Demographic characteristics of Native American workers affected by increasing the federal minimum wage by $15 by 2024

Group Total estimated workforce (thousands) Directly affected (thousands) Share directly affected Indirectly affected (thousands) Share indirectly affected Total affected (thousands) Share of group who are affected Group’s share of total affected
All Native American workers 873 227 26.0% 90 10.2% 316 36.2% 100.0%
Gender
Women 449 137 30.4% 51 11.3% 187 41.7% 59.2%
Men 424 90 21.3% 39 9.2% 129 30.5% 40.8%
Age
Age 19 or younger 33 22 68.2% 3 7.7% 25 75.9% 7.9%
Age 20 or older 841 205 24.3% 87 10.4% 292 34.7% 92.1%
Ages 16–24 127 78 61.1% 14 11.3% 92 72.4% 29.1%
Ages 25–39 295 81 27.7% 35 11.9% 116 39.5% 36.8%
Ages 40–54 282 41 14.5% 24 8.5% 65 23.0% 20.5%
Age 55 or older 170 27 15.9% 16 9.5% 43 25.4% 13.7%
Family status
Married parent 182 26 14.4% 16 8.7% 42 23.2% 13.4%
Single parent 143 46 32.3% 17 11.8% 63 44.1% 19.9%
Married, no children 182 28 15.2% 15 8.4% 43 23.6% 13.5%
Unmarried, no children 367 127 34.6% 42 11.3% 168 45.9% 53.2%
Educational attainment
Less than high school 96 47 49.0% 11 11.3% 58 60.3% 18.2%
High school 277 91 32.9% 35 12.7% 126 45.6% 40.0%
Some college, no degree 253 69 27.4% 29 11.3% 98 38.7% 30.9%
Associate degree 92 14 15.2% 9 9.4% 23 24.7% 7.1%
Bachelor’s degree or higher 156 6 3.7% 6 3.9% 12 7.6% 3.7%
Family income
Less than $25,000 179 101 56.4% 24 13.6% 125 70.0% 39.5%
$25,000–$49,999 226 59 26.2% 30 13.5% 90 39.7% 28.3%
$50,000–$74,999 172 31 17.8% 17 9.8% 47 27.6% 15.0%
$75,000–$99,999 118 17 14.6% 9 7.3% 26 21.9% 8.1%
$100,000–$149,999 117 14 11.8% 6 5.5% 20 17.3% 6.4%
$150,000 or more 63 6 8.8% 3 4.8% 9 13.7% 2.7%
Family income-to-poverty ratio
At or below the poverty line 104 67 64.4% 11 10.6% 78 75.0% 24.6%
101–200% of poverty line 185 78 42.0% 30 16.4% 108 58.3% 34.1%
201–400% of poverty line 309 58 18.7% 35 11.2% 92 29.9% 29.2%
401% or above 272 23 8.3% 13 4.9% 36 13.2% 11.4%
Poverty status not available 3 2 59.9% <1 5.7% 2 65.6% 0.6%
Work hours
Part time (<20 hours) 42 20 48.3% 4 9.5% 24 57.8% 7.7%
Mid time (20– 34 hours) 137 70 51.5% 16 11.4% 86 62.9% 27.2%
Full time (35+ hours) 694 136 19.6% 70 10.1% 206 29.7% 65.1%
Industry
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting 22 5 20.5% 2 8.4% 6 28.9% 2.0%
Construction 56 8 14.6% 5 8.4% 13 23.0% 4.0%
Manufacturing 71 11 16.2% 6 8.6% 18 24.9% 5.5%
Wholesale trade 14 2 14.3% 2 11.6% 4 25.8% 1.2%
Retail trade 96 46 47.4% 11 11.1% 56 58.5% 17.8%
Transportation, warehousing, utilities 44 5 11.8% 4 8.5% 9 20.3% 2.8%
Information 11 1 13.2% 1 8.2% 2 21.4% 0.7%
Finance, insurance, real estate 33 4 13.0% 3 10.4% 8 23.4% 2.5%
Professional, scientific, management, technical services 25 3 10.4% 1 4.3% 4 14.7% 1.2%
Administrative, support, and waste management 28 10 36.2% 3 10.9% 13 47.1% 4.2%
Education 81 13 16.3% 6 7.7% 19 24.0% 6.1%
Health care 138 38 27.7% 15 11.2% 54 38.9% 17.0%
Arts, entertainment, recreational services 53 19 35.6% 10 18.2% 28 53.8% 9.0%
Accommodation 20 10 50.0% 2 12.1% 12 62.1% 3.9%
Restaurants and food service 57 33 58.2% 8 14.0% 41 72.2% 13.0%
Other services 29 9 29.1% 4 13.9% 13 43.0% 4.0%
Public administration 94 9 9.8% 7 6.9% 16 16.7% 5.0%
Sector
For-profit 554 171 30.9% 61 11.1% 233 42.0% 73.5%
Government 253 41 16.1% 22 8.8% 63 24.9% 19.9%
Nonprofit 66 15 22.3% 6 9.1% 21 31.4% 6.6%

Notes: Values reflect the population likely to be affected by the proposed change in the federal minimum wage. Wage changes resulting from scheduled state and local minimum wage laws are accounted for by EPI’s Minimum Wage Simulation Model. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Shares calculated from unrounded values. Directly affected workers will see their wages rise as the new minimum wage rate will exceed their current hourly pay. Indirectly affected workers have a wage rate just above the new minimum wage (between the new minimum wage and 115 percent of the new minimum). They will receive a raise as employer pay scales are adjusted upward to reflect the new minimum wage.

Source: Economic Policy Institute Minimum Wage Simulation Model using data from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Congressional Budget Office. See Cooper, Mokhiber, and Zipperer 2019. Dollar values adjusted by projections for CPI-U in CBO 2018.

View the underlying data on epi.org.