Minimum Wage: 4 Facts About Mississippi's Minimum Wage

One of five states that doesn’t have state minimum wage laws, Mississippi observes the federal minimum wage laws. Minimum wage workers in the Magnolia State make $7.25 an hour.

Here are four facts about the Magnolia State's minimum wage.

1. No State Minimum Wage
In addition to Mississippi, the other states that don’t have minimum wage laws are South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

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2. Exemptions
Mississippi has three different wage exemptions, according to MinimumWage.org. For those under age 20, federal law allows any employer in Mississippi to pay a new employee a training wage of $4.25 per hour for the first 90 days of employment. Tipped employees can be paid $2.13 an hour, but need to make at least $7.25 an hour with tips factored into the wage. The final exemption is for full-time high school or college students that work part-time. They can be paid 85 percent of the state’s minimum wage, which is $6.16, for up to 20 hours of work at certain employers.

3. Poverty
Mississippi minimum wage workers are near the poverty line. A full-time minimum wage worker earns $15,080 a year, according to MinimumWage.org. The federal poverty line for two people is $14,570.

4. Gender
Women make up the majority of minimum wage workers. Almost six in 10 minimum wage workers in Mississippi are women, according to National Women’s Law Center. They explain that there is no scheduled increase for minimum wage workers until the federal government decided to raise the minimum wage. They also noted that nationally women make up two-thirds of the tipped employees, which only make $2.13 an hour and then have to make up the difference through tips.

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