Full-time work at the minimum wage clears the poverty line for a family of four in 7 of 52 jurisdictions
The finding: take the minimum wage an employer must actually pay in each of the 52 US jurisdictions, work it full-time for a year — 2080 hours, no unpaid leave — and compare the result to the federal poverty guideline for that household size. For a household of four, the wage floor reaches the line in 7 places:
| Jurisdiction | Wage floor | A year of full-time work | % of the poverty line for four |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $18.4 | $38,272 | 116% |
| Washington | $17.13 | $35,630 | 108% |
| New York | $17 | $35,360 | 107.2% |
| Connecticut | $16.94 | $35,235 | 106.8% |
| California | $16.9 | $35,152 | 106.5% |
| Rhode Island | $16 | $33,280 | 100.8% |
| New Jersey | $15.92 | $33,114 | 100.3% |
Everywhere else — 45 of 52 jurisdictions — one full-time job at the wage floor pays less than the poverty guideline for a family of four.
The federal floor does not reach the line for one person
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and has not changed since 2009. Full-time year-round work at that rate pays $15,080 before tax. The 2026 poverty guideline for a single-person household in the 48 contiguous states is $15,960.
So a person living entirely alone, working full-time all year at the federal minimum, earns 94.5% of the poverty line. For a household of four the same earnings come to 45.7%.
This is not a hypothetical floor. In 20 of the 52 jurisdictions the federal rate is still the one that applies — either the state sets no minimum wage of its own, or it sets one below $7.25 and the federal rate governs FLSA-covered employers.
Every jurisdiction
Annual full-time earnings (2080 hours a year) at the applicable minimum wage, against the 2026 federal poverty guidelines. Cells under 100% mark where one full-time job does not reach the poverty line for that household size.
| Jurisdiction | Wage floor | A year | % of line, 1 | % of line, 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Alaska | $14.00 | $29,120 | 146.0% | 70.6% |
| Arizona | $15.15 | $31,512 | 197.4% | 95.5% |
| Arkansas | $11.00 | $22,880 | 143.4% | 69.3% |
| California | $16.90 | $35,152 | 220.3% | 106.5% |
| Colorado | $15.16 | $31,533 | 197.6% | 95.6% |
| Connecticut | $16.94 | $35,235 | 220.8% | 106.8% |
| Delaware | $15.00 | $31,200 | 195.5% | 94.5% |
| District of Columbia | $18.40 | $38,272 | 239.8% | 116.0% |
| Florida | $14.00 | $29,120 | 182.5% | 88.2% |
| Georgia | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Hawaii | $16.00 | $33,280 | 181.3% | 87.7% |
| Idaho | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Illinois | $15.00 | $31,200 | 195.5% | 94.5% |
| Indiana | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Iowa | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Kansas | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Kentucky | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Louisiana | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Maine | $15.10 | $31,408 | 196.8% | 95.2% |
| Maryland | $15.00 | $31,200 | 195.5% | 94.5% |
| Massachusetts | $15.00 | $31,200 | 195.5% | 94.5% |
| Michigan | $13.73 | $28,558 | 178.9% | 86.5% |
| Minnesota | $11.41 | $23,733 | 148.7% | 71.9% |
| Mississippi | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Missouri | $15.00 | $31,200 | 195.5% | 94.5% |
| Montana | $10.85 | $22,568 | 141.4% | 68.4% |
| Nebraska | $15.00 | $31,200 | 195.5% | 94.5% |
| Nevada | $12.00 | $24,960 | 156.4% | 75.6% |
| New Hampshire | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| New Jersey | $15.92 | $33,114 | 207.5% | 100.3% |
| New Mexico | $12.00 | $24,960 | 156.4% | 75.6% |
| New York · varies by region | $17.00 | $35,360 | 221.6% | 107.2% |
| North Carolina | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| North Dakota | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Ohio | $11.00 | $22,880 | 143.4% | 69.3% |
| Oklahoma | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Oregon · varies by region | $15.55 | $32,344 | 202.7% | 98.0% |
| Pennsylvania | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Puerto Rico | $10.50 | $21,840 | 136.8% | 66.2% |
| Rhode Island | $16.00 | $33,280 | 208.5% | 100.8% |
| South Carolina | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| South Dakota | $11.85 | $24,648 | 154.4% | 74.7% |
| Tennessee | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Texas | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Utah | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Vermont | $14.42 | $29,994 | 187.9% | 90.9% |
| Virginia | $12.77 | $26,562 | 166.4% | 80.5% |
| Washington | $17.13 | $35,630 | 223.2% | 108.0% |
| West Virginia | $8.75 | $18,200 | 114.0% | 55.2% |
| Wisconsin | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
| Wyoming | $7.25 federal | $15,080 | 94.5% | 45.7% |
Sources: Department of Labor (rates effective 2026-07-01) and the HHS 2026 poverty guidelines. Many cities set higher local minimums. Your immigration status does NOT affect your right to the minimum wage.
