Institute for Policy Studies | This report analyzes the 20 largest employers of low-wage U.S. workers, a group we’ve dubbed the “Low-Wage 20.” Together, the Low-Wage 20 companies employ approximately 6.7 million people in the United States. Their median worker wages in 2024 ranged from $9,602 (Ross Stores) to $47,607 (MGM Resorts) — compared to an average CEO compensation of over $18 million.

In this report, we find that most of these firms pay their workers so little that employees are forced to rely on public benefits like SNAP and Medicaid. Yet their CEOs make, on average, nearly 900 times more than their median employees — and their companies often spend billions on stock buybacks, artificially hiking their stock prices (and with it, CEO pay) instead of raising pay for workers.

Source. Institute for Policy Studies.