There is a federally-set minimum wage - currently $5.15/hr., which was not been increased since 1996. There are also federally-determined poverty guidelines, indicating that a family of four is considered poor with an income of less than $18,400 a year, or about $10.50/hr. There is also an advocacy group that employs more sophisticated inputs to determine that, for a family of four in this part of the country, the true minimum wage should be above $13/hr.

In 1999, the City of Charlottesville decided to pay City employees a "living wage." The original figure, $8.00 per hour, was determined by reference to the federal guideline. But City employees' compensation is a budgetary matter, and annual review is not automatic. The minimum for City employees is presently $8.65 per hour.

In 2001, the City extended the concept of a living wage minimum as a requirement for the employees of contractors (doing more than $15,000 business) with the city. But this was done by ordinance, and is reviewed annually. The figure was initially $8.00/hr, and has been increased to the present $8.28. It is anticipated that this will go to $8.50 or so in the next budget. (Dave Sagarin, February 27, 2004)