Low-wage work remains widespread across the United States. Even as the labor market continues to expand, wage gains have been uneven, leaving millions of workers earning less than $20 per hour, which is roughly $41,600 annually before taxes for full-time work.
This infographic, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, ranks U.S. states by the share of low-wage workers earning less than $20 per hour, using data from the Economic Policy Institute as of July 2025.
Nationally, three in 10 workers, or 45.2 million people, fall below the $20-per-hour mark. However, this distribution varies widely by state.
The table below shows the full ranking of states by the share and number of workers earning less than $20 per hour:
Texas tops the list in terms of the number of low-wage workers with nearly 5.1 million people below the $20-per-hour mark. California, the most populous state, follows with around 4 million workers, along with Florida (3.5 million) and New York (2.2 million).
Meanwhile, Mississippi leads in terms of the share of low-wage workers, with 52% of the state’s workers earning under $20 per hour. Other Southern states also rank high, including Louisiana (45%), Arkansas (43%), West Virginia (43%), and Kentucky (41%).
In contrast, the District of Columbia has the lowest share of low-wage workers at 11%, along with Washington (19%) and Massachusetts (18%). These states tend to have a larger share of workers employed in high-paying industries like professional services, health, and information (IT) as compared to states with more low-wage workers.
Minimum Wage in the U.S.The U.S. federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Adjusted for inflation, that wage now has significantly less purchasing power, making it even lower in real terms.
While more than half of U.S. states have enacted higher local minimum wages, the federal standard still applies in states without their own wage laws, many of which appear at the top of the low-wage workforce rankings.
The Raise the Wage Act, which proposes lifting the federal minimum wage to $17 over five years, has been introduced repeatedly since 2017 but has yet to pass.
If you enjoyed today’s post, see this graphic on Average Salary by State in the U.S. on Voronoi.
(Indiana has a higher percentage of low wage workers than does Tennessee.)
#1: Horse To: Horse (#0)
Law enforcement will be releasing the person of interest in the Brown University shooting.
The manhunt for the Brown University shooter is still underway.
Two people are dead and nine are injured after a gunman opened fire at Brown University on Saturday.
Overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning, police took Benjamin Erickson into custody as a person of interest to question him.
Erickson, a Wisconsin native, was not enrolled as a student at Brown.
Later Sunday, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley announced law enforcement would be releasing Erickson from custody.
Officials do not have enough evidence to prosecute Erickson.
Police Chief Oscar Perez said the FBI “followed through with” a tip and located a person of interest.
Law enforcement looked into Erickson’s alleged history of mental health issues.
“We will be releasing the person of interest who had been detained earlier today,” said Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.
“We know that this is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community. And we want to reiterate what we said earlier, which remains true… we have not received any credible or specific threats to the Providence community,” he added.
“And so the status of safety in our community remains unchanged. And we believe that you remain safe in our community,” he said.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/12/breaking-police-are-releasing-person-interest-after-questioning/
Horse posted on 2025-12-15 06:58:41 Reply Private Reply
#2: Horse To: Horse (#1)
Horse posted on 2025-12-15 07:00:47 Reply Private Reply