Real value of the minimum wage, actual versus hypothetical at various growth rates, 1968–2012 (2012 dollars)

Source: Authors' analysis of data from Kopczuk, Saez, and Song (2010); Social Security Administration wage statistics; Total Economy Productivity Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Labor Productivity and Costs program; Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics; and U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (2012)

View the underlying data on epi.org.