Minimum Wage Workers in Virginia — 2015

Of the 1,919,000 workers paid hourly rates in Virginia in 2015, 50,000 earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, while 69,000 earned less, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins noted that the 120,000 workers earning the federal minimum wage or less made up 6.2 percent of all hourly paid workers in the state. (See chart 1.) Nationwide, those earning the federal minimum or less accounted for 3.3 percent of the hourly paid workforce. (See table 1. The Virginia minimum wage is equal to the prevailing federal minimum wage.)

In 2007, 46,000 hourly paid workers earned the prevailing federal minimum wage or less in Virginia, the lowest level in the past decade. The 46,000 workers in this category accounted for 2.4 percent of all hourly paid workers in the state. In 2007, the federal minimum wage began increasing after holding steady for nearly a decade. Two additional increases in the federal minimum wage followed, resulting in more Virginia workers falling into this category, peaking at 136,000 in 2010. That number has declined in three of the last five years.

Chart 1. Percentage of hourly paid wage and salary workers with earnings at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage in Virginia, annual averages, 2005-2015

From 2014 to 2015, the portion of hourly paid workers in Virginia who earned at or below the federal minimum wage increased from 4.8 to 6.2 percent. The percentage of workers earning less than the federal minimum rose 0.7 percentage point in 2015 to 3.6 percent, and the share earning exactly the minimum wage also increased 0.7 percentage point to 2.6 percent.

Of the 120,000 workers earning the federal minimum wage or less in Virginia in 2015, 72,000, or 61 percent, were women. (See table 2.) These women represented 7.2 percent of all women paid hourly rates in the state. There were 48,000 men earning the minimum wage or less in Virginia, accounting for 5.2 percent of all men paid hourly rates in the state.

In 2015, Virginia’s proportion of hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage ranked 2^nd highest—tying with Mississippi—among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The states with the highest percentages of hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage were in the South: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia (all were about 6 percent). The states with the lowest percentages of hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage were in the West: Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington (all were about 1.0 percent). It should be noted that a number of states have minimum wage rates that exceed the federal level. As of January 1, 2016, 29 states and the District of Columbia had minimum wage rates that exceeded the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Chart 2. Minimum wage laws in the states, January 1, 2016

Technical Note

The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. The survey is conducted monthly for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau using a scientifically selected national sample of about 60,000 eligible households in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The survey also provides data on earnings, which are based on one-fourth of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers, both incorporated and unincorporated, are excluded from these earnings estimates.

Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. The differences among data for the states reflect, in part, variations in the occupation, industry, and age composition of each state’s labor force. In addition, sampling error for the state estimates is considerably larger than it is for the national data.

Minimum wage worker 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. For technical documentation and related information, including reliability of the CPS estimates, see www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm.

Some workers reported as earning at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage may not, in fact, be covered by federal or state minimum wage laws because of exclusions and exemptions in the statutes. The presence of workers with hourly earnings below the federal minimum wage does not necessarily indicate violations of the FLSA or state statutes in cases where such standards apply.

Estimates of the number of minimum wage workers in this release pertain only to workers who are paid hourly rates. Salaried workers and other workers who are not paid by the hour are excluded, even though some have earnings that, if converted to hourly rates, would be at or below the federal minimum wage. Consequently, the estimates presented in this release likely understate the actual number of workers with hourly earnings at or below the minimum wage.

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; on July 24, 2008, to $6.55 per hour; and on July 24, 2009, to $7.25 per hour.

The principal definitions used in connection with the earnings series in this release are described below:

Wage and salary workers. Workers age 16 and older who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payments in kind, or piece rates on their sole or principal job. This group includes employees in both the private and public sectors. All self-employed workers are excluded whether or not their businesses are incorporated.

Workers paid at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage pertain only to workers who are paid hourly rates. Salaried workers and other nonhourly paid workers are excluded.

Hourly earnings. Hourly earnings data are wage and salary workers who are paid by the hour and refer to a person’s sole or principal job. Hourly earnings for hourly paid workers do not include overtime pay, commissions, or tips received.

Median hourly earnings. The median is the amount which divides a given earnings distribution into two equal groups, one having earnings above the median and the other having earnings below the median. The median is less sensitive to extreme wages than the mean; this makes it a better measure for highly skewed distributions.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage, by state, 2015 annual averages
State	Number of workers (in thousands)				Percent distribution				Percentage of workers paid hourly rates
	Total paid hourly rates	At or below minimum wage			Total paid hourly rates	At or below minimum wage			At or below minimum wage
	Total paid hourly rates	Total	At minimum wage	Below minimum wage	Total paid hourly rates	Total	At minimum wage	Below minimum wage	Total	At minimum wage	Below minimum wage
Total, 16 years and older	78,232	2,561	870	1,691	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	3.3	1.1	2.2
Alabama	1,182	66	40	26	1.5	2.6	4.6	1.6	5.6	3.4	2.2
Alaska	209	3	1	2	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.1	1.2	0.4	0.8
Arizona	1,627	44	6	38	2.1	1.7	0.7	2.2	2.7	0.4	2.3
Arkansas	712	22	10	12	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.7	3.1	1.4	1.7
California	9,667	115	25	90	12.4	4.5	2.9	5.3	1.2	0.3	0.9
Colorado	1,242	22	3	19	1.6	0.9	0.3	1.1	1.8	0.2	1.5
Connecticut	904	27	3	23	1.2	1.0	0.4	1.4	2.9	0.4	2.6
Delaware	236	6	2	4	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	2.6	0.7	1.9
District of Columbia	112	3	1	2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	3.0	0.8	2.2
Florida	4,238	160	13	147	5.4	6.2	1.5	8.7	3.8	0.3	3.5
Georgia	2,173	95	46	49	2.8	3.7	5.3	2.9	4.4	2.1	2.3
Hawaii	356	10	5	5	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.3	2.8	1.5	1.3
Idaho	458	21	15	6	0.6	0.8	1.7	0.4	4.6	3.2	1.4
Illinois	3,154	101	15	86	4.0	3.9	1.7	5.1	3.2	0.5	2.7
Indiana	1,779	69	32	37	2.3	2.7	3.7	2.2	3.9	1.8	2.1
Iowa	931	35	17	18	1.2	1.4	2.0	1.0	3.7	1.8	1.9
Kansas	794	33	16	17	1.0	1.3	1.8	1.0	4.1	2.0	2.1
Kentucky	1,090	38	15	23	1.4	1.5	1.7	1.4	3.5	1.4	2.1
Louisiana	1,094	70	38	32	1.4	2.8	4.4	1.9	6.4	3.5	2.9
Maine	359	10	2	8	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.5	2.7	0.5	2.2
Maryland	1,418	31	5	25	1.8	1.2	0.6	1.5	2.2	0.4	1.8
Massachusetts	1,651	48	9	39	2.1	1.9	1.1	2.3	2.9	0.6	2.3
Michigan	2,706	101	13	88	3.5	4.0	1.5	5.2	3.7	0.5	3.3
Minnesota	1,603	26	10	16	2.0	1.0	1.2	0.9	1.6	0.6	1.0
Mississippi	726	45	27	18	0.9	1.8	3.1	1.1	6.2	3.7	2.5
Missouri	1,583	57	13	44	2.0	2.2	1.5	2.6	3.6	0.8	2.8
Montana	294	6	2	4	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.2	2.0	0.7	1.3
Nebraska	558	13	4	9	0.7	0.5	0.5	0.5	2.3	0.7	1.6
Nevada	794	20	9	10	1.0	0.8	1.1	0.6	2.5	1.2	1.3
New Hampshire	389	16	5	11	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.7	4.1	1.2	2.9
New Jersey	1,803	50	8	42	2.3	2.0	0.9	2.5	2.8	0.4	2.3
New Mexico	511	16	3	13	0.7	0.6	0.3	0.8	3.1	0.5	2.5
New York	4,015	97	24	74	5.1	3.8	2.7	4.4	2.4	0.6	1.8
North Carolina	2,374	122	55	66	3.0	4.8	6.4	3.9	5.1	2.3	2.8
North Dakota	222	5	2	4	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6
Ohio	3,219	93	16	77	4.1	3.6	1.8	4.6	2.9	0.5	2.4
Oklahoma	967	29	15	15	1.2	1.1	1.7	0.9	3.0	1.5	1.5
Oregon	1,015	7	3	5	1.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.7	0.3	0.5
Pennsylvania	3,524	150	54	96	4.5	5.9	6.2	5.7	4.3	1.5	2.7
Rhode Island	312	5	0	5	0.4	0.2	0.0	0.3	1.5	0.1	1.5
South Carolina	1,191	56	34	22	1.5	2.2	4.0	1.3	4.7	2.9	1.8
South Dakota	261	6	1	5	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.3	2.4	0.4	2.1
Tennessee	1,649	77	35	42	2.1	3.0	4.0	2.5	4.7	2.1	2.5
Texas	6,070	287	111	176	7.8	11.2	12.8	10.4	4.7	1.8	2.9
Utah	776	25	13	12	1.0	1.0	1.5	0.7	3.3	1.7	1.5
Vermont	175	3	0	3	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.2	1.9	0.2	1.6
Virginia	1,919	120	50	69	2.5	4.7	5.8	4.1	6.2	2.6	3.6
Washington	1,795	19	7	12	2.3	0.7	0.8	0.7	1.1	0.4	0.7
West Virginia	433	15	5	10	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.6	3.4	1.0	2.3
Wisconsin	1,781	61	30	31	2.3	2.4	3.5	1.8	3.4	1.7	1.7
Wyoming	179	6	3	4	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2	3.5	1.4	2.1
Note: Data exclude all self-employed workers, whether or not their businesses are incorporated. These data are based on a sample and therefore are subject to sampling error; the degree of error may be quite large for less populous states. Unrounded data were used in all calculations.

