Nominal pay rose, prices rose a bit more. From the Biden inauguration in January 2021 to the end of the four‑year span, wages climbed 19.9 % while the Consumer Price Index climbed 21.5 %, meaning average hourly earnings fell about 1.3 % in real terms.

The discrepancy comes mainly from the time window and which wage series is compared to CPI. Comparing January 2021 to various end dates shows different gaps, while a pre‑pandemic baseline can make wages appear to outpace prices in some stretches. The White House and some analysts favor the pre‑pandemic view, but independent fact‑checks emphasize the January‑2021 start to argue inflation outpaced wages.

Price surges were concentrated early in Biden’s term—especially 2021‑22—when inflation surged and outpaced pay growth for an extended run, producing a multi‑month stretch of declining real wages; one charting source notes prices rose faster than nominal wages for 25 consecutive months from April 2021 to April 2023.

By the latter part of the term, wage growth accelerated and inflation slowed enough that wages exceeded inflation on a recent one‑year basis, narrowing or reversing real‑wage losses over those shorter windows.