Minimum wage should be $21.72 per hour.

[TheKentuckian]

37. It should but I think many would be surprised at where the rate would land you

A single person would be in the 73rd percentile and a family (I assume of 4) would be in the 47th, almost the 48th.

People ought to plug in their incomes and see a bit more clearly what is happening here. I tell you I was shocked were my very modest income landed me in comparison to most folks and if you are on the very bottom of our national shit pile I bet you'll be surprised of how many are right with you.

I'm sure there are other calculators, I just grabbed the top of my Google search
[link:politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2012/09/whats-your-income-percentile.html#.URz330rUXbE|]

Average income is a joke, there is almost no value to the number but even median income is pretty heavily distorted. You'll find fairly unremarkable incomes actually (perhaps even fairly low ones) takes you up pretty far the pyramid.

We are in an epic scale mess and it isn't getting better.

We also need to move the poverty line up significantly, I think 100% of poverty should be full time hours at the national minimum wage. In fact, if the poverty line stays intact and minimum wage is $9 then the net impact will be almost no one with any job will qualify for any assistance (other than subsidized tithes to the insurance cartel) but will still need it, in some cases desperately.

The American people are mostly busted or barely hanging on with middle class being far closer to a marketing scheme than an actuality for most.

Our "recovery" has so far been the rich getting richer, in the big picture most of us are still losing ground.