I just got back from my trip to MO where I saw so many gas stations, grocery stores, etc. starting off workers at $13-14 an hour in small towns. My family lives in a town of 9k people and they told me they start off at 17/hr for factory jobs. This is a town where you can still find plenty of decent homes for less than 90k.
Meanwhile I live in a big city in Texas where the median home price is a little less than 500k and there are so many people still making less than $10 an hour, especially at fast food restaurants and gas stations.
I work in the finance department of a car dealer and I see plenty of pay stubs averaging less than $450 a week.
What’s the reason behind this? What gives employers so much leverage here? Do we just have that many more potential workers than job openings?