Prevalence of low-wage work within occupation groups by race/ethnicity

Table shows the racial/ethnic composition of workers paid less than $19.69 within each occupation. The first row in the table, "Share of low-wage workforce," shows the racial/ethnic make-up of the total low-wage workforce. By comparing this row to the other rows, the user can identify if each racial/ethnic group is overrepresented in particular occupations. For example, among workers paid low wages in Protective Service occupations 16.8% are Black while Black workers make up 5.2% of all low-wage workers. The occupation column is color-coded, with darker colors indicating that the occupation includes a larger share of the total low-wage workforce.

In 2022, the value of the low-wage threshold is $19.69. The sample includes workers who live and work in California, were employed last week but not self-employed, ages 16+, and with non-zero earnings last week. We combine 2021 and 2022 data to increase sample sizes and inflate 2021 wages to 2022 dollars before applying the 2022 low-wage threshold. Some cells, particularly NH AIAN alone and NH Black, may still have small sample sizes. All racial/ethnic categories are mutually exclusive.
Chart: UC Berkeley Labor CenterSource: American Community Survey 2021 and 2022Get the dataEmbed Download imageDownload PDFDownload SVGCreated with Datawrapper