INSTITUTE INDEX: The precarious state of labor in the South

With the addition of Kentucky this year, percent of Southern states with "right-to-work" laws, which allow employees to receive union benefits without belonging to one: 100

Number of workers belonging to unions in Southern states: 2.2 million

Number of Southern workers represented by unions who aren't members: 559,000

On average, percent more that union workers earn than their non-union counterparts: 13.2

Percent that economic productivity rose in the U.S. between 1979 and 2015: 63.8

Percent that wages of typical U.S. worker rose during that period: 9.9

Percent by which income grew for the top 1 percent of U.S. wage earners during that period: 190

Year that the federal minimum wage was last increased, to $7.25 an hour: 2009

Due to inflation, percent by which the purchasing power of the $7.25 minimum wage has decreased since 2009: 12

Of the five states that don't have a minimum wage law and instead rely on the federal standard , number that are in the South: 5

Percent of Southern states where 40 percent or more of workers make less than $15 an hour: 85

Nationally, median weekly earnings for men: $915

For women: $749

For black women: $641

For Latinas: $586

Of the 13 Southern states, number that have passed laws preventing local governments from increasing the minimum wage beyond the state level: 11

Number of Southern states that have passed laws preventing localities from passing measures for paid family sick leave: 10

(Click on figure to go to source.)