The federally mandated minimum wage in the United States is 7.25 U.S. dollars per hour, although the minimum wage varies from state to state. As of January 1, 2025, the District of Columbia had the highest minimum wage in the U.S., at 17.5 U.S. dollars per hour. This was followed by Washington, which had 16.66 U.S. dollars per hour as the state minimum wage. Minimum wage workers Minimum wage jobs are traditionally seen as “starter jobs” in the U.S., or first jobs for teenagers and young adults, and the number of people working minimum wage jobs has decreased from almost four million in 1979 to about 247,000 in 2020. However, the number of workers earning less than minimum wage in 2020 was significantly higher, at about 865,000. Minimum wage jobs Minimum wage jobs are primarily found in food preparation and serving occupations, as well as sales jobs (primarily in retail). Because the minimum wage has not kept up with inflation, nor has it been increased since 2009, it is becoming harder and harder live off of a minimum wage wage job, and for those workers to afford essential things like rent.

The graph presents the median monthly salary in the United States from 2000 to 2025. The x-axis represents the years, labeled from '00 to '25*, while the y-axis shows the salary amounts in U.S. dollars per month. Throughout this twenty-five-year period, the median monthly salary consistently increased from $2491.67 in 2000 to $5195.67 in 2025. The data highlights a steady upward trend, with annual salaries rising each year without any declines. Notably, the salary grew by approximately $200 each year from 2000 to 2019, surged to $4265.08 in 2020, and continued to climb each subsequent year, reaching $5023.42 by 2024. This consistent growth reflects economic advancements and potential increases in workforce compensation over the decade. The information is depicted in a line graph format, effectively illustrating the continuous rise in median monthly salaries across the specified years.

Wages in the United States increased to 31.46 USD/Hour in August from 31.34 USD/Hour in July of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Average Hourly Wages - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In the United States, the median income in 2023 was at 65,540 U.S. dollars for Hispanic households. This is a large increase from 1990 when the median income was 47,600 U.S. dollars for Hispanic households (in 2023 U.S. dollars).

Wages in the United States increased 4.86 percent in August of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Wages and Salaries Growth - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides Average Weekly Earnings in USD. Monthly Earnings include Private Non Agricultural sector only.


Further information about United States Monthly Earnings

• In the latest reports, US Population reached 341 million people in Dec 2024
• Unemployment Rate of US increased to 4 % in Sep 2025
• The country's Labour Force Participation Rate remained the same rate at 62 % in Sep 2025

Asian households measured the highest median household income among racial and ethnic groups in the United States. In 2024, Asian household incomes reached a median of 121,700 U.S. dollars. On the other hand, Black households had the lowest median income of 56,020 U.S. dollars. Overall, median household incomes in the United States stood at 83,730 U.S. dollars that year.Asian and Caucasian (white not Hispanic) households had relatively high median incomes, while the median income of Hispanic, African American, American Indian, and Alaskan Native households all came in lower than the national median. A number of related statistics illustrate further the current state of racial inequality in the United States. Unemployment is highest among Black or African American individuals in the U.S. nearing nine percent unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2024. Hispanic individuals (of any race) were most likely to go without health insurance as of 2024.

In the United States, the median income in 2023 was at 112,800 U.S. dollars for Asian households. This is a large increase from 2002 when the median income for Asian households was 84,770 U.S. dollars (in 2023 U.S. dollars).

View monthly updates and historical trends for US Average Hourly Earnings. from United States. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Track economic data wit…

View quarterly updates and historical trends for US Average Wage Rate Forecast. from United States. Source: Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. Track econ…

Graph and download economic data for Employed: Paid at prevailing federal minimum wage: Wage and salary workers: Production occupations: 16 years and over (LEU0204850700A) from 2000 to 2024 about paid, minimum wage, occupation, salaries, workers, 16 years +, federal, wages, production, employment, and USA.

Wages in Manufacturing in the United States increased to 29.03 USD/Hour in August from 29.01 USD/Hour in July of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Average Hourly Wages in Manufacturing - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private (CES0500000003) from Mar 2006 to Sep 2025 about earnings, average, establishment survey, hours, wages, private, employment, and USA.

The median income in 2023 was at 56,490 U.S. dollars for Black households. In 1990, the median income among Black households was 38,360 U.S. dollars (In 2023 U.S. dollars).

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Percent of hourly paid workers: Paid total at or below prevailing federal minimum wage: Wage and salary workers: 16 years and over (LEU0253127200A) from 2000 to 2024 about paid, minimum wage, full-time, salaries, workers, hours, 16 years +, percent, federal, wages, employment, and USA.

US Minimum Wage by State from 1968 to 2020

The Basics

• What is this? In the United States, states and the federal government set minimum hourly pay ("minimum wage") that workers can receive to ensure that citizens experience a minimum quality of life. This dataset provides the minimum wage data set by each state and the federal government from 1968 to 2020.

• Why did you put this together? While looking online for a clean dataset for minimum wage data by state, I was having trouble finding one. I decided to create one myself and provide it to the community.

• Who do we thank for this data? The United States Department of Labor compiles a table of this data on their website. I took the time to clean it up and provide it here for you. :) The GitHub repository (with R Code for the cleaning process) can be found here!

Content

This is a cleaned dataset of US state and federal minimum wages from 1968 to 2020 (including 2020 equivalency values). The data was scraped from the United States Department of Labor's table of minimum wage by state.

Description of Data

The values in the dataset are as follows: - Year: The year of the data. All minimum wage values are as of January 1 except 1968 and 1969, which are as of February 1. - State: The state or territory of the data. - State.Minimum.Wage: The actual State's minimum wage on January 1 of Year. - State.Minimum.Wage.2020.Dollars: The State.Minimum.Wage in 2020 dollars. - Federal.Minimum.Wage: The federal minimum wage on January 1 of Year. - Federal.Minimum.Wage.2020.Dollars: The Federal.Minimum.Wage in 2020 dollars. - Effective.Minimum.Wage: The minimum wage that is enforced in State on January 1 of Year. Because the federal minimum wage takes effect if the State's minimum wage is lower than the federal minimum wage, this is the higher of the two. - Effective.Minimum.Wage.2020.Dollars: The Effective.Minimum.Wage in 2020 dollars. - CPI.Average: The average value of the Consumer Price Index in Year. When I pulled the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, I selected the dataset with "all items in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted". - Department.Of.Labor.Uncleaned.Data: The unclean, scraped value from the Department of Labor's website. - Department.Of.Labor.Cleaned.Low.Value: The State's lowest enforced minimum wage on January 1 of Year. If there is only one minimum wage, this and the value for Department.Of.Labor.Cleaned.High.Value are identical. (Some states enforce different minimum wage laws depending on the size of the business. In states where this is the case, generally, smaller businesses have slightly lower minimum wage requirements.) - Department.Of.Labor.Cleaned.Low.Value.2020.Dollars: The Department.Of.Labor.Cleaned.Low.Value in 2020 dollars. - Department.Of.Labor.Cleaned.High.Value: The State's higher enforced minimum wage on January 1 of Year. If there is only one minimum wage, this and the value for Department.Of.Labor.Cleaned.Low.Value are identical. - Department.Of.Labor.Cleaned.High.Value.2020.Dollars: The Department.Of.Labor.Cleaned.High.Value in 2020 dollars. - Footnote: The footnote provided on the Department of Labor's website. See more below.

Data Footnotes

As laws differ significantly from territory to territory, especially relating to whom is protected by minimum wage laws, the following footnotes are located throughout the data in Footnote to add more context to the minimum wage. The original footnotes can be found here.

Minimum Wages in the United States remained unchanged at 7.25 USD/Hour in 2025 from 7.25 USD/Hour in 2024. This dataset provides - United States Minimum Wages- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In 2023, the average wage and salary per full-time equivalent employee in the mining industry in the United States was at 126,707 U.S. dollars. The highest wage and salary per FTE was found in the information industry, at 164,400 U.S. dollars.

Graph and download economic data for Laborers' Average Hourly Rate of Wages, Weighted for United States (A08139USA052NNBR) from 1860 to 1891 about hours, wages, labor, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Minimum Hourly Wage for Nonfarm Workers for the United States (FEDMINNFRWG) from Oct 1938 to Aug 2025 about per hour, minimum wage, nonfarm, workers, hours, federal, wages, and USA.