RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Speech and Wages JF Journal of Human Resources JO J Hum Resour FD University of Wisconsin Press SP 926 OP 952 DO 10.3368/jhr.54.4.0617.8841R VO 54 IS 4 A1 Grogger, Jeffrey YR 2019 UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/54/4/926.abstract AB Although language has been widely studied, relatively little is known about how a worker’s speech, in his/her native tongue, is related to wages, or what explains the observed relationship. To address these questions, I analyzed audio data from respondents to the NLSY97. Wages are strongly associated with speech patterns among both African Americans and Southern whites. For Southern whites, this is largely explained by residential location. For blacks, it is explained by sorting: workers with mainstream speech sort toward occupations that involve intensive interpersonal interactions and earn a sizeable wage premium there.