What Is The Average Hourly Pay In The United States?

Here's a link to a household income chart:

http://z.hubpages.com/u/845526_f260.jpg

Right now in most parts of the U.S. it is VERY difficult to get a job paying more than $10 or $12 per hour no matter how much education you have or what you know how to do. In some oil rich states like North Dakota and Texas, you can get high-paying work if you are strong and can do very physical labor. Medical jobs also pay a bit better and are easier to get.

The real problem here though is cost of living. A one bedroom apartment around here (Michigan) runs about $700. If you make $10 an hour that's half your monthly take-home pay. Our electric bill alone for our tiny house (1000 sq ft) is $156 and in some states it would be three times that much.

You'll make more (and pay more to live) on either coast than you will in the midwest or the south. If you keep working you're OK, but have one thing go wrong and you're in trouble. There's not much of a social safety net here. A single trip to the emergency room can cost you thousands WITH insurance.

Otherwise it's great here. Yay America.

Each state sets their own minimum wage laws http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm but there is no average pay, jobs in the US have huge disparity between what one person makes if they have a low paying job and a highly qualified, skilled worker makes at another job.