Incarcerated workers across the South are paid less than 20 cents an hour, on average: Average maximum hourly wages paid to incarcerated workers by state and region and in the U.S.
| State | Hourly wages in non-industry jobs |
|---|---|
| Tennessee | $0.59 |
| West Virginia | $0.51 |
| Virginia | $0.45 |
| Maryland | $0.43 |
| Florida | $0.32 |
| Kentucky | $0.30 |
| North Carolina | $0.13 |
| Oklahoma | $0.10 |
| Louisiana | $0.04 |
| Alabama | $0.00 |
| Arkansas | $0.00 |
| Georgia | $0.00 |
| Mississippi | $0.00 |
| South Carolina | $0.00 |
| Texas | $0.00 |
| South average | $0.19 |
| U.S. average | $0.52 |
| Federal minimum wage | $7.25 |
Note: Table indicates calculated average pay scales for most non-industry jobs (all jobs operated by state correctional agencies) and excludes average wages in state prison industries, which pay slightly higher wages but account for only about 6.5% of prison jobs. Delaware data were not publicly available and are thus excluded from the list.
Source: Adapted from Table C: Calculated average and hourly wages paid to incarcerated workers. See American Civil Liberties Union and the University of Chicago Law School Global Human Rights Clinic (ACLU and GHRC), Captive Labor Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers, June 2022.
This chart appears in:
- State of Working South Carolina charts
- Forced prison labor in the “Land of the Free”: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Spotlight
- How anti-worker policies, crony capitalism, and privatization keep the South locked out of shared prosperity: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part Five
- How anti-worker policies, crony capitalism, and privatization keep the South locked out of shared prosperity: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part Five
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