Economic Snapshot
Raising the Minimum Wage to $12 by 2020 Would Shrink the Wage Gap between Low-Wage Workers and Typical Workers: Federal minimum wage as a share of the national median wage, 1968–2014 (actual) and 2015–2020 (projected)
| Minimum wage as a percentage of the median wage | Minimum wage as a percentage of the median wage (projected) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 52.1% | |
| 1969 | 47.9% | |
| 1970 | 44.9% | |
| 1971 | 43.4% | |
| 1972 | 41.1% | |
| 1973 | 38.1% | |
| 1974 | 43.7% | |
| 1975 | 42.8% | |
| 1976 | 44.3% | |
| 1977 | 41.6% | |
| 1978 | 45.0% | |
| 1979 | 45.9% | |
| 1980 | 45.0% | |
| 1981 | 45.0% | |
| 1982 | 42.1% | |
| 1983 | 40.4% | |
| 1984 | 38.5% | |
| 1985 | 36.6% | |
| 1986 | 35.5% | |
| 1987 | 34.7% | |
| 1988 | 33.3% | |
| 1989 | 32.0% | |
| 1990 | 35.1% | |
| 1991 | 37.9% | |
| 1992 | 36.3% | |
| 1993 | 36.1% | |
| 1994 | 35.4% | |
| 1995 | 34.9% | |
| 1996 | 37.9% | |
| 1997 | 39.1% | |
| 1998 | 37.6% | |
| 1999 | 36.1% | |
| 2000 | 35.2% | |
| 2001 | 33.8% | |
| 2002 | 32.9% | |
| 2003 | 32.1% | |
| 2004 | 31.2% | |
| 2005 | 30.6% | |
| 2006 | 29.9% | |
| 2007 | 32.9% | |
| 2008 | 35.2% | |
| 2009 | 38.4% | |
| 2010 | 38.2% | |
| 2011 | 38.1% | |
| 2012 | 37.9% | |
| 2013 | 37.7% | |
| 2014 | 37.0% | |
| 2015 | 36.6% | 36.6% |
| 2016 | 39.6% | |
| 2017 | 43.5% | |
| 2018 | 47.2% | |
| 2019 | 50.8% | |
| 2020 | 54.1% |
Note: Projections over 2015–2020 assume the minimum wage is gradually raised to $12.00 by 2020 as stipulated by the Raise the Wage Act of 2015. See data appendix for methodology.
Source: Reproduced from David Cooper, John Schmitt, and Lawrence Mishel, We Can Afford a $12 Federal Minimum Wage by 2020, Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper #398. For a more detailed explanation of data sources and computations, see the appendix of this paper.
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