Poverty rates and low-wage share of full-time workers by sector, 2015–2019

Official poverty SPM poverty Low-wage (<$15/hour)
Public sector (all) 0.8% 2.1% 16.3%
Public sector (no bachelor’s) 1.5% 3.5% 26.7%
Postal service (all) 0.4% 1.3% 9.0%
Postal service (no bachelor’s) 0.4% 1.3% 8.9%
Private sector (all) 2.3% 4.7% 28.4%
Private sector (no bachelor’s) 3.4% 6.5% 38.7%

Source: Author’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey microdata.

View the underlying data on epi.org.