Minimum Wage Background
The University of Virginia’s Hourly Wage Rate in Context
- The federal minimum wage rate is currently $5.15 an hour. Many states peg their wage minimums to the federal level. While several states set no minimums beyond that established by federal law, many states enact higher minimum wages than that established by the federal government.
- Among those states that set minimum rates, Kansas and Oklahoma offer the lowest minimums — $2.65 an hour in Kansas — and in Oklahoma, the minimum wage rate for small companies with fewer than 10 employees or annual gross sales of less than $100,000 is $2.00 an hour.
To view the complete list of state minimum wage rates on the U.S. Department of Labor Web site, visit:http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm#Virginia.
- All Virginia public colleges and universities offer a minimum hiring rate above the $5.15 minimum wage set by Virginia state law, which mirrors the federal minimum wage. As an employer, the Virginia state government offers $7.11 an hour, above the state minimum.
- The University of Virginia currently offers a minimum hiring rate of $9.75 an hour, which is the second-highest in the state among public universities. Only that offered by George Mason University, which has three campuses in Northern Virginia — Fairfax, Arlington and Manassas — offers a higher starting hourly wage at $11.15 an hour.
Virginia State Public Colleges & Universities
(Classified Salaried Employees, Pay band 1#)
SEE GRAPH.
| George Mason U. |
$11.15 |
| U.Va. |
9.75 |
| U. of Mary Washington |
9.55 |
| William & Mary |
9.00 |
| Old Dominion U. |
8.84 |
| James Madison U. |
8.25 |
| Virginia Commonwealth U. |
8.25 |
| Virginia Tech |
8.00 |
| Virginia Military Institute |
7.75 |
| Norfolk State U. |
7.64 |
| Radford U. |
7.11 |
| U.Va. College at Wise |
7.11 |
| Virginia State University |
7.11 |
Government Minimum Wage Rates
| Virginia State Government |
$7.11 |
| Federal |
5.15 |
| Virginia |
5.15 |
Mid-Atlantic States
| Washington, D.C. |
$7.00 |
| Delaware |
6.65 |
| Pennsylvania |
6.25 |
| Maryland |
6.15 |
| West Virginia |
5.85* |
| North Carolina |
5.15 |
Other States
| Washington |
$7.93 |
| Oregon |
7.80 |
| Connecticut |
7.65 |
| California |
7.50 |
| Massachusetts |
7.50 |
| Vermont |
7.53 |
| Alaska |
7.15 |
| New Jersey |
7.15 |
| New York |
7.15 |
| Arizona |
6.75 |
| Illinois |
6.50 |
| Oklahoma |
5.15** |
| Kansas |
2.65 |
States with No State Minimum Wage
Alabama
Louisiana
Mississippi
South Carolina
Tennessee
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, as of January 1, 2007, for state and federal information (http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm#Virginia); Virginia public university statistics from U.Va. Department of Human Resources.
*West Virginia’s anticipated increases in minimum wage affects employers with 6 or more employees who are not covered by the Federal minimum wage and all state agencies.
** Oklahoma’s $5.15 minimum hourly wage rate applies to employers with 10 or more employees or with gross sales of $100,000 or more; otherwise, it’s $2.00.
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