Table 2. Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage in the Commonwealth of Virginia, by sex, annual averages, 2005-2015
Virginia	Number of workers (in thousands)				Percent of workers paid hourly rates			Median earnings (in dollars)
	Total paid hourly rates	At or below minimum wage			At or below minimum wage
	Total paid hourly rates	Total	At minimum wage	Below minimum wage	Total	At minimum wage	Below minimum wage
Total, men
2005	877	25	9	16	2.9	1.0	1.8	12.83
2006	903	19	4	15	2.1	0.4	1.7	13.12
2007	854	(1)	(1)	13	(1)	(1)	1.5	13.14
2008	867	26	3	23	3.0	0.3	2.7	13.20
2009	826	37	8	29	4.5	1.0	3.5	13.71
2010	831	48	15	33	5.8	1.8	4.0	13.58
2011	839	54	28	26	6.4	3.3	3.1	13.36
2012	893	56	22	34	6.3	2.5	3.8	13.80
2013	886	46	23	23	5.2	2.6	2.6	14.73
2014	933	30	9	21	3.2	1.0	2.3	14.85
2015	921	48	21	27	5.2	2.3	2.9	14.76
Total, women
2005	875	36	13	23	4.1	1.5	2.6	10.03
2006	937	32	6	26	3.4	0.6	2.8	10.31
2007	907	33	5	28	3.6	0.6	3.1	10.88
2008	943	45	3	42	4.8	0.3	4.5	11.17
2009	875	64	25	39	7.3	2.9	4.5	11.07
2010	880	88	38	50	10.0	4.3	5.7	11.18
2011	858	66	29	37	7.7	3.4	4.3	11.48
2012	910	68	26	42	7.5	2.9	4.6	11.96
2013	920	66	35	31	7.2	3.8	3.4	12.22
2014	946	61	27	34	6.4	2.9	3.6	12.05
2015	997	72	29	43	7.2	2.9	4.3	12.05
Footnotes: (1) Data not available.
Note: Data exclude all self-employed workers, whether or not their businesses are incorporated. These data are based on a sample and therefore are subject to sampling error; the degree of error may be quite large for less populous states. Unrounded data were used in all calculations.

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, May 31, 2016

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Minimum Wage Workers in Virginia — 2015