Trends: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Minimum Wage Workers, 1979 to 2024

BLS Table 10 runs from 1979 to 2024. In 1979, 6,912 thousand of 51,721 thousand workers paid hourly rates earned at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage, 13.4 percent; in 2024 the figures were 843 thousand of 80,348 thousand, 1.0 percent. In 2024 the share was 0.8 percent among men and 1.3 percent among women. The table is shown as published, one block each for all workers, men and women.

All workers, 1979 to 2024

Table 10. Wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below prevailing federal minimum wage, by sex, 1979–2024 annual averages (Numbers in thousands): total
Year	Total wage and salary workers	Total	Percentage of total wage and salary workers	At prevailing federal minimum wage(1)	Below prevailing federal minimum wage(1)	Number	Percentage of hourly paid workers
		Workers paid hourly rates				Workers paid hourly rates / Total at or below prevailing federal minimum wage
1979	87,529	51,721	59.1	3,997	2,916	6,912	13.4
1980	87,644	51,335	58.6	4,686	3,087	7,773	15.1
1981	88,516	51,869	58.6	4,311	3,513	7,824	15.1
1982	87,368	50,846	58.2	4,148	2,348	6,496	12.8
1983	88,290	51,820	58.7	4,261	2,077	6,338	12.2
1984	92,194	54,143	58.7	4,125	1,838	5,963	11.0
1985	94,521	55,762	59.0	3,899	1,639	5,538	9.9
1986	96,903	57,529	59.4	3,461	1,599	5,060	8.8
1987	99,303	59,552	60.0	3,229	1,468	4,698	7.9
1988	101,407	60,878	60.0	2,608	1,319	3,927	6.5
1989	103,480	62,389	60.3	1,790	1,372	3,162	5.1
1990	104,876	63,172	60.2	1,096	2,132	3,228	5.1
1991	103,723	62,627	60.4	2,906	2,377	5,283	8.4
1992	104,668	63,610	60.8	2,982	1,939	4,921	7.7
1993	106,101	64,274	60.6	2,625	1,707	4,332	6.7
1994	107,989	66,549	61.6	2,132	1,995	4,128	6.2
1995	110,038	68,354	62.1	1,956	1,699	3,656	5.3
1996	111,960	69,255	61.9	1,861	1,863	3,724	5.4
1997	114,533	70,735	61.8	1,764	2,990	4,754	6.7
1998	116,730	71,440	61.2	1,593	2,834	4,427	6.2
1999	118,963	72,306	60.8	1,146	2,194	3,340	4.6
2000	122,089	73,496	60.2	898	1,752	2,650	3.6
2001	122,229	73,392	60.0	656	1,518	2,174	3.0
2002	121,826	72,508	59.5	567	1,579	2,146	3.0
2003	122,358	72,946	59.6	545	1,555	2,100	2.9
2004	123,554	73,939	59.8	520	1,483	2,003	2.7
2005	125,889	75,609	60.1	479	1,403	1,882	2.5
2006	128,237	76,514	59.7	409	1,283	1,692	2.2
2007	129,767	75,873	58.5	267	1,462	1,729	2.3
2008	129,377	75,305	58.2	286	1,940	2,226	3.0
2009	124,490	72,611	58.3	980	2,592	3,572	4.9
2010	124,073	72,902	58.8	1,820	2,541	4,361	6.0
2011	125,187	73,926	59.1	1,677	2,152	3,829	5.2
2012	127,577	75,276	59.0	1,566	1,984	3,550	4.7
2013	129,110	75,948	58.8	1,532	1,768	3,301	4.3
2014	131,431	77,207	58.7	1,255	1,737	2,992	3.9
2015	133,743	78,232	58.5	870	1,691	2,561	3.3
2016	136,101	79,883	58.7	701	1,451	2,153	2.7
2017	137,890	80,439	58.3	542	1,282	1,824	2.3
2018	140,099	81,915	58.5	434	1,276	1,711	2.1
2019	141,737	82,289	58.1	392	1,211	1,603	1.9
2020	132,174	73,305	55.5	247	865	1,112	1.5
2021	136,393	76,125	55.8	181	910	1,091	1.4
2022	141,673	78,729	55.6	141	882	1,023	1.3
2023	144,541	80,538	55.7	81	789	869	1.1
2024	144,522	80,348	55.6	82	760	843	1.0

(1) Data for 1990–91, 1996–97, and 2007–09 reflect changes in the minimum wage that took place in those years.

