The farmworker wage gap in 2021: Farmworkers earn very low wages compared with other workers: Average hourly wage rate for farmworkers and H-2A workers compared with average hourly wages of other workers, 2021
| Type | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| H-2A farmworkers | $13.76 | |
| Nonsupervisory farmworkers | $15.56 | |
| Workers with less than HS | $15.50 | |
| Workers with HS diploma only | $20.63 | |
| Nonsupervisory nonfarm | $26.49 | |
| All workers | $29.70 | |
Notes: All values are for 2021 and in 2021 dollars. H-2A wage represents the average wage of the Adverse Effect Wage Rates for all states in 2021, weighted by the numbers of workers in those states in fiscal year 2021, according to H-2A petitions approved by USCIS in fiscal year 2021. HS = high school. Nonsupervisory nonfarm workers’ wage represents the average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees, total for the private sector, not seasonally adjusted. Nonsupervisory farmworkers’ wage is the gross average hourly wage of field and livestock workers. Data for all workers, and for workers with a high school diploma and less than high school, are as reported in the Economic Policy Institute's State of Working America Data Library.
Sources: Author’s analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, using data from National Agricultural Statistics Service, Farm Labor Survey, and nonfarm wage data are from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey; EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata (Economic Policy Institute, State of Working America Data Library); EPI analysis of Employment and Training Administration, Adverse Effect Wage Rate, U.S. Department of Labor; EPI analysis of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, H-2B Employer Data Hub, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
This chart appears in:
- The farmworker wage gap continued in 2020: Farmworkers and H-2A workers earned very low wages during the pandemic, even compared with other low-wage workers
- tables and figs for MA OT testimony farmworkers (Nov 2021)
- Testimony for the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development: Hearing on the Fairness for Farmworkers Act
- Testimony before the NY State Department of Labor’s Farm Laborers Wage Board: The overtime threshold for farmworkers in New York state should be lowered to 40 hours per week
- EPI comments on DOL’s proposed changes to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate methodology for H-2A visas for temporary migrant farmworkers
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