What Exactly Is A Minimum Wage Job?

What types of jobs are minimum wage jobs?

...You might be surprised!

Below you will find:

some minimum wage jobs that most people wouldn't think of

some high-paying jobs that most people wouldn't realize

some tips for moving beyond minimum wage jobs

Administrative Assistant

You might think that an office job where you had to have a decent wardrobe and juggle many duties would pay well, but chances are, it does not.

At entry level, especially in small companies, Administrative Assistants typically start at minimum wage.

Food Service Worker

Workers who receive tips are usually paid below the minimum hourly wage, because their salary is based on expected tip income. But if people tip less -- or don't leave a tip at all -- the food service worker ends up earning less than minimum wage. This is becoming more and more common.

Within the service occupations, 1 out of every 5 food service workers earned $5.15 or less per hour. Three out of every 5 workers paid less than the minimum wage were, in fact, employed in food service occupations. Such a large proportion may reflect the tip credit provisions of the Federal minimum wage statutes. Under these provisions, a worker who receives tips generally may be paid a wage below $5.15, provided that the employee’s tips, combined with a minimum cash wage of $2.13, equal at least $5.15. Source

Security Guard

Security guards risk their lives on a daily basis and many of them are responsible for guarding valuables and sensitive information.

Private security guards paid little more than janitors and restaurant cooks are guarding many of the critical security sites in the United States, usually with minimal or no anti-terrorist training. Source

Retail Store Employee

Chain store employees, who typically have the responsibility of manning a store for many hours a day without assistance can make no more than minimum wage.

A promotion to store manager or “key holder” barely gives retail store employees a dollar an hour raise.

Garbage Collector

There was a time when sanitation jobs paid decent wages. After all, a garbage collector was a job that many people did not want to do. However consider this:

One of the most disturbing aspects of the sanitation department is the pay disparity between the drivers and the guys working the back of the truck ... This is because drivers are city employees, making between $11 and $18 per hour, and the garbage collectors are considered temporary (and are often immigrant) workers, who are making minimum wage. Source

Child Care Worker

Those who care for the nation's most precious commodities, our babies, make minimum wage or close to it.

Caregivers are grossly undervalued and underpaid, with some salaries close to the minimum wage. The average hourly wage for childcare workers is $7.34. Consequently, turnover among early childhood education teachers exceeds 40%. These high turnover rates severely undermine the quality of care that children receive. Source

Jobs That Pay More Than Minimum Wage

Surprisingly, there are also some unexpected jobs that pay a lot more than minimum wage.

For example: