MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS IN TEXAS: 2007


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:                                        FOR RELEASE:         
Cheryl Abbot, Regional Economist                                April 25, 2008  
Dallas, TX                                                      
(214) 767-6970                 

                      MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS IN TEXAS: 2007

     In 2007, 221,000 hourly-paid workers in Texas had earnings at or below the 
prevailing Federal minimum wage (1), according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s 
Bureau of Labor Statistics.  (See chart A.)  In the State, about 5.6 million 
workers were paid at hourly rates, representing 53.9 percent of all wage and salary 
workers (2).  Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that workers paid at 
or below the Federal minimum wage accounted for 4.0 percent of these hourly-paid 
workers in Texas (3).  This was one of the highest shares of workers in this pay 
range in the nation.  (See table 1.)


Chart A.  Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or 
below the prevailing Federal minimum wage in Texas, annual averages, 1998-2007



     According to Current Population Survey (CPS) estimates for 2007, 75.9 million 
workers in the United States were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.5 percent 
of all wage and salary workers.  Of those paid by the hour, 267,000 were reported 
as earning exactly the prevailing Federal minimum wage.  Nearly 1.5 million were 
reported as earning wages below the minimum.  Together, these 1.7 million workers 
with wages at or below the Federal minimum made up 2.3 percent of all hourly-paid 
workers.

     With the exception of a slight uptick in 2003, the number of hourly-paid 
workers at or below the Federal minimum wage had been steadily declining in Texas 
since 1998.  That trend came to a halt in 2007 as both a larger number and a higher 
percentage of workers in the State received hourly wages at or below the increased 
Federal minimum.  (See chart A.)

     The most significant reversal came among female hourly workers in the State.  
Between 2006 and 2007, the number of women at or below the new Federal minimum wage 
rose sharply while the number of men was unchanged.  Women earning at or below the 
minimum wage as a percent of all hourly-paid female workers in Texas, rose to 5.7 
percent in 2007, up from 3.8 percent in 2006; the percentage for men, at 2.4 
percent in 2007, was little changed over the year.  As a result of the 2007 
increase among women workers, they now account for about 69 percent of all Texas 
hourly-paid workers who earned the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less in 2007, 
up from about 60 percent in 2006.  (See table A and chart B.)


Chart B.  Percentage of employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates
with earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage in Texas,
by sex, annual averages, 1998-2007



     Overall, Texas wage and salary workers paid hourly rates (4) had median hourly 
earnings of $10.54 in 2007; nationally, the median was $11.95.  The 2007 median 
hourly rates for men and for women in Texas were $11.54 and $9.86, respectively.  
(See table A.)  For the United States as a whole, the comparable figures were 
$12.95 for men and $10.98 for women.


    Table A.  Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with 
    earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage, and median 
    earnings of all hourly-paid workers in Texas, annual averages, 1998-2007
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
              | At or below Federal Minimun Wage |     All hourly-paid      
              | (number of workers in thousands) |         workers          
              |----------------------------------|--------------------------
              |         |          |             | Number of  |    Median   
              |         |   Below  |     At      |  workers   |   earnings  
       Texas  |  Total  |Prevailing| Prevailing  |(thousands) | (in dollars)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Total, both sexes
         1998...  466        255        211          5,055         $8.23
         1999...  337        186        151          4,990          8.54
         2000...  297        174        123          5,112          9.01
         2001...  215        128         87          5,101          9.48
         2002...  205        129         76          5,002          9.76
         2003...  235        161         74          5,258          9.82
         2004...  198        131         67          5,293          9.95
         2005...  176        121         55          5,467         10.04
         2006...  173        121         52          5,724         10.22
         2007...  221        175         46          5,585         10.54
     Men
         1998...  186        108         78          2,660         $8.97
         1999...  120         68         52          2,560          9.35
         2000...  114         70         44          2,667          9.83
         2001...   90         50         40          2,712         10.11
         2002...   82         61         21          2,623         10.11
         2003...   96         70         26          2,704         10.18
         2004...   77         48         29          2,753         10.41
         2005...   67         48         19          2,835         10.87
         2006...   69         47         22          3,011         11.18
         2007...   69         53         16          2,895         11.54
     Women
         1998...  280        147        133          2,395         $7.50
         1999...  217        118         99          2,430          7.84
         2000...  183        104         79          2,445          8.18
         2001...  125         78         47          2,389          8.55
         2002...  123         68         55          2,379          8.90
         2003...  139         91         48          2,553          8.95
         2004...  122         84         38          2,541          9.33
         2005...  110         73         37          2,632          9.24
         2006...  104         74         30          2,713          9.80
         2007...  152        122         30          2,690          9.86
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------


     Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2007, Mississippi, at 4.5 
percent, had the highest proportion of hourly-paid workers earning at or below the 
prevailing Federal minimum wage, followed by Louisiana at 4.3 percent.  Texas, 
Massachusetts, and South Carolina tied for third with 4.0 percent of hourly-paid 
workers at or below the Federal minimum.  Alabama and West Virginia also tied at 
3.3 percent, followed by Georgia at 3.2 percent.  Rounding out the 10 states with 
the highest percentages of workers at or below the Federal minimum wage were Kansas 
and Nebraska, both at 3.1 percent.  Montana, California, Washington, and Oregon had 
the lowest rates, each with less than 1 percent of hourly-paid workers earning the 
Federal minimum or below.  It should be noted that as of January 1, 2008, 32 states 
and the District of Columbia had laws establishing minimum wage standards that 
exceeded the Federal level of $5.85 per hour (5).  (See table 1 and chart C.)



Chart C.  Minimum wage laws in the States, January 1, 2008



Map source:  U.S. Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration.  


==============================================================================================
(1) On July 24, 2007, the Federal minimum wage increased to $5.85 per hour from 
    $5.15 per hour.  Data in this report reflect the average number of workers earning 
    the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less for the year—those who earned $5.15 or 
    less from January 2007 through July 2007 and those who earned $5.85 or less from 
    August 2007 through the end of the year.  
(2) Data are for wage and salary workers, excluding the incorporated self-employed, 
    and refer to earnings on a person's sole or principal job.
(3) It should be noted that 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.
(4) Wage rates in this release use median values.  The median is the middle of a 
    distribution:  half the scores are above the median and half are below the median.  
    The median is less sensitive to extreme wages than the mean; this makes it a better 
    measure than the mean for highly skewed distributions.
(5) U.S. Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Wage and Hour 
    Division: http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm.
==============================================================================================


                                Technical Note

     The Bureau of Labor Statistics' data on minimum wage earners are derived from 
the Current Population Survey (CPS), a nationwide sample survey of households that 
includes questions enabling the identification of hourly-paid workers and their 
hourly wage rate.  Data in this summary are annual averages.

     Minimum wage data, particularly levels, for each year are not strictly 
comparable with data for earlier years because of the introduction of revised 
population controls used in the CPS.  The effect of the revised population controls 
on the minimum wage estimates is unknown.  However, the effect of the new 
controls in 2007 on the monthly CPS estimates for the U.S. was to increase the 
December 2006 employment level by 153,000 and the unemployment level by 10,000.  
The updated controls had little or no effect on unemployment rates and other 
ratios. For additional information, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population
Estimates in January 2007" in the February 2007 issue of Employment and Earnings,
available on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps07adj.pdf.

     It should be noted that 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.  The estimates of the numbers of minimum and subminimum wage workers 
presented in the accompanying tables pertain to workers paid at hourly rates; 
salaried and other non-hourly workers are excluded.  As such, 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, BLS does 
not routinely estimate hourly earnings for non-hourly workers because of data 
concerns that arise in producing these estimates.  For further information, see 
Steven Haugen and Earl Mellor, "Estimating the number of minimum wage workers," 
Monthly Labor Review, January 1990 (PDF 415K). 

