Minimum Wage in Idaho Compared to State's Median Income

Idaho's minimum wage, which is set at only the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour, matches approximately the state's numbers in the median income department as well.

The Gem State ranks 47th nationally when it comes to per capita income with median income households only earning $36,340 per year. By comparison, the national average is $53,046. Still, that ranking is up from the previous year, when Idaho ranked 49th in the nation and income was about $900 less, according to Boise Public Radio.

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The median income growth came in part from the state's construction industry, which grew by 7.3 percent in 2013, the last year for which data is available. This is more than twice the 3.6 percent overall economic growth rate in the state. Construction workers also average a pay rate that is well above the minimum and living wages in the state, commanding $17.17 per hour, which is also 17 percent higher than the state's overall median wage of $14.68, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Still, not everyone is earning a median income in Idaho. And if you earn only the minimum wage in the state it will be hard to live in any sort of comfort without working overtime as the state's overall living wage is $9.59 per hour for a single adult, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology living wage calculator.

Idaho's minimum wage hardly puts the state in the minority from a national perspective. It is one of 14 states with the federal minimum as its state minimum wage. Added to this number are another seven states that either have no state minimum wage or one lower than the federal rate, which are also required to pay workers at least $7.25 per hour.

But there are more states that offer higher wages than those that do not. Currently 29 states, including the District of Columbia, have set their state minimum wages as much as $3.25 higher than the federally mandated minimum. In Washington, D.C., the minimum wage is $10.50 per hour, which is the highest in the nation.

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