, examined data from the Current Population Survey to identify trends in median earnings among healthcare workers between 2015 and 2024.
Researchers from Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota and Seattle-based University of Washington found that workers in the lowest-earning healthcare occupations experienced wage increases of approximately 13% during this period — significantly more than higher-earning groups.
Among nonphysician healthcare workers, aides and assistants saw the largest wage gains, with earnings rising 13.6%, according to a news release from Seattle-based UW Medicine. Registered nurses and technicians saw smaller increases of 3.8% and 1.1%, respectively, while advanced practice providers saw 8.3% wage growth over the same period.
“In a way, the silver lining for the pandemic was that it created more job opportunities within the system for low-wage workers,” senior author Bianca Frogner, director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said in the release. “I hope we can take advantage of the moment we see here and not let it fade.”
Researchers also found that less-educated workers saw faster wage growth than more-educated employees. Additionally, Black and Hispanic healthcare workers saw faster wage increases than their white and Asian counterparts, although racial and ethnic pay gaps persisted, according to the release.
Women’s wages grew 8.8% over the study period, compared with 2.1% wage growth for men.
Read more about the study here.
