About 1% of hourly-paid workers in the United States earn the federal minimum wage or less. That translates to roughly 844,000 workers out of 81.5 million hourly workers, based on 2025 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number is small partly because the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour has remained unchanged since 2009, and most states, cities, and employers now pay well above it.
What the 1% Figure Actually Measures
The BLS tracks workers who are paid hourly rates and earn exactly $7.25 per hour or less. That last part is important: some workers can legally earn below the federal minimum. Tipped employees, for instance, have a lower federal cash wage floor, and certain workers with disabilities or student workers may also fall below $7.25 under specific exemptions.
The figure only counts wage and salary workers paid by the hour. It excludes salaried employees, self-employed workers, and anyone whose pay is structured as a fixed weekly or monthly amount rather than an hourly rate. It also captures earnings on a person’s main job only, and it does not include overtime pay, commissions, or tips. A server who earns $2.13 per hour in base pay but takes home $25 per hour after tips would still show up in this count as earning below the federal minimum.
Where Minimum Wage Workers Are Concentrated
Minimum wage work is heavily concentrated in a single corner of the economy. In the leisure and hospitality sector, 5.7% of hourly workers earn the federal minimum or less. Within that sector, food services and drinking places stand out at 7.0%, the highest rate of any detailed industry. That category covers restaurants, bars, cafeterias, and similar establishments where tipped pay structures are common.
By occupation, food preparation and serving roles have the highest concentration at 7.5% of hourly workers. Personal care and service occupations come in at 3.0%. Outside of service work, very few occupations have meaningful concentrations of minimum wage earners. Healthcare support, construction, manufacturing, and office occupations all fall well below 1%.
Why the Number Is So Low
The 1% figure can seem surprisingly small, and there are a few reasons for that. The most significant is that many states set their own minimum wages above the federal level. When a state requires employers to pay $13 or $15 per hour, workers in that state earning their state minimum don’t show up in the federal count because they’re above $7.25. The BLS data measures against the federal floor only.
Market forces have also pushed wages higher. Even in states that still use $7.25 as their minimum, most employers pay more simply to attract workers. Fast food chains, retail stores, and warehouse operations have widely adopted starting wages of $12 to $17 per hour in recent years, which moves those workers out of the federal minimum wage category even though their pay is still relatively low.
The Broader Low-Wage Picture
Focusing on $7.25 per hour gives you a narrow slice of the low-wage workforce. A wider lens tells a different story. According to BLS analysis of May 2022 wage data, about 30.2 million jobs paid less than $15 per hour, representing 20.4% of total national employment. Another 33.8 million jobs (22.8%) paid between $15 and $19.99 per hour. Together, nearly 6 in 10 jobs paid less than $25 per hour.
So while only 1% of hourly workers earn the federal minimum or below, roughly one in five workers earns less than $15 per hour. That gap between the two numbers reflects the reality that the federal minimum wage has become less relevant as a practical wage floor for most of the country, even as millions of workers still earn wages that would be considered low by most measures.
How the Federal Minimum Has Stayed Flat
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since July 2009, making it the longest period without an increase since the minimum wage was established in 1938. Adjusted for inflation, its purchasing power has dropped significantly over that span. A worker earning $7.25 today can buy considerably less than a worker earning the same amount could in 2009.
This stagnation is the main reason the percentage of workers earning the federal minimum has fallen over time. In 2010, about 6% of hourly workers earned $7.25 or less. That share has steadily declined as state minimums, local ordinances, and employer competition pulled wages above the federal floor. The 1% figure in 2025 reflects an economy where $7.25 is so far below prevailing wages that very few workers actually earn it, with the notable exception of tipped workers whose base cash wage remains low by design.