Abstract
Since 2005, the Nevada minimum wage has increased incrementally from $5.15 to $12.00. Studies have shown that such increases lift wages for workers across sectors, reduce racial income inequalities, and have minimal negative effects on employment. Minimum wage increases, however, do not guarantee that employers will pay workers the full amount they have earned and to which they are legally entitled. A recent study found that over $1.5 billion in unpaid wages were recovered by state and federal authorities between 2021 and 2023 through litigation and regulatory enforcement. This figure represents only the tip of the iceberg, however, as most instances of wage theft still go unreported. This policy brief uses survey data to examine underlying rates of minimum wage underpayment in Nevada. We estimate that Nevadans lost more than $2.4 billion over the last twenty years from being paid below the minimum wage. Approximately 40,000 workers per year were paid below the minimum wage during this period. These workers lost an average of 19% of their earned wages, totaling more than $120 million per year.
Key Findings:
- Over the last twenty years, we estimate that wage theft has cost Nevadans an average of $122 million a year in unpaid minimum wages—a total of roughly $2.4 billion over this period.
- About 40,000 Nevada workers lose on average 19% of their income to minimum wage underpayment each year. • Workers in private households (e.g., housekeepers, childcare workers, personal care attendants) are 5x more likely to be paid below than the minimum wage than the average Nevada worker: workers in personal and laundry services (e.g., hairdressers, cosmetologists) are 3x more likely.
- Women of color who are not U.S. citizens are almost 3x more likely to be paid below the minimum wage than white male citizens.
- Young workers, part-time workers, and less educated workers are also particularly likely to be paid below the Nevada minimum wage.