Monthly Labor Review September 2003 37

Table 1. Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing Federal

minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, by selected characteristics, annual averages, 2002

Number of workers (in thousands) Percent distribution

At or below $5.15 At or below $5.15 At or below $5.15

Total At $5.15 Total At $5.15 Total At $5.15

 Age and sex

Total, 16 years and over ....... 72,720 2,168 570 1,598 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 3.0 0.8 2.2

 16 to 24 years .................... 16,191 1,158 340 818 22.3 53.4 59.6 51.2 7.2 2.1 5.1

 16 to 19 years .................. 5,808 605 226 379 8.0 27.9 39.6 23.7 10.4 3.9 6.5

 25 years and over .............. 56,529 1,010 230 780 77.7 46.6 40.4 48.8 1.8 .4 1.4

...............................................

Men, 16 years and over ........ 36,135 800 218 582 49.7 36.9 38.2 36.4 2.2 .6 1.6

 16 to 24 years .................... 8,242 453 146 307 11.3 20.9 25.6 19.2 5.5 1.8 3.7

 16 to 19 years .................. 2,850 243 97 146 3.9 11.2 17.0 9.1 8.5 3.4 5.1

 25 years and over .............. 27,893 347 72 275 38.4 16.0 12.6 17.2 1.2 .3 1.0

...............................................

Women, 16 years and over .. 36,585 1,368 352 1,016 50.3 63.1 61.8 63.6 3.7 1.0 2.8

 16 to 24 years .................... 7,949 705 194 511 10.9 32.5 34.0 32.0 8.9 2.4 6.4

 16 to 19 years .................. 2,958 361 128 233 4.1 16.7 22.5 14.6 12.2 4.3 7.9

 25 years and over .............. 28,636 663 158 505 39.4 30.6 27.7 31.6 2.3 .6 1.8

...............................................

 Race, sex, and Hispanic

 origin ...................

...............................................

White ...................................... 59,199 1,781 452 1,329 81.4 82.1 79.3 83.2 3.0 .8 2.2

Men ..................................... 29,829 626 162 464 41.0 28.9 28.4 29.0 2.1 .5 1.6

Women ............................... 29,370 1,155 290 865 40.4 53.3 50.9 54.1 3.9 1.0 2.9

...............................................

Black ...................................... 9,692 276 89 187 13.3 12.7 15.6 11.7 2.8 .9 1.9

Men ..................................... 4,469 129 44 85 6.1 6.0 7.7 5.3 2.9 1.0 1.9

Women ............................... 5,224 147 45 102 7.2 6.8 7.9 6.4 2.8 .9 2.0

...............................................

Hispanic origin ....................... 11,206 305 110 195 15.4 14.1 19.3 12.2 2.7 1.0 1.7

Men ..................................... 6,624 144 47 97 9.1 6.6 8.2 6.1 2.2 .7 1.5

Women ............................... 4,582 162 64 98 6.3 7.5 11.2 6.1 3.5 1.4 2.1

...............................................

 Full- and part-time .......

 status and sex ..........

...............................................

Full-time workers ................... 55,029 851 169 682 75.7 39.3 29.6 42.7 1.5 .3 1.2

Men ..................................... 30,472 367 82 285 41.9 16.9 14.4 17.8 1.2 .3 .9

Women ............................... 24,557 483 87 396 33.8 22.3 15.3 24.8 2.0 .4 1.6

...............................................

Part-time workers .................. 17,568 1,309 401 908 24.2 60.4 70.4 56.8 7.5 2.3 5.2

Men ..................................... 5,599 430 136 294 7.7 19.8 23.9 18.4 7.7 2.4 5.3

Women ............................... 11,969 879 265 614 16.5 40.5 46.5 38.4 7.3 2.2 5.1

...............................................

NOTE: Data exclude the incorporated self-employed. Details for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for

the “other races” group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. The distinction between full- and

part-time workers is based on hours usually worked. These data will not sum to totals because full- or part-time status on the principal job is not

identifiable for a small number of multiple jobholders.

Research Summary

Characteristics

of minimum wage

workers in 2002

Steven E. Haugen

BLS data on minimum wage earners are

derived from the Current Population

Steven E. Haugen is an economist in the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Email:haugen.steven@bls.gov

Survey (CPS), a nationwide sample

survey of households that includes

questions identifying hourly paid

workers and their hourly wage rate. In

2002, some 72.7 million American

workers—roughly 3 out of 5 wage and

salary workers—were paid at hourly

rates.1

 Of those paid by the hour, about

570,000 were reported as earning exactly

$5.15, the prevailing Federal minimum

wage, and another 1.6 million were

reported with wages below the minimum.2

 Together, these 2.2 million

workers with wages at or below the

minimum (also referred to here as low

wage workers) made up 3.0 percent of

all hourly paid workers. What follows

are some highlights from the 2002 data

Total paid

hourly

rates

Total paid

hourly

rates

Characteristic

Percent of workers

paid hourly rates

Below

$5.15

Below

$5.15

Below

$5.15
38 Monthly Labor Review September 2003

Research Summary

(annual averages). Additional details

can be found on the BLS website.3

Minimum wage workers tend to be

young. About half of workers earning

$5.15 or less were under age 25, and

slightly more than one-fourth were

teenagers (that is, age 16 to 19). Among

teenagers paid hourly rates, 10 percent

earned $5.15 or less. About 2 percent of

workers 25 years or older earned the

minimum wage or less. (See table 1.)

