Workers of color are more likely to suffer minimum wage violations than white workers

Shares by racial/ethnic group of workers experiencing minimum wage violations

White Black Hispanic Other
Workers experiencing minimum wage violations 47.1% 14.6% 29.2% 9.1%
Total minimum-wage-eligible workforce 55.7% 12.2% 23.4% 8.6%

Share of each racial/ethnic group experiencing minimum wage violations

Share of workforce demographic experiencing minimum wage violations
White 3.5%
Black 4.9%
Hispanic 5.1%
Other 4.3%

Average paid and unpaid weekly wages of workers experiencing minimum wage violations, by race and ethnicity

Average weekly wages received by workers experiencing minimum wage violations Average weekly lost wages for workers experiencing minimum wage violations
White $186 $67
Black $203 $55
Hispanic $225 $60
Other $217 $69

Note: Weekly amount paid represents the average weekly wages received by workers experiencing minimum wage violations. Weekly amount stolen represents the average weekly lost wages for workers experiencing minimum wage violations.

Sample includes workers age 16 to 85 in the ten most populous states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group data, 2013–2015

View the underlying data on epi.org.