Share of workers earning poverty-level wages, by race and ethnicity, 1973–2013
| Year | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 27.5% | 44.1% | 42.3% |
| 1974 | 27.6% | 42.6% | 41.2% |
| 1975 | 26.3% | 40.8% | 39.5% |
| 1976 | 27.9% | 42.1% | 42.3% |
| 1977 | 28.4% | 42.4% | 39.4% |
| 1978 | 25.1% | 37.7% | 36.4% |
| 1979 | 25.1% | 37.5% | 37.9% |
| 1980 | 27.2% | 40.4% | 39.6% |
| 1981 | 27.6% | 39.0% | 40.9% |
| 1982 | 26.5% | 38.8% | 38.6% |
| 1983 | 30.3% | 43.3% | 44.0% |
| 1984 | 29.2% | 42.2% | 42.9% |
| 1985 | 28.8% | 41.9% | 43.0% |
| 1986 | 27.1% | 39.7% | 42.1% |
| 1987 | 26.3% | 38.7% | 41.3% |
| 1988 | 27.7% | 40.2% | 43.9% |
| 1989 | 27.5% | 40.7% | 46.2% |
| 1990 | 26.9% | 40.2% | 46.2% |
| 1991 | 26.2% | 39.0% | 45.3% |
| 1992 | 28.0% | 41.7% | 47.2% |
| 1993 | 27.0% | 40.5% | 46.9% |
| 1994 | 27.3% | 41.0% | 48.6% |
| 1995 | 27.6% | 41.2% | 50.5% |
| 1996 | 26.3% | 41.3% | 48.3% |
| 1997 | 24.5% | 38.4% | 46.8% |
| 1998 | 23.4% | 35.8% | 44.7% |
| 1999 | 22.6% | 35.6% | 45.1% |
| 2000 | 21.1% | 31.8% | 42.7% |
| 2001 | 19.9% | 31.1% | 40.4% |
| 2002 | 19.2% | 29.3% | 38.8% |
| 2003 | 20.4% | 30.4% | 39.8% |
| 2004 | 20.1% | 30.7% | 39.6% |
| 2005 | 20.0% | 33.1% | 39.1% |
| 2006 | 19.5% | 29.9% | 36.8% |
| 2007 | 21.9% | 34.0% | 41.8% |
| 2008 | 21.7% | 34.7% | 39.8% |
| 2009 | 21.4% | 32.6% | 39.7% |
| 2010 | 21.7% | 32.9% | 41.0% |
| 2011 | 23.4% | 36.0% | 43.3% |
| 2012 | 23.1% | 36.2% | 42.8% |
| 2013 | 22.5% | 35.7% | 42.2% |
Note: Race/ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive (i.e., white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, and Hispanic any race). The poverty-level wage is calculated using an estimate of the four-person weighted average poverty threshold in 2013 of $23,834 (based on the 2010 threshold updated for inflation, from the U.S. Census Bureau). This is divided by 2,080 hours to obtain a poverty-level hourly wage of $11.46 in 2013. The poverty-level wage is roughly equal to two-thirds of the median hourly wage. This figure is deflated by the CPI-U-RS (Consumer Price Index Research Series Using Current Methods) to obtain the poverty-level wage levels for other years.
Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata
UPDATED FROM: Figure 4F in The State of Working America, 12th Edition, an Economic Policy Institute book published by Cornell University Press in 2012.
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