HOUSEHOLD DATA

ANNUAL AVERAGES

Table 45. Wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage by occupation

and industry

(Numbers in thousands)

Occupation and industry

2002

Workers paid hourly rates

Total

Below

prevailing

Federal

minimum

wage

At 

prevailing

Federal

minimum

wage

Total at or below prevailing Federal

minimum wage

Number

Percent of

hourly-paid

workers

OCCUPATION

Managerial and professional specialty ............................................. 10,744 48 25 73 .7

 Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................................... 4,531 28 6 34 .8

 Professional specialty ..................................................................... 6,212 20 19 39 .6

Technical, sales, and administrative support .................................... 22,594 157 174 331 1.5

 Technicians and related support .................................................... 2,801 5 6 12 .4

 Sales occupations .......................................................................... 7,467 97 108 204 2.7

 Administrative support, including clerical ........................................ 12,326 54 61 115 .9

Service occupations ......................................................................... 14,235 1,191 263 1,454 10.2

 Private household ........................................................................... 371 58 5 63 17.0

 Protective service ........................................................................... 1,655 15 3 18 1.1

 Service, except private household and protective .......................... 12,209 1,119 254 1,373 11.2

 Food service workers ................................................................... 5,839 975 166 1,141 19.5

 Health service workers ................................................................. 2,416 32 12 44 1.8

 Cleaning and building service workers ......................................... 2,439 46 34 80 3.3

 Personal service workers ............................................................. 1,514 67 42 108 7.2

Precision production, craft, and repair .............................................. 9,535 43 12 55 .6

Operators, fabricators, and laborers ................................................. 14,170 137 80 216 1.5

 Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors ............................ 5,610 30 17 47 .8

 Transportation and material moving occupations ........................... 3,745 38 11 49 1.3

 Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .................... 4,815 69 52 121 2.5

Farming, forestry, and fishing ........................................................... 1,443 22 15 38 2.6

INDUSTRY

Private wage and salary workers ...................................................... 63,670 1,518 509 2,026 3.2

 Agriculture .................................................................................... 1,220 19 10 29 2.4

 Nonagricultural industries ............................................................. 62,449 1,498 499 1,997 3.2

 Mining ......................................................................................... 286 1 – 1 .5

 Construction ............................................................................... 5,049 34 5 39 .8

 Manufacturing ............................................................................. 11,355 35 31 66 .6

 Durable goods .......................................................................... 6,833 21 17 38 .5

 Nondurable goods .................................................................... 4,521 14 14 29 .6

 Transportation and public utilities ............................................... 4,209 31 8 39 .9

 Transportation .......................................................................... 2,684 26 5 32 1.2

 Communications and other public utilities ................................ 1,525 5 3 7 .5

 Wholesale and retail trade .......................................................... 18,105 1,055 298 1,353 7.5

 Wholesale trade ........................................................................ 2,230 9 4 13 .6

 Retail trade ............................................................................... 15,874 1,046 294 1,340 8.4

 Eating and drinking places ..................................................... 5,601 929 180 1,109 19.8

 Finance, insurance, and real estate ........................................... 3,010 14 8 22 .7

 Services ...................................................................................... 20,436 328 148 477 2.3

 Private households ................................................................... 414 60 6 66 15.8

 Other service industries ............................................................ 20,022 269 143 411 2.1

 Personal services, except private households ....................... 1,829 72 42 114 6.2

 Entertainment and recreation services ................................... 1,391 52 17 69 5.0

Government workers ........................................................................ 9,050 81 61 142 1.6

 Federal ........................................................................................... 1,786 15 7 22 1.2

 State ............................................................................................... 2,382 27 23 50 2.1

 Local ............................................................................................... 4,882 39 30 70 1.4

 NOTE: The prevailing Federal minimum wage was $5.15 per hour in 2002. Data

are for wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated self-employed. They refer

to a person’s earnings on their sole or principal job, and pertain only to workers who

are paid hourly rates. Salaried workers and other nonhourly workers are not included.

The presence of workers with hourly earnings below the minimum wage does not

necessarily indicate violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as there are exceptions

to the minimum wage provisions of the law. In addition, some survey respondents

might have rounded hourly earnings to the nearest dollar, and, as a result, reported

hourly earnings below the minimum wage even though they earned the minimum

wage or higher.