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By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

ICYMI: 21% of Minimum Wage Earnings Lost to Gas Prices

In case you missed it, nearly 21% of weekly paychecks for full-time employees earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour are guzzled by the higher prices of regular gas, a new analysis from The Balance has found. And in the states of Wyoming, Texas, Mississippi, and North Dakota, drivers earning the minimum wage in those states will spend more than 25% of their weekly pay filling up their gas tanks.

The average cost of regular gas has soared to new record highs of over $5 a gallon according to data from AAA, hurting all drivers around the country, but workers earning the minimum wage are harmed the most as filling up at the pump eats more and more of their paychecks.

In 15 states, workers earning the minimum wage need to shell out more than a day's pay in order to buy gas. By contrast, workers earning the full-time median wage in their states can fill up their tanks with only 7% of their paychecks. Workers earning the median wage in New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. feel the least pain at the pump—they can buy gas for less than 5% of their weekly median pay before taxes.

The analysis found that in states like Washington and California where the minimum wage is higher, workers who earn the minimum wage spend a smaller percentage of their paychecks on fuel. That is true even if the price of gas in the state is much higher than the national average, which is the case in both Washington and California.

-Kristin

Programming Note: The Balance Today team will be taking a short break in observance of the Juneteenth holiday in the U.S. on Monday, but we'll be back in your inbox on Tuesday.

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Off the Charts

While soaring gas prices are straining consumers' wallets across the nation, those living in states with the federal minimum wage and heavy gas consumption are feeling the most pain at the pump. That's because the federal minimum wage has not changed from $7.25 an hour since July 2009 while the average cost per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has more than doubled since then—from around $2.50 a gallon in July 2009 to over $5 a gallon in June 2022, according to data from AAA.

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