US bonus payouts less common and smaller says six-year study

Bonuses are becoming a less common feature of pay packages for US workers, according to an analysis of six years of payroll data covering December 2019 through December 2024.

The anonymized ADP sample included about 12 million workers employed at organizations with 50 or more employees.

Fewer than half of US workers now receive a bonus in any given year, and the share has been falling steadily since 2021. In 2024, fewer than 40% of workers received a bonus, marking a clear retreat from the pandemic-era peak.

Bonus usage reached its high point in 2021, when nearly 44% of workers were awarded one. That increase coincided with widespread labor shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic, when employers leaned on higher wages and extra pay to attract and retain staff.

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Since that period, bonus coverage has declined across most sectors, although it remains above pre-pandemic levels in several industries.

Bonus sizes and timing patterns

The median bonus payout for US workers has also edged down. Typical bonuses fell to $1,786, compared with $1,857 a year earlier. Payouts varied widely, ranging from no bonus at all to as much as $50 million.

At the upper and lower ends of the distribution, bonuses at the 75th percentile reached $6,500, while those at the 25th percentile stood at $600.

Among "job-stayers", defined as employees who remained with the same employer for at least 12 months, median bonus growth in 2024 was modest at 1.3% compared with the prior year.

Bonuses are paid throughout the calendar year, but distribution is uneven. Some 13% of bonus recipients receive payouts in December, while 9% are paid in January and another 9% in November, reinforcing the seasonal nature of incentive compensation.

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Industry and income differences

Construction and manufacturing led all sectors in 2024, with 51% of employees receiving a bonus. The education sector ranked lowest, where only 18.6% of workers were awarded one.

Health care experienced the sharpest increase during the pandemic years, rising by 14 percentage points from 2019 to 2021 as employers sought to attract frontline staff. Since then, bonus coverage in health care has declined but remains above pre-pandemic levels.

Bonuses account for about 3.5% of total gross pay across the US workforce. That share climbs to 5% or more in information, finance, and mining.

Income level plays a decisive role. For employees earning $150,000 to $250,000 annually, bonuses represent about 10% of total pay. For workers earning more than $250,000, bonuses account for roughly 25% of compensation.