The legal definition of a wage is the amount of money paid for some specified quantity of labor. When expressed with respect to time (usually per hour), it is typically called the legal wage rate, and is specified in pre-tax amounts. It is often the main monetary item upon which the worker and the employer focus when negotiating an employment contract.

Early forms of wages included salt (from which the word salary is derived). In modern English, the word salary tends to be used when referring to employment in which the employee is not paid by the hour.

Depending on the structure and traditions of different economies around the world, wage rates are either primarily market-driven (the USA) or influenced by other factors such as tradition, social structure and seniority, as in Japan.

In the United States, as of 2004, the prevailing wage rate for manual labor might range from $10 up to $70 per-hour, depending on the type of work and its location.

Several countries have enacted a statutory minimum wage rate in an attempt to prevent the supposed exploitation of low-paid workers.

Minimum wage in the United States

The first attempt at establishing a legal minimum wage in the United States came in 1933, when a $.25-per-hour standard was set as part of the National Recovery Act. However, in 1935 the United States Supreme Court declared the National Recovery Act unconstitutional, and the minimum wage was abolished.

The legal minimum wage was re-established in the United States in 1938 (pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act), once again at $.25 per hour ($3.22 in 2005 dollars.) It had its highest purchasing value ever in 1968, when it was $1.60/hour ($8.85 in 2005 dollars.)

During his presidency, Bill Clinton gave states the power to set their minimum wages above the federal level. As of 2004, 12 states had done so; and on November 2 of that year two additional states (Florida and Nevada) approved increases in statewide referendums. Some smaller government entities, such as counties and cities, observe legal minimum wages that are higher than the state as a whole; in some cases, the ordinance applies only to businesses that are under contract to the local government itself, while in others � most notably San Francisco � the higher rate is enforced across the board. San Francisco's $8.50-per-hour minimum wage is the highest in the nation.

Many progressive politicians in the United States advocate linking the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index, thereby producing small annual increases rather than the larger hikes that tend to be adopted when legislation to do so is passed. The vast majority of conservatives oppose this, but a few actually favor it, on the grounds that this would stop their opponents from, in their view, periodically exploiting the issue.

Some cite the behavior of the U.S. Congress in defeating increases in the federal minimum wage, currently $10,300 per year ($5.15 per hour for a 40 hour work week based on 50 work weeks annually) for the last nine years (from 1996 to 2005) at the same time as repeatedly acting to increase their own annual salary by $28,500 to $162,000 over the last few years as an example of hypocrisy.

This is a list of the legal minimum wages in each state of the USA and the District of Columbia for jobs covered by federal minimum wage laws [1]. Other jobs, often ones which earn tips or in small companies, are often subject to lower minimums.

In addition, some counties and/or cities within states may observe a higher minimum wage than the rest of the state in which they are located; sometimes this higher wage will apply only to businesses that are under contract to the local government itself, while in other cases the higher minimum will be enforced across the board.

Legal minimum wage

* Federal $5.15 (29 USC Sec. 206)

* Alabama No state minimum wage law.
* Alaska $7.15
* Arizona No state minimum wage law.
* Arkansas $5.15
* California $6.75 ($8.50 in San Francisco)
* Colorado $5.15
* Connecticut $7.10
* Delaware $6.15
* District of Columbia $6.60 (Rising to $7.00 on January 1, 2006)
* Florida $6.15 (as of mid-2005; thereafter rises with inflation)
* Georgia $5.15
* Hawaii $6.25
* Idaho $5.15
* Illinois $6.50
* Indiana $5.15
* Iowa $5.15
* Kansas $2.65
* Kentucky $5.15
* Louisiana No state minimum wage law.
* Maine $6.35
* Maryland $5.15
* Massachusetts $6.75
* Michigan $5.15
* Minnesota $5.15 (increasing to $6.15 on August 1, 2005)
* Mississippi $5.15
* Missouri $5.15
* Montana $5.15
* Nebraska $5.15
* Nevada $5.15 (2004 referendum approved to create $6.15 minimum wage; requires reapproval in 2006 to become law)
* New Hampshire $5.15
* New Jersey $5.15 (Increases to $6.15 in October 2005, and $7.15 in October 2006)
* New Mexico $5.15
* New York $6.00 (Rising to $6.75 on January 1, 2006, and to $7.15 on January 1, 2007)
* North Carolina $5.15
* North Dakota $5.15
* Ohio $4.25
* Oklahoma $5.15 ($2.00 for work not covered by federal minimum wage) (OK Statutes 40-197.5)
* Oregon $7.25 (with future increases based on the inflation rate)
* Pennsylvania $5.15
* Rhode Island $6.75
* South Carolina $5.15
* South Dakota $5.15
* Tennessee $5.15
* Texas $5.15
* Utah $5.15
* Vermont $7.00
* Virginia $5.15
* Washington $7.35 (with future increases linked to inflation, as per Revised Code of Washington Sec. 49.46.020) [2]
* West Virginia $5.15
* Wisconsin $5.70 (As of June, 2005)
* Wyoming $5.15