Los Angeles is the wage theft capital of the U.S. Low-wage workers in the city lose $1.4 billion to wage theft every year, with workers in Chicago and New York not far behind. Together, these three cities account for $3 billion in wage theft annually.
In Los Angeles alone, at least 650,000 low-wage workers lose $26.2 million every week. The average amount of wages stolen is $40 per worker each week, which represents 12.5% of their total income. For workers earning under $20,000 annually, this amounts to an average loss of $2,070 each year. Many cases handled by the Wage Justice Center involve wage theft amounts far greater than this average.