- Free Minimum Calculator - find the Minimum of a data set step-by-step This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By using this website, you agree to our Cookie Policy.
- 9) For a minimum cost flow problem to have a feasible solution, which of the following must be true? A) There is the same number of supply nodes and demand nodes. B) There is only one supply node and one demand n C) There is an equal amount of supply and demand.
- We developed a living wage calculator to estimate the cost of living in your community or region based on typical expenses. The tool helps individuals, communities, and employers determine a local wage rate that allows residents to meet minimum standards of living.
In 2018, 1.7 million U.S. workers received wages at (or even below) the federal minimum wage.
There are shared characteristics of minimum wage employees—for example, they tend to be young, female, or uneducated. However, the percentage of minimum wage workers also varies by state. For example, almost 5% of hourly workers in Louisiana make equal to or less than the minimum wage, while in Washington, the proportion is closer to 1%.
We were curious if these regional discrepancies had anything to do with the differences in the living wage—the minimum income necessary to cover the costs of living—for those areas, so we did a little research.
First, we tracked down the current state minimum wages (as of January 1, 2020). Next, we researched the differences in living wages by state—comparing income for an individual versus a family of four.
Ow of minimum cost. Send x units of ow from s to t as cheaply as possible. General version with supplies and demands No source or sink. Each node has a value b(v). positive b(v) is a supply negative b(v) is a demand. Find ow which satis es supplies and demands and has minimum total cost.
Our goal was to determine how often the state minimum wage was adjusted to cover the cost of living for that region. We chose to represent our data as a percentage (in other words, minimum wage as a percentage of living wage).
Here’s what we found:
Note: For states with no legal minimum specified, we defaulted to the federal minimum rate—$7.25/hr.
What percentage of the cost of living is covered by minimum wage?
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour (as of July 24, 2009). Typically, employees are entitled to the higher of their state or the federal minimum. It is possible for workers to be paid less than the relevant minimum. These exceptions can become quite technical, but come into play when a worker is not covered by the Fair Labors Standards Act, and include independent contractors, tipped employees, and some farm workers.
Minimum Cost Of Living
While 29 states have established a minimum wage higher than the current federal rate, when you compare minimum wage to cost of living, only one state has a minimum wage higher than the living wage for a single individual.
Add one additional person to that family, and not a single state ensures a minimum wage that would cover the cost of living. In fact, when we calculated minimum wage as a percentage of living wage for a single-income family of four, every total was below 50% of the living wage.
The percentages improve slightly for dual-income families (though living costs also increase for this group). On average, the minimum wage still only covers 54% of the costs of living for a family of four with two working adults.
If you take the national average for minimum wage ($9.08/hr) as a percentage of the average national living wage, the wages would cover 74% of the living wage for 1 adult, and 34% of the living wage for a single-income family of four.
Note: This analysis doesn’t address the minimum wage for tipped employees which is significantly lower—starting at $2.13/hour.
Last year, the House passed a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour by 2025; this has also been a popular speaking point for Democratic candidates in the 2020 presidential election.
We were curious if data could shed some light on the issue. Using the same methodology, we ran a hypothetical analysis of minimum wage as a percentage of living wage if all states had $15/hr as the minimum.
In this instance, all but three states—New York, Massachusetts, and Hawaii—were able to provide a minimum wage that covered the cost of living for a single adult.
However, when we ran the numbers for a single-income family of four, $15/hr still didn’t cut it—in any of the 50 states. However, percentages were much improved. In this hypothetical situation, $15/hr covered an average of 57% of the costs of living nationwide.
Hawaii, the state with the highest living wage, would require $15.82/hr to cover the living wage for a single working adult. While $15/hr would make a major difference in most states, for a federal rate to cover inequities across all states, $15.82 would need to be the new minimum.
The data suggests that under current state and federal minimum wage law, it is rare for the full-time income of US minimum wage earners to cover their cost of living, especially if they’re providing for more than just themselves. The House-passed bill (not taken up by the Senate, and thus, not law), could significantly change that dynamic.
Check out our last Divvy Research article, Most Popular Gas Stations for Businesses.
About DivvyMinimum Cost To Connect Sticks
Divvy is free expense management software paired with smart corporate credit cards. If you want to learn more about our product, we’d love to schedule some time to chat.