Men

Table 10. Wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below prevailing federal minimum wage, by sex, 1979–2024 annual averages (Numbers in thousands): men
Year	Total wage and salary workers	Total	Percentage of total wage and salary workers	At prevailing federal minimum wage(1)	Below prevailing federal minimum wage(1)	Number	Percentage of hourly paid workers
		Workers paid hourly rates				Workers paid hourly rates / Total at or below prevailing federal minimum wage
1979	49,400	28,392	57.5	1,353	846	2,199	7.7
1980	48,700	27,709	56.9	1,696	983	2,678	9.7
1981	48,844	27,576	56.5	1,533	1,119	2,652	9.6
1982	47,591	26,481	55.6	1,587	697	2,284	8.6
1983	47,856	26,831	56.1	1,658	585	2,243	8.4
1984	50,022	28,140	56.3	1,626	490	2,116	7.5
1985	51,015	28,893	56.6	1,544	440	1,984	6.9
1986	51,942	29,666	57.1	1,336	408	1,743	5.9
1987	52,938	30,474	57.6	1,283	364	1,647	5.4
1988	53,912	31,058	57.6	1,066	311	1,377	4.4
1989	54,789	31,687	57.8	733	379	1,112	3.5
1990	55,553	32,104	57.8	385	712	1,097	3.4
1991	54,618	31,639	57.9	1,114	795	1,909	6.0
1992	54,826	32,155	58.6	1,231	653	1,885	5.9
1993	55,475	32,337	58.3	1,091	573	1,664	5.1
1994	56,570	33,528	59.3	891	674	1,565	4.7
1995	57,669	34,420	59.7	796	542	1,338	3.9
1996	58,473	34,838	59.6	755	619	1,374	3.9
1997	59,825	35,521	59.4	673	1,147	1,820	5.1
1998	60,973	35,761	58.7	628	1,039	1,667	4.7
1999	61,914	36,073	58.3	446	768	1,214	3.4
2000	63,662	36,720	57.7	319	582	901	2.5
2001	63,647	36,544	57.4	247	497	744	2.0
2002	63,272	36,000	56.9	217	582	799	2.2
2003	63,236	35,853	56.7	213	493	706	2.0
2004	64,145	36,806	57.4	210	470	680	1.8
2005	65,466	37,652	57.5	189	459	648	1.7
2006	66,811	38,193	57.2	146	422	568	1.5
2007	67,468	37,790	56.0	86	460	546	1.4
2008	66,846	37,334	55.9	90	638	728	1.9
2009	63,539	35,185	55.4	368	990	1,358	3.9
2010	63,531	35,498	55.9	669	943	1,612	4.5
2011	64,686	36,457	56.4	648	785	1,433	3.9
2012	65,898	37,113	56.3	567	696	1,263	3.4
2013	66,794	37,544	56.2	622	621	1,243	3.3
2014	68,048	38,405	56.4	516	598	1,114	2.9
2015	69,298	38,732	55.9	330	629	959	2.5
2016	70,589	39,568	56.1	270	499	769	1.9
2017	71,469	39,781	55.7	226	452	678	1.7
2018	72,632	40,691	56.0	168	464	632	1.6
2019	73,349	40,918	55.8	125	411	536	1.3
2020	68,711	36,792	53.5	111	258	369	1.0
2021	70,739	38,089	53.8	87	311	398	1.0
2022	73,672	39,446	53.5	42	286	328	0.8
2023	75,079	40,314	53.7	29	241	270	0.7
2024	74,792	40,154	53.7	41	282	323	0.8

(1) Data for 1990–91, 1996–97, and 2007–09 reflect changes in the minimum wage that took place in those years.