What the data shows
- Household size decides the answer, not the state. The same wage floor reaches the poverty line in 32 of 52 jurisdictions for one person, 21 for a household of three, and 7 for a household of four. Any headline of the form “the minimum wage is / is not a poverty wage” is unanswerable without saying how many people it has to support.
- A high nominal wage is not the same as a high real one. HHS publishes separate, higher poverty guidelines for Alaska and Hawaii. Hawaii’s $16 floor — near the top of the national table — is worth 87.7% of the poverty line for a family of four, below Nebraska’s $15 at 94.5%. Alaska’s $14 comes to 70.6%. Sorting states by wage and sorting them by what the wage buys give different orders.
- To clear the line for four you need $15.87 an hour in the 48 contiguous states and DC — $18.25 in Hawaii, $19.84 in Alaska. Those three numbers are the poverty guideline divided by a full-time year, and they are not published anywhere as wages.
- One rate per state is a simplification the sources make and we do not. DOL’s consolidated table lists a single figure per state. For Oregon that figure is the Portland metro rate, not the statewide standard; for New York it is the downstate rate, not the one most of the state uses. Where a jurisdiction sets more than one rate, this dataset uses the statewide standard and records the variants alongside it.
Why percentage-of-poverty-line is the useful unit
Eligibility rules for the programs this audience deals with are almost never written in dollars per hour. They are written as a percentage of the HHS poverty guidelines: Medicaid and CHIP thresholds, SNAP limits, marketplace subsidies, hospital charity care policies, and free civil legal aid. Converting a wage into that unit is the step that makes it comparable to any of them — and it is the step neither source performs.
Two cautions on reading the table. The annual figure assumes 2080 paid hours with no unpaid leave, no short weeks and no second earner, which is a best case rather than a typical one. And many cities and counties set minimums above their state’s, so the floor where someone actually works can be higher than the row here shows.
Being paid below the applicable minimum is illegal regardless of immigration status — the wage and hour rules by state page covers where to report it, and doing so does not require disclosing status.
Method and caveat
The wage floor for each jurisdiction is the higher of the state rate and the federal $7.25, which is what an FLSA-covered employer must pay. Annual earnings are that floor times 2080 hours, before tax. Percentages are of the HHS poverty guideline for the stated household size in that jurisdiction’s guideline region.
HHS publishes separate guidelines only for Alaska and Hawaii; every other jurisdiction here, Puerto Rico included, is measured against the 48-contiguous-states-and-DC guideline, because that is the only guideline HHS publishes for them. Three limits are worth stating plainly: this is a wage floor, not a typical wage — most people earn more than the minimum; it is pre-tax and excludes refundable credits such as the EITC and the Child Tax Credit, which move real household resources substantially; and the poverty guidelines are a national administrative threshold, not a cost-of-living measure, so they do not adjust for local housing costs within the 48 states.
Download the data: wage_floor_poverty.json — all 52 jurisdictions, wage floor, annual full-time earnings, and percentage of the poverty guideline at each household size.
Suggested citation: MigrantUSA, “Minimum wage against the federal poverty line, 2026,” https://migrantusa.com/datasets/minimum-wage-vs-poverty-line/ (accessed [date]).
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<p style="font-size:12px">Source: <a href="https://migrantusa.com/datasets/minimum-wage-vs-poverty-line/">MigrantUSA — minimum wage vs the poverty line</a></p>