     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, $4.25 in April 
1991, $4.75 in October 1996, and $5.15 in September 1997.  On July 24, 2007, the 
Federal minimum wage increased to $5.85 per hour from $5.15 per hour. Data in this 
report reflect the average number of workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum 
wage or less for the year (those who earned $5.15 or less from January 2007 through 
July 2007 and those who earned $5.85 or less from August 2007 through the end of 
the year).

     This release is available on our Web site at http://www.bls.gov/ro6/home.htm.  
If you have additional questions, you can contact the Southwest Information Office 
at 214-767-6970.  Information in this release will be made available to sensory 
impaired individuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-691-5200; TDD message 
referral phone number:  1-800-877-8339.



Table 1.  Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing
Federal minimum wage, by State, 2007 annual averages
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               |      Number of workers       |                              |   Percent of workers 
               |       (in thousands)         |    Percent distribution      |    paid hourly rates 
               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               |      |     At or below       |      |       At or below     |     At or below   
               |      |     minimum Wage      |      |       minimum Wage    |     minimum Wage        
               | Total|-----------------------| Total|-----------------------|------------------------
  State        |  paid|       |  At   | Below |  paid|       |  At   | Below |       |  At    | Below
               |hourly|       |minimum|minimum|hourly|       |minimum|minimum|       |minimum |minimum
               | rates| Total | wage  | wage  | rates| Total | Wage  | Wage  | Total | wage   | wage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total, 16 years 
and over......  75,873   1729    267   1,462    100.0  100.0   100.0   100.0    2.3     0.4     1.9

Alabama.......   1,132     37     14      23      1.5    2.1     5.2     1.6    3.3     1.2     2.0
Alaska........     197      2      -       2      0.3    0.1       -     0.1    1.0       -     1.0
Arizona.......   1,560     28      2      26      2.1    1.6     0.7     1.8    1.8     0.1     1.7
Arkansas......     677     17      1      16      0.9    1.0     0.4     1.1    2.5     0.1     2.4
California....   8,785     74      9      65     11.6    4.3     3.4     4.4    0.8     0.1     0.7

Colorado......   1,164     25      1      24      1.5    1.4     0.4     1.6    2.1     0.1     2.1
Connecticut...     923     14      -      14      1.2    0.8       -     1.0    1.5       -     1.5
Delaware......     234      5      -       5      0.3    0.3       -     0.3    2.1       -     2.1
District 
 of Columbia..     109      3      1       2      0.1    0.2     0.4     0.1    2.8     0.9     1.8
Florida.......   4,261    114     15      99      5.6    6.6     5.6     6.8    2.7     0.4     2.3

Georgia.......   2,216     70     11      59      2.9    4.0     4.1     4.0    3.2     0.5     2.7
Hawaii........     338      4      -       4      0.4    0.2       -     0.3    1.2       -     1.2
Idaho.........     424     12      4       8      0.6    0.7     1.5     0.5    2.8     0.9     1.9
Illinois......   3,335     74      3      71      4.4    4.3     1.1     4.9    2.2     0.1     2.1
Indiana.......   1,826     36      7      29      2.4    2.1     2.6     2.0    2.0     0.4     1.6

Iowa..........     933     24      2      22      1.2    1.4     0.7     1.5    2.6     0.2     2.4
Kansas........     796     25      5      20      1.0    1.4     1.9     1.4    3.1     0.6     2.5
Kentucky......   1,152     35      9      26      1.5    2.0     3.4     1.8    3.0     0.8     2.3
Louisiana.....     937     40     17      23      1.2    2.3     6.4     1.6    4.3     1.8     2.5
Maine.........     399      9      -       9      0.5    0.5       -     0.6    2.3       -     2.3

Maryland......   1,317     27      2      25      1.7    1.6     0.7     1.7    2.1     0.2     1.9
Massachusetts.   1,505     60      2      58      2.0    3.5     0.7     4.0    4.0     0.1     3.9
Michigan......   2,678     58      1      57      3.5    3.4     0.4     3.9    2.2     0.0     2.1
Minnesota.....   1,565     21      2      19      2.1    1.2     0.7     1.3    1.3     0.1     1.2
Mississippi...     691     31     16      15      0.9    1.8     6.0     1.0    4.5     2.3     2.2

