Distribution of low-wage workers by industry

Table shows the prevalence of workers paid less than $19.69 within each industry as well as the distribution of the low-wage workforce across all industries. In the third column, darker colors indicate that the industry employs a larger share of the total low-wage workforce. For example, half (53.3%) of workers employed in Retail are paid low wages and Retail workers make up the largest share of the total low-wage workforce (16.5%).

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. To calculate the share of workers paid low wages in 2021, we inflate 2021 wages to 2022 dollars and apply the 2022 low-wage threshold.
Chart: UC Berkeley Labor CenterSource: American Community Survey 2021 and 2022Get the dataEmbed Download imageDownload PDFDownload SVGCreated with Datawrapper