Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2009
"In 2009, 72.6 million American workers age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.3 percent of all wage and salary workers.1 On July 24, 2009, the Federal minimum wage increased to $7.25 per hour from $6.55 per hour. Data in this report reflect the average number of workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less for the calendar year 2009 (those who earned $6.55 or less from January 2009 through July 2009 and those who earned $7.25 or less from August 2009 through the end of the year). Among those paid by the hour, 980,000 earned exactly the prevailing Federal minimum wage in 2009. Nearly 2.6 million had wages below the minimum.2 Together, these 3.6 million workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 4.9 percent of all hourly-paid workers. Tables 1-10 present data on a wide array of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourly-paid workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage. The following are some highlights from the 2009 data..."