Missouri......   1,577     33      3      30      2.1    1.9     1.1     2.1    2.1     0.2     1.9
Montana.......     289      1      -       1      0.4    0.1       -     0.1    0.3       -     0.3
Nebraska......     553     17      3      14      0.7    1.0     1.1     1.0    3.1     0.5     2.5
Nevada........     747     12      3       9      1.0    0.7     1.1     0.6    1.6     0.4     1.2
New Hampshire.     372      9      1       8      0.5    0.5     0.4     0.5    2.4     0.3     2.2

New Jersey....   1,697     29      4      25      2.2    1.7     1.5     1.7    1.7     0.2     1.5
New Mexico....     479     11      2       9      0.6    0.6     0.7     0.6    2.3     0.4     1.9
New York......   4,078     88      7      81      5.4    5.1     2.6     5.5    2.2     0.2     2.0
North Carolina   2,156     46      4      42      2.8    2.7     1.5     2.9    2.1     0.2     1.9
North Dakota..     191      5      2       3      0.3    0.3     0.7     0.2    2.6     1.0     1.6

Ohio..........   3,422     79      5      74      4.5    4.6     1.9     5.1    2.3     0.1     2.2
Oklahoma......     849     25     10      15      1.1    1.4     3.7     1.0    2.9     1.2     1.8
Oregon........   1,050      9      2       7      1.4    0.5     0.7     0.5    0.9     0.2     0.7
Pennsylvania..   3,434     69      3      66      4.5    4.0     1.1     4.5    2.0     0.1     1.9
Rhode Island..     315      7      -       7      0.4    0.4       -     0.5    2.2       -     2.2

South Carolina   1,178     47     10      37      1.6    2.7     3.7     2.5    4.0     0.8     3.1
South Dakota..     241      6      1       5      0.3    0.3     0.4     0.3    2.5     0.4     2.1
Tennesee......   1,602     39     10      29      2.1    2.3     3.7     2.0    2.4     0.6     1.8
Texas.........   5,585    221     46     175      7.4   12.8    17.2    12.0    4.0     0.8     3.1
Utah..........     748     11      1      10      1.0    0.6     0.4     0.7    1.5     0.1     1.3

Vermont.......     181      4      -       4      0.2    0.2       -     0.3    2.2       -     2.2
Virginia......   1,761     46      5      41      2.3    2.7     1.9     2.8    2.6     0.3     2.3
Washington....   1,844     17      3      14      2.4    1.0     1.1     1.0    0.9     0.2     0.8
West Virginia.     478     16      9       7      0.6    0.9     3.4     0.5    3.3     1.9     1.5
Wisconsin.....   1,730     32      4      28      2.3    1.9     1.5     1.9    1.8     0.2     1.6
Wyoming.......     164      4      1       3      0.2    0.2     0.4     0.2    2.4     0.6     1.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Data exclude all self-employed persons regardless of whether or not their businesses are
incorporated. Users are reminded that these data are based on a sample and are therefore subject to
sampling error; the degree of error may be quite large for less populous States. It is not possible
to clearly determine whether workers surveyed in the CPS are actually covered by the Fair Labor 
Standards Act (FLSA) or by individual State minimum wage laws. Thus, some workers reported as 
earning an hourly wage of $5.15 may not in fact be covered by Federal or State minimum wage laws.
At the same time, the presence of a sizable number of workers with wages below the prevailing Federal
minimum wage does not necessarily indicate violations of the FLSA or applicable State laws, because 
there are numerous exclusions and exemptions to these minimum wage statutes. Dash indicates no data
or data that do not meet publication criteria.
Last Modified Date: April 25, 2008
www.dol.gov

Frequently Asked Questions \| Freedom of Information Act \| Customer Survey \| Important Web Site Notices Privacy & Security Statement \| Linking and Copyright Information \| Technical (web) question \| Other comments
Skip Navigation Links


BLS Home \| Programs & Surveys \| Get Detailed Statistics \| Glossary \| What's New \| Find It! In DOL