Women

Table 10. Wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below prevailing federal minimum wage, by sex, 1979–2024 annual averages (Numbers in thousands): women
Year	Total wage and salary workers	Total	Percentage of total wage and salary workers	At prevailing federal minimum wage(1)	Below prevailing federal minimum wage(1)	Number	Percentage of hourly paid workers
		Workers paid hourly rates				Workers paid hourly rates / Total at or below prevailing federal minimum wage
1979	38,129	23,329	61.2	2,644	2,070	4,714	20.2
1980	38,944	23,626	60.7	2,990	2,104	5,095	21.6
1981	39,672	24,294	61.2	2,778	2,394	5,172	21.3
1982	39,777	24,365	61.3	2,561	1,651	4,212	17.3
1983	40,433	24,989	61.8	2,603	1,492	4,095	16.4
1984	42,172	26,003	61.7	2,499	1,348	3,847	14.8
1985	43,506	26,869	61.8	2,356	1,198	3,554	13.2
1986	44,961	27,863	62.0	2,125	1,192	3,317	11.9
1987	46,365	29,078	62.7	1,946	1,105	3,051	10.5
1988	47,495	29,820	62.8	1,542	1,008	2,550	8.6
1989	48,691	30,702	63.1	1,056	994	2,050	6.7
1990	49,323	31,069	63.0	711	1,420	2,131	6.9
1991	49,105	30,988	63.1	1,792	1,582	3,374	10.9
1992	49,842	31,454	63.1	1,751	1,286	3,036	9.7
1993	50,626	31,937	63.1	1,534	1,133	2,667	8.4
1994	51,419	33,021	64.2	1,241	1,322	2,563	7.8
1995	52,369	33,934	64.8	1,161	1,157	2,318	6.8
1996	53,488	34,418	64.3	1,106	1,244	2,350	6.8
1997	54,708	35,214	64.4	1,092	1,843	2,935	8.3
1998	55,757	35,680	64.0	965	1,794	2,760	7.7
1999	57,050	36,233	63.5	700	1,426	2,126	5.9
2000	58,427	36,777	62.9	579	1,170	1,749	4.8
2001	58,582	36,848	62.9	409	1,021	1,430	3.9
2002	58,555	36,508	62.3	350	997	1,347	3.7
2003	59,122	37,093	62.7	332	1,062	1,394	3.8
2004	59,408	37,133	62.5	310	1,013	1,323	3.6
2005	60,423	37,957	62.8	290	944	1,234	3.3
2006	61,426	38,321	62.4	263	861	1,124	2.9
2007	62,299	38,082	61.1	181	1,002	1,183	3.1
2008	62,532	37,972	60.7	196	1,302	1,498	3.9
2009	60,951	37,426	61.4	612	1,603	2,215	5.9
2010	60,542	37,404	61.8	1,151	1,598	2,749	7.3
2011	60,502	37,469	61.9	1,029	1,366	2,395	6.4
2012	61,679	38,163	61.9	999	1,288	2,287	6.0
2013	62,316	38,404	61.6	910	1,148	2,058	5.4
2014	63,383	38,802	61.2	739	1,139	1,878	4.8
2015	64,445	39,500	61.3	540	1,062	1,602	4.1
2016	65,512	40,315	61.5	432	952	1,384	3.4
2017	66,421	40,658	61.2	316	829	1,146	2.8
2018	67,467	41,223	61.1	267	812	1,078	2.6
2019	68,388	41,372	60.5	268	800	1,067	2.6
2020	63,462	36,513	57.5	136	607	742	2.0
2021	65,654	38,036	57.9	94	599	693	1.8
2022	68,001	39,283	57.8	100	595	695	1.8
2023	69,462	40,224	57.9	51	548	599	1.5
2024	69,730	40,194	57.6	42	478	520	1.3

(1) Data for 1990–91, 1996–97, and 2007–09 reflect changes in the minimum wage that took place in those years.

Reading this table

This is the report's historical table, in thousands. Total wage and salary workers is everyone paid wages or salaries aged 16 and over; workers paid hourly rates are the subset who report being paid by the hour, and the next column gives them as a percentage of all wage and salary workers. The at and below columns count hourly workers at exactly the prevailing federal minimum and under it, and the last two columns give their sum and that sum as a percentage of hourly-paid workers, the series most often quoted.

"Prevailing" matters: the federal minimum was $2.90 in 1979 and $7.25 from July 2009, and footnote 1 flags the years in which it changed (1990 to 1991, 1996 to 1997, 2007 to 2009), when the count mixes workers measured against two different rates. Between changes the share drifts down as pay rates move while the threshold stands still, and states raising their own minimums above the federal rate take their workers out of the "at" column; neither is a statement about pay, only about the gap between pay and a fixed line. BLS's note points to its documentation of CPS methodology changes that affect comparability across years. The federal rate itself in each year's dollars is on the real-terms page and its full history on the federal minimum-wage page.

Source, release and next release

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Characteristics of minimum wage workers, 2024 (Report 1115), released June 2025; reference period 2024 annual averages.
Next release: the 2025 edition is not yet published (its address, https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2025/home.htm, returned 404 on 2026-10-18); BLS has issued the report each year, most recently in 2025 (report series page).
Table: Table 10. Wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below prevailing federal minimum wage, by sex, 1979–2024 annual averages (Numbers in thousands), fetched October 18, 2026 (SHA-256 27b7b3f1c564…).
Figures are shown as published; this site does not seasonally adjust, deflate, interpolate or extend any series.

Minimum Wage Workers, 1979 to 2024

All workers, 1979 to 2024

Men

Women

Reading this table

Source, release and next release

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