The Average Salary of Essential Workers in 2020

How much are essential workers earning compared to the average income in their state?

By Kylie McQuarrie

Staff Writer

Published on May 11, 2020

2 min read

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers—all those good people who get food to your table and packages to your doorstep—have been putting their lives on the line every day. But for the most part, they're paid substantially less than employees in far less perilous situations.

Nationwide, essential employees earn an average of 18.2% less than employees in other industries. In a handful of states, the difference between essential workers and other employees is closer to 10%—but the discrepancy drops below 10% in only one state: Nevada.

Interesting findings

In every single state, the average salary for essential workers is far below the state's average.

Even in Nevada, which took our top spot, essential workers still earn 7.8% less on average than the rest of the state.
In the District of Columbia, the area with the biggest gap, essential workers earn nearly 48% less than the average.
In Connecticut, which came in second-to-last, essential workers earn around 30% less than the state's average—which, while still a gap, is a huge leap from DC's nearly 50%. In other words, DC lags extremely far behind the rest of the country for paying essential workers.
Of the essential worker jobs we considered, cashiers make the least nationwide at an average of $23.6K, while postal service employees (at an average of $51.3K) make the most.
The six lowest-ranked states are on the East Coast: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia.

Want to know where your state fits into the mix? Here's our complete ranking of the best and worst states for essential workers.

Rank	State	Avg. overall	Avg. essential	Difference
National Average	U.S.	$39,810	$32,474	-18.40%
1	Nevada	$36,410	$33,564	-7.80%
2	South Dakota	$34,750	$31,264	-10.00%
3	Mississippi	$31,210	$27,742	-11.10%
4	Florida	$35,850	$31,000	-13.50%
5	New Mexico	$35,420	$30,596	-13.60%
6	California	$44,180	$38,044	-13.90%
7	Idaho	$35,360	$30,306	-14.30%
8	Montana	$36,420	$31,184	-14.40%
9	Kentucky	$35,540	$30,352	-14.60%
10	Tennessee	$35,910	$30,542	-14.90%
11	Arkansas	$32,940	$27,920	-15.20%
12	Arizona	$38,410	$32,464	-15.50%
13	Hawaii	$44,400	$37,508	-15.50%
14	West Virginia	$33,920	$28,644	-15.60%
15	Illinois	$41,060	$34,390	-16.20%
16	South Carolina	$34,690	$28,680	-17.30%
17	Indiana	$36,960	$30,548	-17.30%
18	Kansas	$37,010	$30,540	-17.50%
19	Missouri	$37,180	$30,636	-17.60%
20	Oklahoma	$35,730	$29,440	-17.60%
21	Alabama	$34,800	$28,614	-17.80%
22	Utah	$37,910	$31,150	-17.80%
24	Texas	$38,010	$30,966	-18.50%
25	Nebraska	$38,390	$31,270	-18.50%
26	Vermont	$40,920	$33,244	-18.80%
27	Michigan	$38,680	$31,420	-18.80%
28	Maine	$38,370	$31,160	-18.80%
29	Louisiana	$34,650	$28,092	-18.90%
30	Iowa	$38,280	$30,812	-19.50%
31	North Dakota	$42,510	$34,202	-19.50%
32	North Carolina	$36,910	$29,688	-19.60%
33	Oregon	$41,250	$33,144	-19.70%
34	Georgia	$36,930	$29,430	-20.30%
35	Wisconsin	$39,090	$30,830	-21.10%
36	Pennsylvania	$39,490	$31,086	-21.30%
37	Ohio	$38,560	$30,264	-21.50%
38	New Jersey	$45,000	$35,222	-21.70%
39	Wyoming	$41,650	$32,434	-22.10%
40	Minnesota	$44,110	$33,920	-23.10%
41	Alaska	$48,540	$36,902	-24.00%
42	New Hampshire	$41,490	$31,398	-24.30%
43	Washington	$48,140	$36,258	-24.70%
44	New York	$46,680	$35,126	-24.80%
45	Delaware	$40,900	$30,776	-24.80%
46	Colorado	$44,250	$33,106	-25.20%
47	Massachusetts	$50,200	$37,436	-25.40%
48	Rhode Island	$44,170	$32,668	-26.00%
49	Virginia	$42,220	$30,560	-27.60%
50	Maryland	$45,970	$32,836	-28.60%
51	Connecticut	$48,530	$34,358	-29.20%
52	District of Columbia	$74,340	$39,284	-47.20%

Our methodology

To calculate the average salary of essential workers in each state, we drew data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates report from May 2019.1

In particular, we looked at the average salaries of retail salespersons, postal service mail carriers, light truck drivers, cashiers, janitors, and cleaners. We then compared those averages with each state's overall average salary.

Note that health care workers are not included in the essential worker salary averages.

Fair salaries are essential for essential workers

Hopefully, some proposed bills could help close the essential workers' pay gap.2 But in the meantime, help essential workers out by washing your hands, wearing a mask in public, and staying six feet away while they do their jobs. And don't forget that essential employees will remain essential after the pandemic. They'll still be there, day in and day out, and they should be compensated fairly then too.

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

Written by

Kylie McQuarrie

Kylie spent two of the last four years writing for and with small-business owners—from dentists in Australia to plumbers in the Midwest. She spent the other two writing in depth about internet and security. She’s passionate about reading, hiking, and dedicating every spare second to writing for fun (at lunch, between meetings, on the train, before breakfast . . . ). Her content helps small-business owners tackle the logistics of running a business so they can focus more on their passions too.