Minimum Wage Workers: Who They Are and How Many of Them Are There

With recent efforts to raise the federal minimum wage, it might be helpful to know who such a change would directly affect and how many workers this would impact. The National Conference of State Legislatures has a handy reference guide to review what states currently have (and those that don't have) minimum wage guidelines in place.

In addition they offer this summary of the current state of minimum wage legislation:

• As of March 24, 38 states considered minimum wage bills during the 2014 session; 34 states are considering increases to the state minimum wage.
• Connecticut, Delaware and D.C. have enacted increases so far in 2014.
• As of Jan. 1, 2014, 21 states and D.C. have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage.
• 19 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands have minimum wages the same as the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
• 4 states and American Somoa have minimum wages below the federal minimum wage (the federal minimum thus applies).
• 1 state, New Hampshire, repealed their state minimum wage in 2011, but left the reference to the federal minimum wage.
• 5 states have not established a state minimum wage.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a webpage dedicated to the Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers, with their most recent data covering the year 2012. Among the ten tables you can find there is a version of this one, showing states' minimum wage workforces and how they relate to national data.

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