Share of hourly-paid workers at or below the federal minimum wage
This chart shows the share of hourly-paid U.S. workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage. It uses annual BLS data via FRED; salaried workers are excluded, and higher state or local minimums mean the series is narrower than the overall incidence of low-wage work.
What does it show?
Only a very small share of hourly workers now earn at or below the unchanged federal minimum wage.
Methodology
Annual BLS Current Population Survey estimate of wage and salary workers age 16+ paid hourly rates at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage, as a percentage of all hourly-paid workers (LEU0203127200A). The earnings measure excludes salaried and other nonhourly workers and uses reported hourly earnings before overtime, tips, and commissions; rounding and exemptions can place reported wages below the federal rate. Higher state and local minimums mean that a declining federal-threshold share is not a measure of low-wage work overall.