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How Do Fast-Food Wages Compare to Other Jobs'?

Spencer Platt/Getty Images News

Today marks the fourth day in the largest fast-food walkout in U.S. history. One of the strikers’ key demands is a $15 hourly wage, slightly more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Most people know that fast-food workers are on the low-end of the pay scale, but how low, exactly? Turns out that “combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food” earn the lowest median hourly wage of any group in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recently released occupational employment statistics. Here's how those workers’ wages compare to other common jobs.’


(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2012 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, United States)