About 4 percent of women paid

hourly rates reported wages at or below

the prevailing Federal minimum,

compared with about 2 percent of men.

Women—teenagers or adults—are

more likely than men to earn the

minimum wage or less. (See table 1.)

The proportion of hourly paid workers

receiving $5.15 or less was about 3

percent each for whites, blacks, and

Hispanics. For whites and Hispanics,

women were more likely than men to be

low wage earners. (See table 1.)

Part-time workers (persons who

usually work less than 35 hours per week)

were much more likely than their full-time

counterparts to be paid $5.15 or less (about

8 percent, compared with approximately 2

percent). Among those who work part

time, both men and women are about

equally likely to earn wages at or below

the prevailing minimum. (See table 1.)

By major occupational group, the

proportion of hourly paid workers with

reported earnings at or below $5.15

ranged from a low of less than 1 percent

for persons employed in managerial and

professional specialty jobs and those

employed in precision production, craft,

and repair positions to a high of about

10 percent for those in service jobs. (See

chart 1.) One out of every 5 food service

workers earned $5.15 or less in 2002;

most of these workers were paid a wage

below $5.15. Indeed, about 3 out of every 5 workers paid less than the prevailing minimum wage were employed

in food service occupations. This large

proportion may reflect the tip credit

provisions of the Federal minimum wage

statutes, whereby an employee who

receives tips (such as a waiter or

waitress) generally can be paid a wage

below $5.15, provided that the employee’s tips, combined with the employer’s cash wage of at least $2.13 per

hour, equal at least $5.15.

Among major industry groups, the

proportion of workers with reported

hourly wages at or below $5.15 was

highest in retail trade (about 8 percent),

which includes many food service

workers in its eating-and-drinkingplaces component. (See chart 2.) In

agriculture and services, about 2 percent of hourly paid workers earned the

prevailing Federal minimum wage or

less, while in other major private-sector

industries, less than 1 percent of all

hourly paid workers in each industry

earned minimum or subminimum wages.

About three-fifths of all low wage

workers were employed in retail trade,

and nearly one-fourth worked in

services. For many working in these two

industries, tips and commissions might

supplement the hourly wages received.

Chart 1. Percent of workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below prevailing Federal 

minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, by major occupation, annual averages, 2002

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Percent

Service occupations

Farming, forestry, and fishing

Operators, fabricators, 

and laborers

Technical, sales, and 

administrative support

Managerial and 

professional specialty

Precision production, 

craft, and repair
Monthly Labor Review September 2003 39

Chart 2. Percent of workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below prevailing Federal 

 minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, by major industry, annual averages, 2002

0123456789

Percent

Retail trade

Services

Agriculture

Transportation 

and public utilities

Construction

Wholesale trade

Finance, insurance, 

and real estate

Manufacturing

Mining

Government

Chart 3. Percent of workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below prevailing Federal 

minimum wage, by sex, annual averages, 1979–2002

1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001

0

5

10

15

20

25

0

5

10

15

20

25

Percent of 

hourly paid 

workers

NOTE: The prevailing Federal minimum wage was $2.90 in 1979, $3.10 in 1980, and $3.35 in 1981–89. The minimum 

wage rose to $3.80 in April 1990, to $4.25 in April 1991, to $4.75 in October 1996, and to $5.15 in September 1997. Thus, 

the Federal minimum was $4.25 for the 1992–95 period and $5.15 in 1998–2002. Data for 1990–91 and 1996–97 reflect 

changes in the minimum wage that took place in those years. 

Percent of 

hourly paid 

workers

Women

Total

Men
40 Monthly Labor Review September 2003

Research Summary

The proportion of hourly paid workers

earning the prevailing Federal minimum

wage or less has trended downward since

1979, when data first began to be collected

on a regular basis. (See chart 3.) Although

women always have been more likely than

Notes

1

 These data are for wage and salary

workers (excluding the incorporated selfemployed) and refer to earnings on a person's

sole or principal job. 2

 The presence of a sizable number of

workers with reported wages below the

minimum does not necessarily indicate

violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as

there are exemptions to the minimum wage

provisions of the law. Indeed, the relatively

large number of workers with reported wages

below the minimum in 2002 includes almost

500,000 hourly paid workers reported as

earning exactly $5.00 per hour; to some

extent, this may reflect rounding in the

responses of survey participants. The estimates of the numbers of minimum and

subminimum wage workers presented in table

1 pertain to workers paid at hourly rates;

salaried and other nonhourly workers are

excluded. Accordingly, the actual number of

workers with earnings at or below the prevailing minimum is undoubtedly understated.

Research has shown that a relatively smaller

number and share of salaried workers and

others not paid by the hour have earnings that,

when translated into hourly rates, are at or

below the minimum wage. However, the

Bureau of Labor Statistics does not routinely

estimate hourly earnings for nonhourly workers, because of concerns that arise in producing these estimates from the data. For

further information, see Steven E. Haugen and

Earl F. Mellor, “Estimating the number of

minimum wage workers,” Monthly Labor

Review, January 1990, pp. 70–74.

3 http://stats.bls.gov/cps/

minwage2002.htm.

men to earn the prevailing minimum or less,

the disparity is considerably less today

than it was two decades ago.